School Ties

(Stories from Middle School, High School & College)

Middle School

Tween & YA FIC ABB Abbott, Tony Firegirl

When burn victim Jessica Feeney enters St. Catherine's school, she is almost too hideous to behold. Although Mrs. Tracy, the homeroom teacher attempts to prepare the students, no one is really ready for the shock of Jessica's appearance. Even though she is only in the school a few weeks, her presence and her ordeal changes the life of one student, Tom Bender. Told in first person, this is a powerful story of simple things and the complexities of being sensitive. Tom has a crush on Courtney, a beautiful classmate, and when Jessica becomes a part of the class, making an impression on his secret love becomes the driving force of Tom's life. Vying for utmost importance in Tom's life is the promise of his friend, Jeff, that they will both take a ride in Jeff's uncle's Cobra. However, after meeting Jessica and coming to understand her accident, Tom's perspective is radically changed.

Tween & YA FIC AMA Amato, Mary Invisible Lines

Trevor, a seventh-grader, lives in a tough, run-down housing project, but his school is in a rich neighborhood nearby, and it is hard for him to fit in. He is thrilled to join the soccer team, even though he cannot afford cleats, and his spoiled, rich classmate, Xander, won’t pass him the ball. With his father in jail and his mom searching for work, Trevor has to balance soccer practice with babysitting for his beloved, irritating younger siblings. A gifted artist, he finds escape from his life’s pressures when he begins to keep a required notebook for science class, which he fills with drawings, facts, and observations.

YA FIC ATK Atkinson, Elizabeth I, Emma Freke

I, Emma Freke, am not a freak. Or maybe I am. I just don't know. What's in a name?

I, Emma Freke is a charming search-for-identity story about Emma; the only "normal" member of her quirky family. Her flighty, New Age mom seems to barely have time for a daughter, especially one who annoyingly spoils her mom's youthful fa?ade. Emma's well-meaning grandpa is clueless. And her only friends are the local librarian and a precocious 10-year old adopted by the two old ladies next door. Smart, shy, and nearly six feet tall, Emma struggles to fit in at school, so she jumps at the opportunity to "home school" until that too turns into another of mom's half-baked ideas. The real crisis comes when she gets an invitation to The Freke Family Reunion, and her fellow Frekes aren't at all what she expects. While Emma desperately tries to find her niche, she discovers that perhaps it's better to be her own "freak" than someone else's Freke.

Tween & YA FIC BAR Barnholdt, Lauren Rules for Secret Keeping

HAVE A SECRET YOU JUST NEED TO GET OUT? IS YOUR BEST FRIEND'S NEW BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHIRT A TOTAL FASHION DON'T? WANNA ANNONYMOUSLY TELL YOUR CRUSH YOU LIKE HIM? Save yourself the embarrassment and pass your secret through me, Samantha Carmichael. Drop your secret along with a dollar into locker number 321, and it will be delivered to the recipient of your choice. **YOUR SECRET WILL NOT BE READ.** Confidentiality and discretion is Samantha Carmichael's policy. How else could she run a secret passing business so successful that YOU GIRL magazine (motto: America's number one tween magazine) has named her as one of the finalists for their tween entrepreneur of the year award before her seventh grade year has barely even begun? But the business of business is more cut-throat in middle school than any Fortune 500-- and Samantha is about to learn that imitation is not always the sincerest form of flattery when she overhears her new classmate, Marissa, has a secret passing business of her own. And when a secret that Sam can't quite stomach leaks out and her own clandestine crush is at stake, it's anyone's guess how the battle of the middle school deep throats will play out!

