Mental Images

Award-winning author and former schoolteacher Jonathan Friesen has a knack for crafting exciting stories teenagers want to read. Rush features 18-year-old Jake King, an adrenaline junkie who jumps at the chance to join an elite group of firefighters who rappel into wildfires. Known as the Immortals, these heroes have a habit of dying young. But Jake’s sort-of girlfriend thinks there’s more to the Immortals’ high death rate than bad luck.

In Banshee, Samantha Baxter - wife, mother, poetry professor - learns she has breast cancer and then ruins her own life. Tumbling through a catastrophic midlife crisis, she gives herself permission to partake in behaviors she's observed in her male colleagues, including having an affair with a student her daughter's age, ranting at board meetings, and telling her poetry students what she really thinks of their work. Underneath biting, witty narration lurks a childish, confused, and unrealized adult woman hell-bent on destroying her relationships and professional life.

The audiobook is divided into units on self-worth, self-respect, and self-esteem; friendship; love and meaningful relationships; finding meaning, purpose, and direction in life; giving, sharing, and making a difference; encouragement and success; and coping with pressure, stress, and tough issues. Real teens reviewed this work, and the authors completed it with the collaborative feedback of those teens.

Every year on St Stephen’s Day, Wren Silke is chased through the forest in a warped version of a childhood game. Her pursuers are judges - a group of powerful and frightening boys who know nothing of her true identity. If they knew she was an augur - their sworn enemy - the game would be up. This year, the tension between judges and augurs is at breaking point. Wren’s survival, and that of her family, depends on her becoming a spy in the midst of these boys she fears most and using her talent, her magic, to steal from them the only thing that can restore her family’s former power for good. But Wren’s talent comes with a price.

Earth Hates Me presents a look inside the mind of the modern teenager - from a modern teenager's perspective. Sixteen-year-old Ruby Karp addresses the issues facing every high schooler, from grades to peer pressure to Snapchat stories, and unpacks their complicated effects on the teen psyche.

In an attempt to lose weight, Izzie tries everything: one diet after another, a punishing exercise program and every bit of conflicting advice everyone can give her. Her constant worrying about her weight causes her to lose her confidence, and she stops appreciating the things in her life that are special - her supportive friends, the fact that she has been selected for a TV teen panel and a cute boy at the TV studio who seems to appreciate her just the way she is.

Margaret "Cuckoo" Clarke recently had a brief stay in a mental institution following an emotional breakdown, but she's turning over a new leaf with her "Operation Happiness". She's determined to beat down the bad vibes of the Haters, the Terror Teachers, and all of the trials and tribulations of high school by writing and drawing in her diary. And when life gets really tough, she works through her own moments of uncertainty through imaginary conversations with her favorite literary characters.

Become your best self. Figuring out how to make friends, develop relationships, and be confident is a step-by-step process. Now help is available in Embracing the Awkward, written by the popular teen-advice YouTuber, The Josh Speaks. This isn't another dry instructional book written by a boring adult disconnected from the millennial reality; it's a guide, a workbook, an empowering step towards trying things out, discovering who you are, and becoming your best self.

Welcome to Marnie David’s groundbreaking 2-in-1 compilation that combines her renowned first two books – The Confident Teen and The Social Teen. The Radiant Teen is a transformative guide designed to empower teens to break out of their shells and let their authentic selves shine. This book is an indispensable resource for overcoming social anxiety and low self-esteem.

During a semester in the wilderness, 16-year-old Sib expects the tough outdoor education program and the horrors of dorm life, but friendship drama and an unexpected romance with popular Ben Capaldi? That will take some navigating. New girl Lou has zero interest in fitting in, or joining in. Still reeling from a loss that occurred almost a year ago, she just wants to be left alone. But as she witnesses a betrayal unfolding around Sib and her best friend Holly, Lou can't help but be drawn back into the land of the living.

