Darius & Twig

Darius & Twig

Walter Dean Myers

Young Adult / Fiction / Realistic Fiction

New York Times bestselling author and Printz Award winner Walter Dean Myers once again connects with teenagers everywhere in Darius & Twig, a novel about friendship and needing to live your own dream.Darius and Twig are an unlikely pair: Darius is a writer whose only escape is his alter ego, a peregrine falcon named Fury, and Twig is a middle-distance runner striving for athletic success. But they are drawn together in the struggle to overcome the obstacles that Harlem life throws at them.The two friends must face down bullies, an abusive uncle, and the idea that they'll be stuck in the same place forever in this touching and raw new teen novel from Walter Dean Myers, award-winning author of Monster, Kick, We Are America, Bad Boy, and many other celebrated literary works for children and teens.
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Checkmate

Checkmate

Walter Dean Myers

Young Adult / Fiction / Realistic Fiction

In the second book of the CRUISERS series, Walter Dean Myers explores the world of competitive chess as seen through the eyes of a group of middle school misfits.Sidney Aronofsky is one of the best chess players under age 16. When he's arrested for trying to buy drugs, it comes as a total surprise to those who know him. The expectations of parents, schools, and tutors pressure the young players. Sidney loves and wants to play chess, but dislikes the constant spotlight. He thinks that if he appears to be involved in drugs he'll be excused from playing on the school's team. In this book Zander and his creware back, using the Cruiser school newspaper express their frustrations and triumphs.
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Swallowing Stones

Swallowing Stones

Joyce McDonald

Young Adult / Fiction / Realistic Fiction

It begins with a free and joyful act--but from then on, Michael finds it impossible even to remember what it felt like to be free and joyful. When he fires his new rifle into the air on his seventeenth birthday, he never imagines that the bullet will end up killing someone. But a mile away, a man is killed by that bullet as he innocently repairs his roof. And Michael keeps desperately silent while he watches his world crumble.Meanwhile Jenna, the dead man's daughter, copes with desperation of her own. Through her grief, she tries to understand why she no longer feels comfortable with her boyfriend and why a near stranger named Michael keeps appearing in her dreams.Suspenseful and powerfully moving, this is the unforgettable story of an accidental crime and its haunting web of repercussions.
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Slam!

Slam!

Walter Dean Myers

Young Adult / Fiction / Realistic Fiction

An exciting, eye-catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers' bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover. Seventeen-year-old Greg "Slam" Harris can do it all on the basketball court. He's seen ballplayers come and go, and he knows he could be one of the lucky ones. Maybe he'll make it to the top. Or maybe he'll stumble along the way. Slam's grades aren't that hot. And when his teachers jam his troubles in his face, he blows up. Slam never doubted himself on the court until he found himself going one-on-one with his own future, and he didn't have the ball.
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How to Pack for the End of the World

How to Pack for the End of the World

Michelle Falkoff

Young Adult / Contemporary / Realistic Fiction

The Breakfast Club meets We Are the Ants in this timely story for a generation of young activists. If you knew the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do? This is the question that haunts Amina as she watches new and horrible stories of discord and crisis flash across the news every day.But when she starts at prestigious Gardner Academy, Amina finds a group of like-minded peers to join forces with—fast friends who dedicate their year to learning survival skills from each other, before it's too late. Still, as their prepper knowledge multiplies, so do their regular high school problems, from relationship drama to family issues to friend blow-ups. Juggling the two parts of their lives forces Amina to ask another vital question: Is it worth living in the hypothetical future if it's at the expense of your actual present?
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The Nurse's One Night to Forever

The Nurse's One Night to Forever

Janice Lynn

Young Adult / Contemporary / Realistic Fiction

One shy nurse...One liaison of a lifetime!When surgical nurse Riley King shares an unexpected night of passion with heartthrob surgeon Justin Brothers, she vows that their intense connection is for one night only! Riley's not looking for a relationship—she's been there and been left at the altar to prove it. But there's more to Justin than meets the eye... Can she let her past go and allow herself to risk her heart?"...Ms. Lynn has delivered a marvellous and extremely engaging read in this book where the chemistry between this couple is off-the-charts...."—Harlequin Junkie on Friend, Fling, Forever? "...it's a story that encompasses plenty of emotion that I could feel along with the characters.... Both the main characters were engrossing and I loved every interaction between them...the romance shows how good these two are together...."—Harlequin Junkie on A Surgeon to Heal Her Heart
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Firestorm

Firestorm

David Klass

Young Adult / Fiction / Realistic Fiction

His mother is not his mother. His father is not his father. But if Jack hadn't broken the high school rushing record that night, he never would have known and nothing would have changed. He'd just be going out for pizza, playing football, trying yet again to score with his girlfriend, P.J. But he did break the record. He appeared on the news. And now they've found him. Jack plunges into a space-time-bending game of survival with no way out. The rules are shrouded in secrets. But one thing he learns fast: Trust no one. After centuries of abuse, the earth is dying, and it's up to Jack to reverse the decline before the Turning Point, when nothing will ever be the same again. Beaten into shape by a ninja babe and a huge telepathic man's best friend, Jack hurtles across the ocean to save the future from the present and to solve the mystery of his purpose. Exactly who, or what, is Firestorm, and what does it have to do with Jack? And what comes next when everything you have ever...
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Farewell Cuba, Mi Isla

