Difficult Situations

Jenna Chen has spent her life in the shadow of her flawless cousin. Jessica Chen is so smart she gets the top score on every test. Jessica Chen is so beautiful people stop in the hallway to stare at her. Jessica Chen is so perfect she got into Harvard. And Jenna Chen will only ever be a disappointment. So when Jenna makes a desperate wish to become her cousin, the last thing she expects is for it to come true—literally. All of a sudden she gets to live the life she’s always dreamed of . . . but being the model student at cutthroat Havenwood Private Academy isn’t quite what she’d imagined.

Patch Simmons has decided that this is the year he will get a boyfriend, so it's goodbye to his French pen-pal Jean-Pierre and hello to the world! Unfortunately, the only other "out" boys in his school year are dating each other, so finding a boyfriend isn't going to be easy... Until fate finally intervenes and two new mysterious boys join drama club: Peter, who’s just moved from New York (very chic) and his best friend, Sam. Patch is confident that one of them (although either of them will do!) will be his first boyfriend.

At long last, Sadie has vanquished her lifelong academic rival—her irritatingly charming, whip smart next door neighbor, Seb—by getting the coveted, only spot to her dream college. Or at least, so she thinks. When Seb is unexpectedly pulled off the waitlist and admitted, Sadie has to compete with him all over again, this time to get a spot on the school’s famous zine.

Seventeen-year-old Finley has only ever had one goal: to become a famous podcaster. This includes coming up with the perfect pitch to land her on her school's podcast team. But when her football-obsessed boyfriend, Jensen, decides to also try out—and uses her idea—she's left confused and betrayed.

Twelve short stories in verse by bestselling and award-winning authors explore the highs and lows of love–romantic, platonic, familial, and self-love. Love can be many things–all-consuming, fleeting, vengeful, selfless, toxic, uplifting, and always, a core part of the teen experience that leaves an indelible mark. This enchanting, genre-crossing anthology delivers something for every listener with unique characters, global settings, and a dazzling mixture of myth, historical, speculative, and contemporary fiction.

Grace Williams has her future all mapped out. A high school senior in her beloved state of Texas, Grace plans to move to New York City after graduation to study at Barnard College, and maybe, someday, win a Nobel Prize in biology. When she's asked to tutor Jack Nelson, the star baseball player who's flunking bio, she thinks it'll be just another activity to list on her college application. Studying turns to flirting, flirting becomes secret hookups, and despite her expertise in bio, Grace gets pregnant.

Ronnie Rhinehart, better known as Rhino on the field, is the captain of his high school team in Woodhaven, a small town obsessed with football. His only goal is to earn a Division I football scholarship so he can escape this town forever. Until the day he punches Josh Kremens in the face. To avoid serious punishment and stay in school, Ronnie is forced to join Group, a cast of misfits who discuss their feelings with a counselor. At the same time, tensions are rising on the football team.

Sophie Gracewell’s only plans for the summer involve working at her family’s diner, hanging out with her best friend Millie, and generally keeping a low profile after the drama of her father’s arrest last year. But when five mysterious Italian brothers suddenly move into town, her life changes forever. Irresistibly drawn to bad boy Nic, Sophie finds herself falling into a dangerous criminal underworld governed by powerful families.

One spring afternoon after school, Amber arrives home on her bike. It’s just another perfectly normal day. But when Amber’s mom sees her, she screams. Because Amber died seven years ago, hit by a car while on the very same bicycle she’s inexplicably riding now. This return doesn’t only impact Amber. Her sister, Melissa, now seven years older, must be a new kind of sibling to Amber. Amber’s estranged parents are battling over her. And the changes ripple farther and farther out.

Lia and Beck. Beck and Lia. Despite army-brat life orbiting them in and out of each other's worlds, Lia knows they are destined to be together. It's more than their friendship and chemistry. When Lia's mom was a teen, a fortune teller said her daughter would fall in love with her best friend's son. Lia and Beck were always meant to be. Or so they thought.

El encuentro entre Julia, Shui, Olivier y Elio parece cosa del destino, pero el futuro de la amistad y las relaciones que surgen entre los cuatro solo depende de ellos. En un tren con destino Venecia, los jóvenes Julia y Shui comparten vagón sin saber que ese encuentro cambiará sus vidas para siempre. Ella se muda a la ciudad de los canales para estudiar arte en la prestigiosa Academia. Él regresa a casa después de años viviendo en Shanghái. Olivier Salgari es el heredero de la familia más importante y rica de Venecia, pero se siente atrapado en una jaula de oro.

When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural. Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a "mainstream" school in the suburbs, where she's treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing she has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up.

Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get a summer internship studying dragon languages, be smart, be sweet, and make sure her little sister never, ever has to risk growing up Third Class. She just has to free one dragon. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war. With her parents and cousin arrested and her sister missing, Viv is brought to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker—if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.