YA FIC BAR Barnholdt, Lauren The Thing About the Truth

Kelsey’s not going to let one mistake ruin her life. Sure, she got kicked out of prep school and all her old friends are shutting her out. But Kelsey’s focused on her future, and she’s determined to get back on track at Concordia High. Isaac’s been kicked out of more schools than he can count. Since his father’s a state senator, Isaac’s life is under constant scrutiny—but Concordia High’s his last stop before boarding school, so Isaac’s hoping to fly under the radar and try to stay put for a change. When Kelsey and Isaac meet, it’s anything but love at first sight. She thinks he’s an entitled brat, and he thinks she’s a stuck-up snob. So it surprises them both when they start to fall for each other. Kelsey’s happy for the first time in months, and Isaac’s never felt this way about anyone before….But nothing’s ever completely perfect. Everyone has secrets, and Isaac and Kelsey are no exceptions. These two may have fallen hard, but there’s one thing that can ruin it all: the truth.

YA FIC BAU Bauer, Joan Almost Home

When twelve-year-old Sugar's grandfather dies and her gambling father takes off yet again, Sugar and her mother lose their home in Missouri. They head to Chicago for a fresh start, only to discover that fresh starts aren't so easy to come by for the homeless. Nevertheless, Sugar's mother has taught her to be grateful no matter what, so Sugar does her best. With the help of a rescue dog, Shush; a foster family; a supportive teacher; a love of poetry; and her own grace and good humor, Sugar comes to understand that while she can't control the hand life deals her, she can control how she responds.

YA FIC BLU Blume, Judy Then A gain M aybe I W on’t

Ever since his dad got rich from an invention and his family moved to a wealthy neighborhood on Long Island, Tony Miglione's life has been tumed upside down. For starters, there's his new friend Joel, who shoplifts. Then there's Joel's sixteen-year-old sister, Lisa, who gets undressed every night without pulling down her shades. And there's Grandma, who won't come down from her bedroom. On top of all his other worries, there are all the questions Tony has about growing up....

YA FIC BRA Brahmachari, Sita Mira in the Present Tense

Twelve-year-old Mira comes from a chaotic, artistic, and outspoken family in which it's not always easy to be heard. As her beloved Nana Josie's health declines, Mira begins to discover the secrets of those around her and also starts to keep some of her own. She is drawn to mysterious Jide, a boy who is clearly hiding a troubled past. As Mira is experiencing grief for the first time, she is also discovering the wondrous and often mystical world around her.

YA FIC BRO Brown, Jason Robert & Dan Elish 13

13 Things to Know About 13

1. This book is about a guy named Evan.

2. Three months before his 13th birthday, he has to move from New York City 3. to Appleton, Indiana,

4. Where nobody knows him.

5. He's not very happy about it.

6. His mom is kind of nuts.

7. His dad is kind of nuts too.

8. Evan's not nuts, but he keeps ending up in nutty situations.

9. One of them involves a movie called The Bloodmaster.

10. Another involves a girl named Patrice.

11. But the nuttiest situation of all is his bar mitzvah—

12. Which it's possible no one will come to.

13. Unless Evan can make some new friends really fast.

YA FIC BRU Brugman, Alyssa Being Bindy

Bindy and her best friend, Janey, have been best friends forever, but now they are growing up, and Janey's interest in skimpy tops, short skirts, sex, and heavy makeup is quickening, while Bindy still enjoys television cartoons and fantasy games. Janey makes a stab at bringing Bindy into her world, but Bindy is not there yet. She does not fit in with Janey's new friends and is grossed out by Janey's behavior as well as confused, hurt, and angered by it. The girls fall out, and Janey, eager to look good with the in-crowd, stands by while Bindy is teased and later bullied. As the girls' friendship sours, the friendship between their divorced, single parents grows, and when Bindy and Janey discover Mom and Dad in bed, they fear marriage is imminent and they'll be forced to live together. They unite but only to break up their parents.

Tween & YA FIC BRY Bryant, Annie Letters from the Heart

This series features a multicultural group of junior high girls in Brookline, MA. Charlotte and her widowed father are new in town, and they have lived all over the world. Katani has a flair for design. Korean-born Avery, a no-frills type of girl, in the literal sense of the word, was adopted when she was an infant. Maeve is a drama queen and dreams of stardom. In Bad News/Good News, Charlotte discovers that her father is considering an offer to teach at Oxford in England and she wants to stay put for a while. The episode centers on how the girls come to her rescue, how she learns to deal with her own ambivalent feelings about the move, and how she comes to better understand her father and his grief.