Farewell Cuba, Mi Isla

Alexandra Diaz

Childrens / Middle Grade / Realistic Fiction

Alan Gratz's Refugee meets Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising in this "evocative and transportive" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) middle grade novel about two girls fleeing 1960 Cuba with their family inspired by award-winning author Alexandra Diaz's family's history.Victoria loves everything about her home in Cuba. The beautiful land, the delicious food, her best friend and cousin, Jackie, and her big, loving family. But it's 1960 in Cuba, and as the political situation grows more and more dangerous, Victoria, her parents, and her two younger siblings are forced to seek refuge in America with nothing more than two changes of clothes and five dollars. Worse, they're forced to leave the rest of their family, including Jackie, behind. In Miami, everything is different. And it's up to Victoria to step up and help her family settle into this new world—even though she hopes they won't be there for long. Back in Cuba,...
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Jack & Louisa: Act 3

Jack & Louisa: Act 3

Andrew Keenan-Bolger

Childrens / Middle Grade / Realistic Fiction

A show-stopping middle-grade series about life in and out of the spotlight from Broadway stars and Internet sensations Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Kate Wetherhead.Two weeks at Camp Curtain-Up is just what Jack and Louisa need to fuel their passion for theater: Broadway musical sing-alongs, outdoor rehearsals, and tons of new MTNs (musical theater nerds) to meet... maybe even a special someone. It almost feels like fate when the two friends return home to find local auditions for The Sound of Music. But as Louisa fantasizes about frolicking in the Alps, Jack gets tempted by a student-run drama competition that would reunite the two with their camp friends. Will Jack get Louisa to skip an audition? Can Lou handle Jack as her director? And will someone finally get a big, Broadway happy ending?
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We Were Heroes

We Were Heroes

Walter Dean Myers

Young Adult / Fiction / Realistic Fiction

Newbery and Coretta Scott King award-winning author Walter Dean Myers's the WWII JOURNAL OF SCOTT PENDLETON COLLINS is now available in paperback, with an exciting repackaging!Following in the footsteps of his father and great-grandfather, both war veterans, Scott Pendleton Collins signs up for the army during the height of World War II. He is shipped out to England only to face weeks of boredom. He and his unit want to be out in the fields, doing something to help the Allied forces. Finally, the comrades find themselves on a boat heading to Normandy, France, in the dead of night. But as his boat approaches the beach, Scott suddenly realizes what they are up against, and it is an impossible invasion. Nothing in basic training, nothing he's heard from other soldiers, nothing he has ever experienced prepares Scott for what awaits on Omaha Beach.As D-Day rages around him, Scott is separated from his unit. Lost in the bloody chaos, he must find a way to live through the...
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The Bell Bandit

The Bell Bandit

Jacqueline Davies

Realistic Fiction / Fiction / Childrens

Everything about this trip to Grandma's house was different:First, because of the fire, Mrs. Treski, Evan, and Jessie had driven up to Grandma's two days after Christmas instead of the day before, missing Christmas with Grandma entirely. Second, the fire had left a hole in the back kitchen wall big enough to drive a car through! And with Grandma in the hospital and not in her house, everything felt off. Third, someone had climbed the long, slow slope of Lovell Hill to the top and had stolen the old iron bell hanging on its heavy wooden crossbeam. Who on earth would steal the New Year's Bell? And how could Grandma, Mrs.Treski, Evan, Jessie, and their neighbors ring in the New Year without it?Like a modern-day Beverly Cleary, Ms. Davies writes with heart, humor, and honesty about the inevitability of profound change and reveals just how well she understands the complex emotions of the children.
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Flipping Forward Twisting Backward

Flipping Forward Twisting Backward

Alma Fullerton

Young Adult / Poetry / Realistic Fiction

A high-energy novel in verse starring a fifth grader who is almost as devoted to competitive gymnastics as she is to hiding her poor reading skills. What happens when Claire’s secret starts unraveling? Claire is by far the best gymnast on her team, and she’s well on her way to qualifying for the state championships. The gym is where Claire shines. But at school, she’s known as a troublemaker. She seems to spend more time in the office than in class—which is fine with her since it enables her to hide the fact that she can’t read. She has never been able to make sense of the wobbling jumble of letters on a page. No one except her BFF knows. But when a sympathetic principal wonders if Claire is acting out because she’s dyslexic, her mother balks. She’s afraid Claire will be labeled “stupid” and refuses testing. Claire has always assumed she’s dumb; she never imagined her reading problem could...
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