Young Adult

Follow the ups and downs of high school for the winsome threesome, three very different but very close girlfriends. Through teacher crushes, cross-country moves, bossy Queen Bees, incriminating party pics, and other bumps along the way, author Lauren Myracle explores the many potholes of teenagedom. A hit with the girls!

The first volume of an original graphic novel series, illustrated by Alex Puvilland. Three years ago an event destroyed the small city of Poughkeepsie, forever changing reality within its borders. Uncanny manifestations and lethal dangers now await anyone who enters the Spill Zone. Got a teenage boy who doesn’t like to read? Give him this book.

The young readers’ version of the book that inspired the lovely film. It is the powerful story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program.

After dark in a Mexican border town, a father holds open a hole in a wire fence as his wife and two small boys crawl through. So begins life in the United States for many people every day. And so begins this collection of twelve autobiographical stories Jimenez, who, at the age of four, illegally crossed the border with his family in 1947.

What I call a “shortcut” book. A children’s retelling of the story of The Iliad that is understandable – the perfect book for the lazy reader. Nearly everything from Homer’s original is included without having to read Homer’s original!

Written in a series of text messages with emojis, photo postings, and characters checking in at various locations, Carbone continues telling Shakespeare’s plays in an unconventional manner. Surely Shakespeare would approve—after all, he was the king of wordplay!

Olivia’s father murdered her mother when Olivia was 3 years old and then vanished. Now 17 and on her own, Olivia’s father’s remains are found, leading the police to believe he was not the murderer but a victim as well. Olivia decides to return to her hometown and rent her inherited house, not revealing that she is Ariel Benson, the child survivor of the murders.

Claire’s eighth-grade year is not going as she hoped. Mean girls, boys, changing friendships; she doesn’t think it can get any worse...until it does. Her father suffers a stroke, and everything changes instantly. Now Claire must find the strength to handle both the pressures of middle school and an uncertain future.

Filled with slapstick antics, this lighthearted story of 15-year-old Louise Brown, a down-on-her-luck swimmer, makes a splash with readers. Gangly and unpopular, Louise loses her chance at Olympic stardom. Now she must start a new school year without her best friend Hannah (who did qualify for Olympic training) and deal with her former coach, who treats her like a pariah.

Blue-haired Zoe is a social outcast. She encounters a deadly bank robbery that leaves two people dead, including a friendly young man who shields Zoe from a bullet. But 15-year-old Zoe has a special ability to turn back the clock 23 minutes just by saying “playback,” allowing her to change the outcome of events. She has only 10 tries to get it right.

In this Depression-era version, Snow White’s father loses his fortune in the stock market crash and is murdered by her evil stepmother. Phelan adds period-appropriate touches to the traditional story. The seven dwarves are street urchins, the prince is a police detective, and the magic mirror is a stock ticker. The sepia tone and grey scale graphics add to the historical feeling of the novel.

I don’t normally endorse celebrity books because too many of them are lame, but I absolutely love this positive self-help guide, written by one of the stars of the popular TV show The Big Bang Theory. Didn’t realize Bialik has her doctorate, Not many actors can say that!

Books like this annoy me, as the cover cannot fit all of the prizes it has been awarded. In all seriousness – one of the best Civil Rights books I’ve ever read, especially one that is geared toward teen audiences.

What happens when all the fossil fuel runs out? Find out in this dystopian tale that makes for lively classroom discussions on climate change and the environment.

A teen’s summer dream job turns into a time-consuming nightmare, but 16-year-old Candy Thompson eventually finds it to be the best summer of her life.