Self Image Fiction

Henry "Biggie" Abbott is the son of one of Finch, Iowa's most famous athletes. His father was a baseball legend and his step-dad is a close second. At an obese 300+ pounds though, Biggie himself prefers classroom success to sports. As a perfectionist, he doesn't understand why someone would be happy getting two hits in five trips to the plate. "Forty percent, that's an F in any class", he would say. As Biggie's junior year begins, the girl of his dreams, Annabelle Rivers, starts to flirt with him and suggests he should play baseball.

Cassie and the rest of the crew have found themselves in the middle of a conflict between two alien civilizations hell-bent on destroying each other...and anyone else who gets in their way. What was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission soon becomes a fight for their lives. But Cassie knows it isn’t enough to simply survive. The war is coming to Earth, and only she has the information that can possibly stop the devastation it will bring. With humanity’s fate in the balance, Cassie must decide who she can trust and who she's willing to sacrifice in order to complete her mission.

On the vast and indescribably beautiful South Rim of the Grand Canyon a young Hualapai boy faces a bleak future in 1902. River Thunder's mother has just passed into the Spirit World and River Thunder will carry his flute, courage and trusting innocence to the Hackberry Day School still standing today on old Route 66 while never once imagining how his fate will one day soar like an eagle over the magnificent Grand Canyon.

When Kaelyn and her friends reached Toronto with a vaccine for the virus that has ravaged the population, they thought their journey was over - but hope has eluded them once again. Now there is a dangerous group of survivors intent on tracking them down and stealing the cure no matter the costs. Forced onto the road again, Kaelyn redoubles her efforts to find a safe haven. But when the rest of her group starts to fall apart, the chances for her success grow slim. Kaelyn's resolve is strong, but is she willing to surrender everything in order to stay alive?

Filled with dramatic true-life tragedies, you are immediately submerged into the fatal world of car accidents, suicides, a train wreck, and the aftermath of traumatic experiences. Can one person make a significant difference in the midst of human suffering? Can one person change the outcome of a personal tragedy? Author Steve Vanzant says, "Yes"! As chaplain for a fire department, he is one of the first responders to scenes that would horrify and sicken even the strongest.

Dear teenager, breathe a sigh of relief. Here it is. The book you’ve been waiting for! After working with people your age for more than 20 years, I know how keen you are to make the most of the good times. You want to feel better equipped to handle life’s ups and downs. You want less drama, doubt, anger, worry, fear, and stress in your life at school, sport, and with your friends. That’s where ROC and Rise comes in.

Seventeen-year-old “Hank” has found himself at Penn Station in New York City with no memory of anything - who he is, where he came from, why he’s running away. His only possession is a worn copy of Walden, by Henry David Thoreau.

And so he becomes Henry David - or “Hank” and takes first to the streets, and then to the only destination he can think of - Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Cal Armistead’s remarkable debut novel is about a teen in search of himself.

Bobby Lassiter has some important secrets - but it’s not as if anyone’s paying attention. It’s the middle of the Depression, and while Bobby’s mother and older sister knit all day to make money, Bobby explores the California desert around their home. That’s how Bobby finds Boots. He’s under their one half-dead tree, half dead himself. Right away he’s a secret, too - a secret to be fed and clothed and taken care of, and even more of a secret because of what he can do. Sometimes Boots is a man. Sometimes he’s (really, truly) a horse.

When it comes to family, Annie is in the losers bracket. While her foster parents are great (mostly), her birth family would not have been her first pick. And no matter how many times Annie tries to write them out of her life, she always gets sucked back into their drama. Love is like that. But when a family argument breaks out at Annie’s swim meet and her nephew goes missing, Annie might be the only one who can get him back. With help from her friends, her foster brother, and her social service worker, Annie puts the pieces of the puzzle together, determined to find her nephew.

Nothing ever happens to Charlotte and Frankie. Their lives are nothing like the lives of the girls they read about in their YA novels. They don't have flowing red hair, and hot romantic encounters never happen - let alone meeting a true soul mate. But when Charlotte decides to write down everything that happens during their sophomore year - to prove that nothing happens and there is no plot or character development in real life - she's surprised to find that being 15 isn't as boring as she thought.

Janie and Micah, Micah and Janie. That's how it's been ever since elementary school, when Janie Vivien moved next door. Janie says Micah is everything she is not. Where Micah is shy, Janie is outgoing. Where Micah loves music, Janie loves art. It's the perfect friendship - as long as no one finds out about it. But then Janie goes missing, and everything Micah thought he knew about his best friend is colored with doubt.

Teen celebrity Vivian Divine's movie-star mom has been murdered, her famous-director dad tried to kill himself, and her boyfriend is cheating on her. She can practically hear wannabe screenwriters penning bad TV movies about her tragic life. When a death threat arrives with her fan mail, Vivian has no choice but to go on the run to Mexico. She soon discovers, though, that her Oscar-nominated performance killing villains on-screen did nothing to prepare her for escaping a madman in real life.

Mike Welles had everything under control. He was a good student, an outfielder on the baseball team, a good son, a loyal friend. But that was before. There's a voice in his head. A friend, trying to help him regain control. More than that: The voice can guide him to become better and stronger than he was before, to rid his life of everything holding him back. To figure out who he is again. If only Mike will listen.

Seventeen-year-old River doesn't know what to do with himself when Penny, the girl he adores, breaks up with him. He lives in LA, where nobody walks anywhere, and Penny was his ride; he never bothered getting a license. He's stuck. He's desperate. Okay...he's got to learn to drive. But first he does the unthinkable - he starts walking.

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.

Teenager Moss Trawnleyis in desperate need of work, and so he decides to headout west as a member of Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps to help protect Montana's wildlife from devastating erosion and wildfires. Despite the grueling work, Moss has time to play baseball, make lifelong friends, and rediscover what he almost lost in the Great Depression: himself. Bringing an important era of U.S. history to life, this rivetingcoming-of-age story will appeal to any teen who has dreamed of adventure and survival in the great outdoors.

Nothing is beyond Kristi Carmichael's disdain - her hippie high school, her friend Jacob, her workaholic mom. Yet Kristi has a vulnerable side. She can hear the thoughts of her fellow students calling her fat and gross. She's hot for Gusty Peterson, one of the most popular guys in school, but of course, she's sure he thinks she is disgusting. And she's still mad at her father, who walked out on them two years ago. Soon, a school project brings her together with Gusty, her father comes home and drops a bombshell, and a friend comes out of the closet.

Pinned follows Ivan Korske and Bobby Zane, two high school seniors, as they embark on the most important winter of their lives in a quest for the New Jersey state high school wrestling championship.

It isn't easy being able to read minds - guys' minds, especially. Gusty Peterson, the hottest bimboy in school, is always thinking I'm sick, as in totally gross to look at. Not that it matters, since I don't have a crush on him or anything. And Mallory, my first real friend since forever, has disturbing, romantic ideas about me bouncing in his brain. Even worse, scrawny Jacob has bizarre fantasies about decorating my ginormous gazungas with mascarpone cheese.

In Ghostgirl: Homecoming, Hurley continues the story of Charlotte Usher, who finds herself dead but unable to rest in peace…yet. Before she can cross over, Charlotte must help other teens through problems of their own. When Petula, a popular cheerleader, and her sister, Scarlet, end up in comas, Charlotte aims to save them—but her helping hand may do more harm than good.