Social Pressure

So you think your mom is embarrassing? You won’t after you meet mine. She’s the co-host of a morning television show and her host chat has covered everything I’ve done from puking on my piano teacher’s shoes to gluing antlers on my head. But I’ve got the microphone now and I’m doing weekly commentaries on my school’s broadcast/podcast. Don’t get me wrong - mom’s awesome, and I’d never really want to freak her out. But if viewers get to hear about my private life, why can’t I dish about Mom’s new boyfriend, or how dorky she is as a school volunteer?

>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.

Augie Boretski knows how to get by. If you're a scrawny loser in the destitute city of Camden, New Jersey, you keep your head down, avoid the drug dealers and thugs, and try your best to be invisible. Augie used to be good at that, but suddenly his life is changing....

Paul is new to Gate, a school whose rich students make life miserable for anyone not like them. And Paul is definitely not like them. Then, one day something incredible happens. Charlie Good, a star student and athlete, invites Paul to join his elite inner circle. All Charlie wants is a few things in return - small things that Paul does willingly. And then, one day, Charlie wants something big - really big. Now Paul has to decide how far he'll go to be one of the gang.

On a hot summer night in a midwestern town, a high school teenage prank goes horrifically awry. Alcohol, guns, and a dare. Within minutes, as events collide, innocents becomes victims - with tragic outcomes altering lives forever, a grisly and unfortunate scenario all too familiar from current real-life headlines. But victims can also become survivors, and as we come to know each character through his/her own distinctive voice and their interactions with one another, we see how, despite pain and guilt, they can reach out to one another, find a new equilibrium, and survive.

Sixteen-year-old Bernadette Terrell is a champion debater who loves books, contests, and winning. When she's named captain of her school's Classics Bowl team to compete on TV against an elite private school for the state title, she's thrilled. It's more than a chance to earn glory for her town, and scholarship money for her family - not to mention make non-fictional friends. She's been training for this her whole life. Winning is her destiny. Or is it?

Meg has been best friends with Beatrix forever. Everyone at school wants to be like confident, decisive Beatrix, and Meg has always felt the same. But this year, Meg wants to take a science course instead of dance class. She'd rather do what makes her happy‚ not what Beatrix wants. When a quirky girl named Hazel moves to town, Meg is partnered with her on a science project about bees. Meg learns a lot about being Queen Bee, in a hive and in middle school. As Beatrix is less than welcoming to Hazel, Meg feels her loyalty fraying.

Popular girl Bliss Merino is ready to have the perfect prom. But when she catches her boyfriend making out with her best friend in the back of the limo, she has only one thought: revenge.... Bad girl Jolene Nelson is the last person anyone expected to see at prom. Yet here she is, dressed in pink ruffles and feeling like a fool for believing that he would actually show up.... Meg Rose Zuckerman is ready to stop being a wallflower and start experiencing life firsthand. But when her date stands her up, she finds herself on the outside yet again....

Jürgen Resch ist als Bundesgeschäftsführer der Deutschen Umwelthilfe einer der bekanntesten und wirkungsvollsten Umweltaktivisten unserer Zeit. Doch seit Jahrzehnten macht er immer wieder die bittere Erfahrung: Der Staat kapituliert vor den Interessen großer Konzerne. Wider besseres Wissen bleiben Umwelt und Klima auf der Strecke.

Thirteen-year-old Aaron was chosen to save their world, but it might come at the cost of losing his own... Breaking into an old lady's basement was supposed to reward Aaron with new friends. Instead he finds an enchanted amulet that transports him to another world - one at war with magic. Before he knows it, he is accused of witchcraft and invited to a bonfire - where he's the main attraction. If that's not bad enough, a goblin army shows up and toasts the town... literally.

Elijah Thomas knows one thing better than anyone around him: basketball. But when a sinister street gang, Blood Street Nation, wants him and his team members to wear the Nation’s colors in the next big tournament, Elijah’s love of the game is soon thrown into jeopardy. The boys gather their courage and take a stand against the gang, but at a terrible cost. Now Elijah must struggle to balance hope and fear, revenge and forgiveness, to save his neighborhood. For help, he turns to the most unlikely of friends: Banks, a gruff ex–military man, and his beautiful and ambitious daughter.

Real-life peer pressure is not just about dares and bullies and can be much harder to spot. Peer pressure can cause people to avoid making friends outside their own clique, follow trends without thinking, try to achieve an impossible look, not take school seriously, and let anger turn into violence. Handling Peer Pressure examines the many different kinds of peer pressure, where it comes from, and how to beat it - and tells the stories of some remarkable people who did. The book is published by Chelsea House Publishers, a leading publisher of educational material.

Luke was not eager to accompany his best friend, Hayden, and the cocky new kid, Russell, up to the cliff that night. The plan was to watch Russell jump off the cliff into the lake - his initiation for the Briar Academy fencing team. But instead, after an angry confrontation with Hayden, Russell falls to his death. Now Hayden is in jail and the pressure is on Luke to report what he saw. But what did he see?

This fiery autobiographical novel captures a pivotal week or two in the life of 14-year-old Jack Gantos, as the author reveals the moment he began to slide off track as a kid who in just a few years would find himself locked up in a federal penitentiary for the crimes portrayed in the memoir Hole in My Life.

Ever decided to do something that seemed like a good idea and, in the second before there's no turning back, think, "I musta been totally mental when I came up with this"? And then, "Oh, well, here goes". That's how angel-in-training Grace Lightbourne felt right before she asked the Big Kahuna if she could go straight to Earth on a mission as a guardian angel. The problem? She never was a great student, and now she won't even finish her last three years of school.

The fall of the Awesome Threesome is the talk of the junior class. The three friends - Jennie, Emily, and Hillary - thought they’d be a trio forever. But what with Jennie’s relentless ambition, Emily’s jealousy, and Hillary’s building resentment, it seems the Awesome Threesome is over.

How could a pet unicorn make me stop worrying? Yes, you heard that right! I have a unicorn for a pet. She’s my best friend ever. We do many cool things together - eating breakfast, racing across the meadow, then sliding down the rainbow, and a lot more.... But most importantly, my unicorn is very wise and smart and often sits with me for hours to talk about important things.

Vivienne embarks upon the summer of her dreams as one of the few students selected for a training program back east at Liberty Farms. But as focused as she is on her riding, Vivvie also has a secret agenda: to investigate the death of Joel Parker, her friend who she believes was tragically murdered. Vivvie has hardly set foot in the state-of-the-art barns before things start to go amiss.

Harvey thinks school is the most boring place on earth until he starts to bet on how many times the supply teacher will give a nervous twitch, how often the Head will blow his nose, and lots of other possible outcomes. All of a sudden, school is fun.

The juniors at Paloma High School all have their secrets, whether it's the thespian who hides her trust issues onstage, the closeted pansexual who cares only about his drug-dealing profits, or the neurotic genius who's planted the seed of a school scandal. But it's Juniper Kipling who has the furthest to fall. No one would argue that Juniper - obedient daughter, salutatorian, natural beauty, and loyal friend - is anything but perfect.