Harley Milano has dreamed of becoming a trapeze artist for as long as she can remember. With parents who run a famous circus in Las Vegas, she spends almost every night in the big top watching their lead aerialist perform, wishing with all her heart and soul that she would be up there herself one day. After a huge fight with her parents, who continue to insist she go to school instead, Harley leaves home, betrays her family, and joins the rival traveling circus Maison du Mystère.

“I’ve got my entire life planned out for the next 10 years - including my PhD and Pulitzer Prize,” claims 16-year-old overachiever Vassar Spore, the daughter of overachiever parents, who named her after an elite women’s college. Vassar expects her sophomore summer to include both AP and AAP (Advanced Advanced Placement) classes. Surprise! Enter a world-traveling relative who sends her plans into a tailspin when she blackmails Vassar’s parents into forcing their only child to backpack with her through Southeast Asia.

Third Sister in the Tao family, Ailin has watched her two older sisters go through the painful process of having their feet bound. In China in 1911, all the women of good families follow this ancient tradition. Ailin rebels and refuses to follow this torturous tradition. But as she enters adolescence, Ailin finds that her family is no longer willing to support her. With a bold conviction and an indomitable spirit, Ailin is determined to forge her own destiny. Her story is a tribute to all those women whose courage created new options for the generations who came after them.

Along with all the perks of becoming an adult come challenges and the need to learn skills that help you self-regulate as you venture into new experiences. Highlighting five key areas of life - physical, mental, emotional, social, and financial - Be You, Only Better offers science- and experience-backed tools and easy-to-implement techniques for success. Skill-building and self-care practices - such as journaling, getting enough sleep and exercise, embracing nature, managing time and money, and practicing gratitude, mindfulness, and optimism - are presented.

Seventeen-year-old Jessa Gray has always felt broken inside, but she's gotten very good at hiding it. No one at school knows about the panic attacks, the therapy that didn't help, the anxiety meds that haven't worked. But when a severe accident leaves her with a brain injury and noticeable scars, Jessa's efforts to convince the world that she's okay finally crumble - now she looks as shattered as she feels.

Dean Foster knows he’s a trans guy. He’s watched enough YouTube videos and done enough questioning to be sure. But everyone at his high school thinks he’s a lesbian - including his girlfriend, Zoe, and his theater director, who just cast him as a “nontraditional” Romeo. He wonders if maybe it would be easier to wait until college to come out. But as he plays Romeo every day in rehearsals, Dean realizes he wants everyone to see him as he really is now - not just on the stage, but everywhere in his life. Dean knows what he needs to do.

What if you could do things no one else could? Life would be so much easier if you could run faster than a train or leap over a building. You could go anywhere - be anything you wanted to be. Dating would be easier. Money would come freely. The world would be your playground. Everything would change for the better. Well, I’m here to tell you, that just isn’t true. And I would know...Super is a young adult fiction novel that follows the story of JJ Morris - a junior at Oak Hill High School.

My sophomore year changed everything. I dropped 40 pounds after a stint in fat camp. Prior to losing weight, most of my time was spent comparing myself to my twin sister and trying to hide my cankles. But losing weight made all things seem possible. Now I'm popular, vying for the hottest guy in school and competing for a prom queen nomination. Finally, I'm getting noticed, and it's all because I dropped the pounds.

Central International School’s annual lock-in is legendary - and for six students, this year’s lock-in is the answer to their dreams. The chance to finally win the contest. Kiss the guy. Make a friend. Become the star of a story that will be passed down from student to student for years to come. But then a group of students, led by Marisa Cuevas, stage an eco-protest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met.

Zoe and Hank (short for Hannah) have been inseparable since they met in elementary school. The leader of the pack, Zoe is effortlessly popular while Hank hides comfortably in her shadow. But when Zoe's parents unexpectedly divorce, Zoe's perfect facade starts cracking little by little. Sinking under the weight of her broken family, Zoe develops an eating disorder. Now she must rely on Hank for help.