Leo Martino’s hunt for love has been a total flop. Over the years, every single crush has ghosted him, leaving him miserable and alone. By senior year, Leo concludes he must be unlovable. It’s time to stop trying. But when he finds himself obsessing over the irresistible Lincoln Chan, Leo decides to give love one last shot—and this time, he has a plan. He’s going to change everything about himself to become the “perfect boyfriend.” And the plan actually works. . .but will he take it too far?

Taiwanese American Catie Carlson has never fit in with her white family. As much as she loves her stepmom and stepsister, she yearns to understand more about her culture and find her biological mother. So Catie is shocked when an opportunity comes knocking on her door: Her summer spa coworker, Toby, says he’ll teach her Mandarin. In exchange, she needs to teach him how to date so he can finally work up the courage to ask out his crush. The only problem is that Catie doesn’t actually have any dating experience. But she can fake it.

For as long as she can remember, Carmela Tofana has desperately wanted one thing: to be a part of La Tofana’s, her mother’s apothecary in Campo Marzio, Rome. When she finally turns sixteen, she’s allowed into the inner sanctum: the workroom where her mother and two assistants craft renowned remedies for their customers. But for every sweet-smelling flower extract in the workroom, there’s another potion requiring darker ingredients.

Chloe Gatti will do whatever it takes to win her elite boarding school’s annual competition, the Wilde Trials. In the two weeks leading up to graduation from Wilde Academy, a dozen seniors are chosen to compete in a series of seven ultimate physical and mental tests, and the winner will take home over half a million dollars—money that Chloe needs to help her sick sister. But the competition is fierce and includes her brooding ex-boyfriend, Hayes Stratford, whose brother was the only student to die during the trials a few years ago.

Sometimes a special friend comes into our life to teach us things that we need to know. And what we learn ends up changing our life forever! What if that friend isn't human, but a bird? A young Magpie to be precise. What then? This is the true and passionate story of Jerry the Magpie, and how he helped a teenage boy overcome a gang of bullies, and to find secret treasure.

"O Bunny, du bist sooo genial!" Margaret Atwood Sie flechten sich Zöpfe, sind nur als Gruppe unterwegs und nennen sich gegenseitig Bunny: An Samanthas College für Erzählende Künste ist die Clique der Bunnys, bestehend aus unerträglich reichen und hübschen jungen Frauen, sehr begehrt. Samantha hingegen ist eine Außenseiterin, ihre einzige Freundin Ava hat für die Bunnys nur Verachtung übrig. Doch eines Tages erhält sie eine Einladung zum sagenumwobenen Schundsalon, einer Mischung aus Party und künstlerischer Performance, bei der die Bunnys Erstaunliches hervorbringen.

For fifty years, King Leander Eldana has ruled Ashland without naming an heir to the crown. After sending away his grandchildren to be raised out of the public eye, it’s finally time to secure his nation’s future by appointing one definitive heir. The best way to appraise his successor? In the halls of Almus Terra Academy, a boarding school infamous for breeding the world’s next generation of leaders—and liars.

In a world of uncertainty and challenges, every young heart needs a spark—a moment of inspiration that lights the way forward. Spark: 20 Stories of Strength, Hope, and Change for Young Hearts is a collection of uplifting short stories designed to encourage and empower young adults to overcome obstacles, embrace their potential, and believe in themselves.

The Rebel’s Hike answers questions that nearly all human beings ask themselves. Who loves me? Am I important? What’s my purpose in life, anyway? Four middle school children find themselves in Wackus Bonkus, a colorful, invigorating realm, talking to OSOLAT, which they learn is an acronym for Original Source Of Light And Truth, about these questions.

Larkin lost two years of her life to post-concussion syndrome. As she stands at the beginning of her new life, she wonders if she’s even the same person she once was. Abandoned by friends when she was injured, she takes her first step toward her future: alone. Was it a mistake for her to go back to school for her senior year? Will they laugh at her panic attacks? Will they notice she isn’t eating? Will she even make it through the first day?

When Willow and her mother relocate from the arid landscapes of New Mexico to the dense forests of Conry, New York, they leave behind more than just their home—they step into a world teeming with secrets and supernatural beings. Conry isn't your typical small town; its population is dominated by werewolves, each with their own hidden stories and complex lives. Willow's mother is an ordinary human, but her late father carried the werewolf gene, a legacy he passed down to her.

Since she was a kid, whip-smart self-starter Rex Simpson has always dreamed of outer space. The biggest champion of her starry aspirations had been her mother, but after her mother's death, Rex’s life remained decidedly more earthbound. But enough is enough. She refuses to let her limited education and complete lack of scientific expertise hold her back any longer. With the enthusiastic encouragement of her best friend, she applies for NASA’s astronaut training program—and gets in.