Dating Social Skills

For as long as Alice can remember, she has dreamed of Max. Together they have traveled the world and fallen deliriously, hopelessly in love. Max is the boy of her dreams - and only her dreams. Because he doesn't exist.

Sheils is very pleased with her perfectly controlled life (controlling others while she's at it). She's smart, powerful, the student body chair, and she even has a loving boyfriend. What more could a girl ask for? But everything changes when the first-ever interspecies transfer student, a pterodactyl named Pyke, enrolls at her school. There's something about him - something primal - that causes the students to lose control whenever he's around.

When self-proclaimed geek girl Bethany Reynolds becomes the newest member of the varsity cheerleading squad, she realizes that there's one thing worse than blending into the lockers: getting noticed. Who knew cheerleading was so hard? Well, at least there's a manual, The Prairie Stone High Varsity Cheerleading Guide. Too bad it doesn't cover any of the really tough questions. Like, how do you maintain some semblance of dignity while wearing an insanely short skirt?

Lea Lane has lived in between all her life. Part Hawaiian, part Mainlander. Perpetual new girl at school. Hanging in the shadow of her actress mother’s spotlight. And now: New resident of the prominent West family’s guest cottage. Bracing herself for the embarrassment of being her classmates’ latest charity case, Lea is surprised when she starts becoming friends with Will and Whitney West instead - or in the case of gorgeous, unattainable Will, possibly even more than friends.

Computer whiz Audrey McCarthy feels most at home in a tech lab, surrounded by her fellow geeks. Once popular and fearless, she hasn't been the same since her dad died. And her ex-best friend, gorgeous queen bee Blake Dawkins, has turned into her worst nightmare. Audrey is counting the minutes until high school is over and she can get the hell out of Dodge and go to college - if she can find a scholarship. So when Public Corporation, a giant tech company, announces a contest for the best app developed by a high schooler Audrey is spurred into action.

Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it’s unusual, but give her a break—she’s had a rough 10 days.

In his debut novel, YouTube personality and author of We Should Hang Out Sometime Josh Sundquist explores the nature of love, trust, and romantic attraction. On his first day at a new school, blind 16-year-old Will Porter accidentally groped a girl on the stairs, sat on another student in the cafeteria, and somehow drove a classmate to tears. High school can only go up from here, right?

Life is looking up for D.J. Schwenk. She's in 11th grade, finally. After a rocky summer, she's reconnecting in a big way with her best friend, Amber. She's got kind of a thing going with Brian Nelson, who's cute and popular and smart but seems to like her anyway. And then there's the fact that she's starting for the Red Bend High School football team, as the first girl linebacker in northern Wisconsin, probably. Which just shows you can't predict the future.

>In the case of Savanna and Gracie, friendship isn’t based on reason, but on the notion that opposites attract. Savanna is a head-turning, attention-seeking, accessorized one of “Those Girls,” while Gracie’s love of old movies and commitment to protecting the environment put her into the “everyone else” category. It seems as if nothing could come between them until Savanna’s lies and dependence on Gracie as a false alibi start to take a toll on their relationship.

Everyone thinks his or her parents are embarrassing, but Hannah knows she's got them all beat. Her dad made a fortune showcasing photos of pretty girls and his party lifestyle all over the Internet, and her mom was once one of her dad's girlfriends and is now the star of her own website. After getting the wrong kind of attention for way too long, Hannah has mastered the art of staying under the radar...and that's just how she likes it.

Carolyn Meyer's historical fiction, such as Marie, Dancing, is popular for its unique perspectives. Loving Will Shakespeare is the tale of Agnes Anne Hathaway. There are few details known about the girl who - though eight years his senior - would eventually become wife to the Bard. Meyer's imagining of her story will inspire listeners to learn more.

It's Saturday night in Santa Barbara and it seems like everyone is headed to the same destination. The reason is simple: To celebrate the end of school. But for eleven different people the motives are bit more complicated - to be noticed, to hook up, to make friends, to numb the pain, to get over an ex, to say goodbye. As each character takes a turn and tells his/her story, the eleven individuals intersect, reconnect, and combine in ways that none of them ever saw coming.

"My name is Colette. This book is about me. Who am I? To be perfectly honest, I'm not exactly sure who I am. I guess you could say I'm the 15-year-old daughter of an annoyingly famous movie star. Or maybe I'm the 18-year-old daughter of a famous movie star's stand-in. Or maybe I'm the thousand-year-old daughter of a vampire.... Having trouble guessing which one of these stories is true? Join the club. My friends have a joke about me: 'How can you tell if Colette is lying? Her mouth is open.'"

After catching their bandmates in a compromising position, 16-year-old Los Angelenos Riley and Reid become painfully aware of the romance missing from their own lives. And so a pact is formed: They'll both try to make something happen with their respective crushes and document the experiences in a shared notebook.

Justin has two goals for sophomore year: to date Chuck, the hottest boy in school, and to become the king of Cool U, the table in the cafeteria where the "in" crowd sits. Unfortunately, he has the wrong look (short, plump, Brillo-pad curls), he has the wrong interests (Broadway, chorus violin), and he has the wrong friends (Spencer, into Eastern religions, and Mary Ann, who doesn't shave her armpits). And Chuck? Well, he's not gay; he's dating Becky, a girl in chorus with whom Justin is friendly.

Sergio is bisexual, but his only real relationship was with a girl. Lance has always known he was gay, but he’s never had a real boyfriend. When the two of them meet, they have an instant connection - but will it be enough to overcome their differences? Allie’s been in a relationship with a guy for the last two years - but when she meets Kimiko, she can’t get her out of her mind. Does this mean she’s gay? Or bi? Kimiko, falling hard for Allie, is willing to stick around and help Allie figure it out. Boyfriends with Girlfriends is Alex Sanchez at his best, writing with a sensitive hand to portray four very real teens striving to find their places in the world.

Fifteen-year-old Indigo Hamlisch is an art prodigy looking forward to her last summer at the Silver Springs Academy for Fine and Performing Arts for Girls. But her BFF Lucy Serrano is a C.I.T. this year, and that means she doesn't have to hang out with Indigo and the other campers anymore: she can mingle with the counselors - including Indigo's scandalous and unrequited crush, paint-splattered art instructor Nick Estep. But it's not like anything is going to happen between Lucy and Nick... right?

As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also one another's only friend. So when Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she's lost the only person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she's popular, happy, and dating, everything "Jennifer" couldn't be - but she still can't shake the memory of her long-lost friend.

If you want more, you have to give less. That's the secret to dating in high school. By giving as little as they expect to get in return, 17-year-old Aubrey Housing and her three best friends have made it to the second semester of their senior year heartbreak-free. And it's all thanks to a few simple rules: don't commit, don't be needy, and don't give away your heart.

Jason Carrillo came out to his basketball team senior year and lost his university scholarship. Now, with graduation behind him and summer ending, he's asked to speak at the opening of a gay and lesbian high school across the country. But after spending years in the closet and losing his scholarship dream, what message can he offer? Kyle Meeks is getting ready to go to Princeton in the fall and trying to see as much as possible of his boyfriend, Jason, before they have to separate. When Jason tells him about his speaking invitation, Kyle jumps at the chance to drive across country with him. Yet he can't help worrying....