Young Adult Literature

Seventeen-year-old Cia Vale survived The Testing, as has Tomas, the boy she loves, and they have both gained admission to the University. She has a promising future as a leader of the United Commonwealth and no memory of her bloody testing experience, thanks to a government-sanctioned memory wipe. Cia should be happy but is plagued by doubts about the past and future.

Lucas Fuller is a lot of things. He's the boy next door. He's the first crush I ever had. He was my first kiss. He's also the only person who has ever broken my heart. For two years, I've wondered what happened to the us I used to know. We were best friends, and then suddenly...we weren't. I tried to run away from it. I even changed schools just to make the hurt disappear. But no matter how hard I tried to not think about Lucas, I just couldn't stay away from the high school quarterback with perfect blue eyes and so many secrets.

Life on the Waller plantation is harsh and bleak. Twelve-year-old Sarny knows that it won’t be long before she will be forced to leave Mammy and join the other young women who serve the master’s household as breeders. Then one day a new slave arrives, bought from an overseer for a thousand dollars. He comes in a bad way, walking in front of the horses and Waller’s ready whip. His back is covered with scars as thick as Sarny’s hand, but he holds his head high.

With starred reviews from School Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews, this moving novel by acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers is a modern classic. In the late 1960s, Richie Perry is growing up fast on the battlefields of Vietnam. But in the war-torn jungle, every moment is a struggle to survive. All Richie wants is to make it out alive.

Max Jones, a practical, hard-working young man, found his escape in his beloved astronomy books. When reality comes crashing in and his troubled home life forces him out on the road, Max finds himself adrift in a downtrodden land - until an unexpected, ultimate adventure carries him away as a stowaway aboard an intergalactic spaceship.

Lylah and her friends can't wait to spend a night out together. Partying is the perfect way to let loose from the stress of life and school, and Lylah hopes that hitting the dance floor with Chace, her best friend, will bring them closer. She's been crushing on him since they met. If only he thought of her the same way.... The girls are touching up their makeup, and the guys are sliding on their coats when the doorbell rings. No one is there. An envelope sits on the doormat. It's an anonymous note addressed to their friend Sonny. A secret admirer? Maybe. They all laugh it off.

The world of Erafore is one full of magic and mystery. Heroes battle dragons, mages confront demons, and the gods watch over it all. Yet among these incredible beings, a single creature is born with the power to rewrite the destiny of the land. Taken in as a pet by the princess of the Kingdom of Varia, a mere Ooze will rise to stand in the tide of fate and defend the ones he loves from an encroaching void. But can a monster ever truly become a man?

When a pilot with no name breaks through a rift to a dying world, he and his experimental fighter plane become the only things in the way of a horrific army of monsters that is marching to burn down the mystical world tree and kill its keeper as the final symbol of their grim victory.

My whole life, all I wished for was a best friend and a boyfriend who treated me like a princess. Well, living in a small community where everyone knows everyone and everyone knew me as the "annoying" girl, it was hard for me to get even one of those wishes. But when new girl Lexi Turner strolled into English class and sat next to me, my wish finally came true. For the first time, in 18 years, I, Ada Stephens, had a best friend. Now that I had the bestie, I was just missing the one other thing I wished for. Only...I think I wished a little too hard.

Young Robin Longbow, subapprentice forester in the King's Forest of Nottingham, must contend with the dislike of the Chief Forester, who bullies Robin in memory of his popular father. But Robin does not want to leave Nottingham or lose the title to his father's small tenancy, because he is in love with a young lady named Marian - and keeps remembering that his mother too was gentry and married a common forester. Robin has been granted a rare holiday to go to the Nottingham Fair, where he will spend the day with his friends Much and Marian.

Several things about 14-year-old Georgia Nicolson's life are very wrong. Her bedroom smells like her little sister probably peed somewhere, but she can?t find where. Angus, her enormous cat, keeps terrorizing Mrs. Next Door's poodle. Dad's gone off to look for work in New Zealand. And one of her friends has rated Georgia's nose a zero on a scale from 1-10. But what's really driving her crazy is that Sex God Robbie doesn't give her the time of day.

Sometimes the silent whispers in our heads get so loud we start to believe the noise is real. I have been there, and the whispers almost convinced me that I should not be alive. In that darkness, I took to writing poetry and little positive notes to find light and hope. I had to convince my mind that it gets better. Nothing remains forever, not even the bad days and the sad moments. In this book, I try to make sense of my emotions and navigate the darkness through words. If you find yourself today in the same dark spot, may these poems and little notes give you a reason each day to live, ...

Pristine beaches, lush greenery, and perfect weather, the island of Kisapmata would be the vacation destination…if not for the curse. The Filipino locals speak of it in hushed voices and refuse to step foot on the island. They know the lives it has claimed. They won’t be next. A Hollywood film crew won’t be dissuaded. Legend claims a Dreamer god sleeps, waiting to grant unimaginable powers in exchange for eight sacrifices. The producers are determined to document the evidence. And they convince Alon, a local teen, to be their guide.

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

Alice Bell has one goal: to play for the elite junior hockey team the Chicago Falcons. But when she's passed over at tryouts for being a girl, she'll do anything to make her dream a reality . . . even disguising herself as her twin brother. With her amazing skills on the ice, Alice is sure she'll fit in easily. That is, until she starts falling for one of her teammates . . .

Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill - a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk - Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec.

Fifteen-year-old Amari witnesses the murder of her family and the destruction of her remote African village. She endures countless humiliations as she is beaten, branded, and forced to board a slave ship. The atrocities continue as she struggles through endless days of backbreaking work and daily degradation on a plantation.

When Josie Jensen, an awkward 13-year-old musical prodigy, crashes headlong into newcomer Samuel Yazzie, an 18-year-old Navajo boy full of anger and confusion, an unlikely friendship blooms. Josie teaches Samuel about words, music, and friendship, and along the way finds a kindred spirit. Upon graduation, Samuel abandons the sleepy, small town in search of a future and a life, leaving his young mentor behind.

Every light casts a shadow. Ronan Renzo is that shadow. Ronan Renzo lives a somewhat pampered life as the son of a merchant, but all that changes when his family home is visited by a strange, black-clad man. This man's clothing is so dark that it seems to swallow light, and he bears the symbol of the crescent moon upon his breast. He is, according to Ronan, a member of the Night Guild. A guild of thieves and assassins, who commit dark deeds in homage to the one they serve: the Night God.

Lauren DeStefano makes a stellar debut with this chilling tale. The first installment of a planned trilogy, Wither introduces listeners to a bleak world where a mysterious disease kills most women by the age of 20 and men by the age of 25. Like many girls her age, 16-year-old Rhine has been captured and forced into marriage in an effort to keep the population growing. But, despite her new husband’s wealth, she wants nothing more than to escape her servitude and return home before time runs out.