Three teens test their sexuality and the bonds of their friendship as they discover who they are–and aren’t–in a harrowing course of events that leaves all three wondering if you can ever really know anyone. This powerful novel, infused with symbolism and metaphor, will challenge the reader’s very way of thinking.
Friendship
Girl, Going on 17: Pants on Fire
It’s never fun when a great summer comes to an end. Particularly when one argues with one’s adorable, but grossly insensitive, boyfriend the night before school starts. It’s such a terrible fight, Jess doesn’t know—are they broken up? Should she apologize? Too bad Jess is spending all her time in detention and can’t talk to Fred to figure it out. A sadistic new English teacher has decided Jess needs an attitude adjustment, and Jess can’t seem to stop making terrible mistakes. When she ends up pantless in her own backyard, Jess is left to ask herself: Where did she go wrong? And what can be done to make it up to Fred and salvage this horrible, horrible year?
Pretty Things
Brie is in love with Lancôme Juicy Tubes, Louis Vuitton accessories, and Charlie, her gay best friend. Charlie is in love with 1960s pop art, 1980s teen movies, and serial heart breaker Walker. Walker has only ever been in love with his VW Bug, until he meets Daisy. And Daisy is too busy hating everyone to know what love is. Friendships shift and relationship melodrama rules during a summer theater production of The Taming of the Shrew as Brie, Charlie, Walker and Daisy fall in and out of love and hate with each other. Their four voices alternate throughout the narrative, revealing the delicious inside scoop on each player’s secret thoughts and exposing the real person inside, which is always more than the exterior reveals.
Permanent Rose
Feisty Rose takes center stage as the highly original Casson family faces a long, hot summer. As usual, things are a bit chaotic. Eldest daughter Caddy is now engaged to darling Michael, and she’s not altogether sure she likes it. Saffy and Sarah are on a mission to find Saffy’s biological father (while cultivating hearts of stone). Indigo is cautiosly beginning a friendship with a reformed bully, who desparately wants to feel like part of the Casson family. Rose, while missing Tom (who none of them have heard from) dreadfully, enters into a life of petty crime, shoplifting small items until her misadventures nearly bring disaster. An accidental trip to London and a visit with Rose’s father lead to a startling revelation, but through it all Rose’s single-minded determination to find Tom remains as fierce as it is hopeless. Oris it?Hilary McKay has painted the fond mayhem of this delightul family with such humor, warmth, and authenticity that readers will fall in love with them all over again. Once you’ve visited the Casson household, you may never want to leave.
Indigo’s Star
It’s back to school for the start of a new term, and the eccentric Cassons are up to their old tricks! Indigo, having just recovered from a bout of mononucleosis, must return to school after missing an entire semester. Only his younger sister and loyal sidekick, Rose, knows why he’s dreading it so much. As it turns out, the school bullies are eagerly awaiting Indigo’s return so that they can pick up where they left off — flushing his head in the toilet. But Indigo hasn’t counted on meeting Tom, an American student who is staying with his grandmother in England for the year. With his couldn’t-care-less attitude and rock-and-roll lifestyle, Tom becomes Indigo’s ally, and together they work to take back the school. Meanwhile, eight-year-old Rose is desperately trying to avoid wearing horrible glasses, nineteen-year-old Caddy is agonizing over her many suitors, Saffy is working overtime with her best friend, Sarah, to protect Indigo from the gang, and with their father, Bill, in London at his art studio, their mother, Eve, is just trying to stay on top of it all! In this hilarious, heartwarming companion to her award-winning Saffy’s Angel, Hilary McKay shows us a new side of the Cassons and reminds us that nothing is stronger than the bonds of family.
Fish Who Cried Wolf
The little fish Tiddler comes late to school every day, but always with an elaborate excuse that entrances his classmates — and annoys his teacher! One day, as he’s thinking up his next story, a net sweeps him up and hauls him far away. How will Tiddler find his way home? All he has to do is follow the trail of his biggest, fishiest story yet! For every parent or teacher who knows the boundless creativity of a perpetually late child, this book shows how to channel that energy into stories to be shared with friends and family. With a bouncy, bubbling rhyme . . . . . . and vibrant undersea illustrations, THE FISH WHO CRIED WOLF is sure to become the next read-aloud favorite from the bestselling author-illustrator team behind THE GRUFFALO and ROOM ON THE BROOM.
Are U 4 Real?
Kyla is exactly the kind of girl Alex could never talk to in real life. She’s a gorgeous, outspoken L.A. girl who parties to forget about her absent father and depressed mother. He’s a shy ballet dancer from outside San Francisco who’s never been kissed. Luckily, when these 16-year-olds meet for the first time it’s not in real life–it’s in a chat room, where they can share their feelings of isolation and frustration away from the conformity-obsessed high school scene. Alex and Kyla quickly forge a friendship that’s far from virtual–maybe they’re even falling in love. But what happens when the soul mate you’ve never met moves from online to in person? Sara Kadefors’s wildly romantic, award-winning Swedish bestseller perfectly captures the universal angst of being a teenager, and the perhaps even more universal struggle to negotiate identity in a multi-platform world.
Ali and the Golden Eagle
Wayne captures a baby golden eagle for his friend Ali, a young shepherd boy from the village of Ezratu, and Ali trains the eagle to hunt. The eagle alters the destiny of Ali and all of Ezratu.
Pictures of the Night
In the final volume of the Egerton Hall trilogy, 18-year-old Bella is spending her summer singing with a local band, but two mysterious gifts make her fear for her life, in a suspenseful version of the fairy tale “Snow White.”
Shopaholic
Taylor, Sam, and Sophie have been best mates forever. But lately things have been changing. Taylor is starting to sense that maybe Sam and Sophie would rather hang out only with each other rather than with her. And she can’t talk to her mum about it — she’s been acting even more depressed than usual, spending the day watching the telly in her bathrobe and only eating when Taylor makes her dinner. Then Taylor meets Kat while out shopping one day. Kat is glamorous. Kat is planning on becoming a model. Kat has dozens of older blokes following her around. And suddenly Taylor’s life is looking brighter. Kat seems to understand exactly how Taylor feels and Taylor is willing to do anything to be friends with her. The thing is, Kat loves to go shopping and if Taylor wants to continue to be her friend, then she’ll have to come up with the money to keep Kat happy…even if that means going against everything Taylor knows is right. An emotionally-charged novel about what loneliness can drive you to do, and how a little credit card can lead to lots of trouble.