Difficult Times

Aunt Trudy never wanted kids. Now that she’s Richie’s guardian, she makes his life miserable. Richie just wants to escape, so he seeks refuge in the deep Missouri woods he loves so much. Suddenly it’s not summer, but late fall. How did that happen? Did the trucker who just gave him a ride somehow whisk him back 50 years in time? The woods aren’t for Richie the haven they used to be. After a freak storm, he finds himself at the mercy of Morris, a mysterious Black man who also calls the woods home. Is Morris a savior? Or someone to fear?

When school bullies go too far, some students snap! Lester Lopkins is a below-average kid who wants to be noticed for something other than being the best target for bullies. His only possibility for fame is to become the chess champion of the school. But on the day before the big chess match, Austin, the school’s number one bully, stuffs Lester in his locker. Something happens to the claustrophobic Lester during his time in his locker, and he gains the power to snap his fingers and stop time.

Zwei Gangs, zwei Zeiten, zwei Welten und eine Chance. Ein Zeitreise-Thriller, erzählt in zwei miteinander verbundenen Zeitebenen: Esso, ein schwarzer Teenager aus Südlondon, ist zur falschen Zeit am falschen Ort. Weil er sieht, wie ein berüchtigtes Gangmitglied zusammengeschlagen wird, muss er um sein Leben fürchten. Als er wenig später vor ein Auto läuft und bewusstlos wird, entdeckt er, dass er Zugang zu einer anderen Welt hat: Er kann dort Szenen seines zukünftigen Lebens sehen. Und etwas, was er unbedingt verhindern möchte.

Kathryn Barker's Waking Romeo is a spectacularly genre-bending retelling of Romeo & Juliet asking the big questions about true love, fate, and time travel.

We talk every day—and we often do it without thinking. But, as you well know, there are some things that are harder to talk about—especially issues pertaining to politics, culture, lifestyle, and diversity. This groundbreaking book will show you how to get to that important next level in difficult conversations, to talk in an authentic and straightforward way about culture and diversity, and to speak from the heart with tools from the head. You'll learn to navigate these difficult conversations, and take what you've learned beyond the conversation and out into the world.

Millie thought the whole world was unfair. Even though she had a nice house and a loving family, she was always miserable. Whenever things didn't go her way, Millie constantly complained. Millie became so miserable that she decided to run away so she could do whatever she wanted. She takes a bus to the big city, but instead of having fun, she encounters one disaster after another. Millie is alone and scared and ends up with no money, no food to eat, and nowhere to sleep. After getting caught stealing candy, the police call her parents.

On the verge of her thirteenth birthday, Tess's life is falling apart. Her mother is dead. Her father is like a zombie. And now her beloved cat, Alice, has started running into the street when cars go by, trying to get run over. The only thing Tess can think of that might help? Running away. As she ventures from home, Tess stumbles upon a crew of manga-loving goth kids hiding out in the local haunted house performing seances.

Blink, man, what were you thinking? Sneaking into the hotel for a hot breakfast  -  hot scraps of someone else’s breakfast, really. Couldn’t you just feel  that it was a wrong place/wrong time scenario? Even before you heard the banging and saw those dudes in suits jet it out of room 1616? Now you’re not only witness to a crime; you’re linked to it, thanks to the smartphone you were stupid enough to jack from the room. And then there’s Caution. As in “Caution: Contents Under Pressure.” She’s also on the run, from a skeezy drug-dealer boyfriend and from a nightmare in her past that won’t let her go.

On the night Donovan Turner is thrown out of a car on a highway in the middle of nowhere, he can barely remember his own name, let alone the past 24 hours. Where is he? Where is his girlfriend, Bee? In an attempt to flag down the next passing car, he startles the driver, causing a fatal accident. With sirens in the distance and the lingering feeling that he's running from something - or someone - Donovan grabs the dead driver's briefcase and flees.

