First Depression

Thirteen-year-old Annabelle struggles in school, no matter how hard she tries. But as soon as she dives into the pool, she's unstoppable. She's the fastest girl on the middle school swim team, and when she's asked to join the high school team over the summer, everything changes. Suddenly, she's got new friends, and a high school boy starts treating her like she's somebody special - and Annabelle thinks she'll finally stand out in a good way.

Annie Mathers is America’s sweetheart and heir to a country music legacy full of all the things her gran warned her about. Superstar Clay Coolidge is most definitely going to end up one of those things. But unfortunately for Clay, if he can’t convince Annie to join his summer tour, his music label is going to drop him. Swayed by Clay’s undeniable charm and good looks, Annie and her band agree to join the tour. From the start, fans want them to be more than just tour mates, and Annie and Clay can’t help but wonder if the fans are right.

Jazz Jacobson has spent 14 of her 16 summers on Fire Island. It's just an hour from Manhattan, but feels like a world away, where Jazz thrives in the absence of the social hierarchies and pressures of high school. Most of all, it's the place where she's reunited with her best friend, Macy Whelan. This summer starts out strong when the cute new boy on the island seems to like Jazz (hello, first boyfriend?). But it's hard to focus on her own crush when Macy's still obsessing over her hookup from last summer, Max Cooper.

Sloane and Maggie have never met. Sloane is a straight-A student with a big and loving family. Maggie lives a glamorously independent life as an up-and-coming actress in New York. The two girls couldn't be more different - except for one thing. They share a secret that they can't tell a soul. At night, they dream that they're each other. The deeper they're pulled into the promise of their own lives, the more their worlds begin to blur dangerously together. Before long, Sloane and Maggie can no longer tell which life is real and which is just a dream.

In this book, we’re going to continue our discussion of the Great Depression, but with focus on President Roosevelt’s First and Second New Deals. What were these deals? What did they entail, and how did the economy benefit from them? Open this book to listen about the answers today!