YA FIC BUD Budhos, Marina Tell Us We’re Home

Jaya, Maria, and Lola are just like the other eighth-grade girls in the wealthy suburb of Meadowbrook, New Jersey. They want to go to the spring dance, they love spending time with their best friends after school, sharing frappes and complaining about the other kids. But there’s one big difference: all three are daughters of maids and nannies. And they go to school with the very same kids whose families their mothers work for. That difference grows even bigger—and more painful—when Jaya’s mother is accused of theft and Jaya’s small, fragile world collapses. When tensions about immigrants start to erupt, fracturing this perfect, serene suburb, all three girls are tested, as outsiders—and as friends. Each of them must learn to find a place for themselves in a town that barely notices they exist.

Tween & YA FIC BUT Butler, Dori Hillestad The Truth About Truman School

When Zebby and Amr create the website thetruthabouttruman.com, they want it to be honest. They want it to be about the real Truman Middle School, to say things that the school newspaper would never say, and to give everyone a chance to say what they want to say, too.

But given the chance, some people will say anything-anything to hurt someone else. And when rumors about one popular student escalate to cruel new levels, it's clear the truth about Truman School is more harrowing than anyone ever imagined.

YA FIC CAS Castan, Mike Fighting for Dontae

Javier's life is going nowhere fast. He hates seventh grade, his father's locked up, and his mother can't be relied on. He and his friends are in a gang; but he doesn't even know why he joined the Playaz in the first place, since hanging with them is like asking for trouble from the cops. When he is assigned to work with the special education class, Javier thinks that the one thing he had going for him in middle school--his social life--is over. Little by little, though, Javier realizes that he actually enjoys reading to Dontae, a severely disabled boy his age. When everything else around him is falling apart, working with Dontae becomes the one thing worth fighting for.

YA FIC CER Cervantes, Angela Gaby, Lost & Found

"My name is Gaby, and I'm looking for a home where I can invite my best friend over and have a warm breakfast a couple of times a week. Having the newest cell phone or fancy clothes isn't important, but I'd like to have a cat that I can talk to when I'm home alone." Gaby Ramirez Howard loves volunteering at the local animal shelter. She plays with the kittens, helps to obedience train the dogs, and writes adoption advertisements so that the strays who live there can find their forever homes: places where they'll be loved and cared for, no matter what.
Gaby has been feeling like a bit of a stray herself, lately. Her mother has recently been deported to Honduras and Gaby is stuck living with her inattentive dad. She's confident that her mom will come home soon so that they can adopt Gaby's favorite shelter cat together. When the cat's original owners turn up at the shelter, however, Gaby worries that her plans for the perfect family are about to fall apart.

Tween & YA FIC CHI Child, Lauren Ruby Redfort: Look Into My Eyes

Everyone knows that Clarice Bean is exceptionordinarily keen on the Ruby Redfort books. Now in her own starring role, Ruby, a genius code-cracker and daring detective, along with her sidekick butler, Hitch, work for a secret crime-busting organization called Spectrum. Ruby gets into lots of scrapes with evil villains, but she’s always ice-cool in a crisis. Just take a classic screwball comedy, add heaps of breathtaking action, and multiply it by Lauren Child’s writing genius, and what have you got? Only the most exciting new middle-grade series since, like, ever.

Tween & YA FIC CHO Choldenko, Gennifer If a T ree F alls at L unch P eriod

Kirsten's parents are barely speaking to each other, and her best friend has fallen under the spell of the school's queen bee, Brianna. It seems like only Kirsten's younger science-geek sister is on her side. Walker's goal is to survive at the new white private school his mom has sent him to because she thinks he's going to screw up like his cousin. But he's a good kid. So is his friend Matteo, though no one knows why he’ll do absolutely anything that hot blond Brianna asks of him. But all of this feels almost trivial when Kirsten and Walker discover a secret that shakes them both to the core.