Ten teens are left alone in the wilderness during a three-day survival test in this multi-authored novel edited by award-winning author Shaun David Hutchinson. At Zeppelin Bend, an outdoor-education program designed to teach troubled youth the value of hard work, cooperation, and compassion, 10 teens are left alone in the wild. The teens are a diverse group who come from all walks of life and were all sent to Zeppelin Bend as a last chance to get them to turn their lives around.

Jess and her parents have brought Grandpa back to his boyhood home by the river. Although the old man has recently suffered a heart attack, he insists on this journey. He wants to finish one last painting before he dies. Jess is training to be a long-distance swimmer, so when Grandpa is napping, she practices in the river. But soon she starts seeing a presence there - one that is also affecting Grandpa's painting. Who is the boyish figure Jess sees in the river? What does he want her to do?

Fran Singer is a regular eighth grader relishing her role in the school play, enjoying hanging out with her best friend, and thinking of ways to steer clear of her annoying little brother...when suddenly, in a matter of seconds, everything changes. An unintentional tragic accident with major consequences shoots her out of her ordinary world into one racked with guilt, shame, and complete alienation. Starting over after all that is not easy...but is it possible? Will her life be better, the second time around?

All Dylan wants is mojo. What is mojo? It's power. The ability to command respect. It's everything Dylan doesn't have. He gets no respect at school, and when he finds the dead body of a classmate, even the police push him around. All the thanks he gets for trying to help the investigation with his crime-drama skills is a new nickname at school: Body Bag. So when Dylan hears about a missing rich girl from the other side of town, he jumps at the chance to dive into this mystery. Surely if he cracks a case involving a girl this beautiful and this rich, he'll get the mojo he's looking for.

Grandpa is dying. He can barely move his hands any more but, stubborn as ever, refuses to stay in hospital. He's determined to finish his last painting, 'River Boy', before he goes. At first Jess can't understand his refusal to let go, but then she too becomes involved in the mysterious painting. And when she meets the river boy himself, she finds she is suddenly caught up in a challenge of her own that she must complete - before it's too late...

Paski and her father move to Southern California, where his comic strip has been optioned for a movie. At her new high school, money is everything and the haters rule, especially beautiful, cruel Jessica Nguyen. While Paski tries to concentrate on mountain biking and not thinking too much about ultra-hot Chris Cabrera, she is troubled by visions.

One of the worst acts of racial violence in American history took place in 1921, when a White mob numbering in the thousands decimated the thriving Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Burning recreates Greenwood at the height of its prosperity, explores the currents of hatred, racism, and mistrust between its Black residents and Tulsa's White population, narrates events leading up to and including Greenwood's devastation, and documents the subsequent silence that surrounded this tragedy.

Lilly and Lolly find hope through grief and loss.

Kay hat eine große Wut im Bauch. Seitdem sein Vater seine Arbeit verloren hat, lässt dieser den Kummer an seiner Familie aus. Dies lässt Kay auch Dinge machen, die er eigentlich gar nicht will. Mit Sven aus der Parallelklasse tyrannisiert er Erstklässler. Schließlich droht er, von der Schule zu fliegen. Doch er bekommt eine letzte Chance. Er soll sich um die neue Mitschülerin Greta kümmern, die ein ganz besonderes Mädchen ist. Sie hat das Down-Syndrom. Mit ihrer ehrlichen, direkten und emotionalen Art stellt Greta Kay vor eine echte Herausforderung.

Undocumented is the story of immigrant workers who have come to the United States without papers. Everyday these men and women join the workforce and contribute positively to society. Juan grew up in Mexico working in the fields to help provide for his family. Struggling for money, he crosses over into the United States and becomes an undocumented worker, living in a poor neighborhood and working hard to survive. Although he is able to get a job as a busboy at a restaurant, he is severely undercompensated - he receives less than half of the minimum wage!

Ollie Buckmeyer is funny, popular, and lives an idyllic life with his family on one of the last cattle ranches in Southern California. But when he suffers a devastating brain injury, his wonderful world is shattered. Even though he still looks like the same old Ollie, his family mourns as if he had died, his friends don't know him, and the girl he loves is gone. Everything that matters is taken from him...but something is also given: Ollie has an amazing new talent that might be powerful enough to rebuild his life.