Teen Humor

Let’s face it: Talking about race can be difficult. It’s a slippery subject, rife with as many perspectives as there are people in the world. But laughter gets us talking. It has the power to break down barriers and draw us closer together. In Open Mic, acclaimed author and speaker Mitali Perkins invites us to listen in as 10 authors for young adults - some familiar, some new - step up to the mic and share their stories about what it’s like growing up between cultures.

When Cynthia Rothchild's best friend, Annie, falls head over heels for the new high-school librarian, Cyn can totally understand why - he’s really young and seriously hot and apparently thinks Annie would make an excellent library monitor.

Pregnancy was pretty rough for sixteen-year-old Elvie Nara, what with the morning sickness, constant food cravings, and the alien race war she found herself in the middle of. But if she thought giving birth to an extraterrestrial’s baby would be the hard part, she was sorely mistaken.

New York Times best-selling author Joe Schreiber pens a funny, action-packed novel that is equal parts Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and La Femme Nikita. It’s prom night, and Perry is looking forward to playing a gig with his band in New York City. But when his mother makes him take their quiet and geeky Lithuanian exchange student to the dance, he finds himself on a reckless ride through Manhattan—in his dad’s red Jaguar—with a trained assassin.

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.

Don't you trust me? I mean, look at me. Blond, blue eyed, the very image of innocence. Pretty enough, if you care about that kind of thing. I don't. But would a normal person switch identities with some wet mess of a girl at the airport just to get her to stop bawling about being separated from her loser boyfriend and sent to live with some distant relatives? Nope, she wouldn't. Yet I did. I'm not as normal as you think. And you'll just have to trust me.

High school nobody Kenan is doing just fine in the midst of the zombie apocalypse, thank you very much, but when his dream girl Katy comes stumbling around the corner, she turns his world upside-down. David Wood's first foray into young adult fiction is an action-packed horror tale laced with dark humor and even darker thrills.

Twin Peaks meets Pretty Little Liars in acclaimed author Maggie Thrash's new Strange Truth series. It's better to know the truth. At least sometimes. Halfway through Friday night's football game, beautiful cheerleader Brittany Montague - dressed as the giant Winship Wildcat mascot - hurls herself off a bridge into Atlanta's surging Chattahoochee River. Just like that, she's gone. Eight days later, Benny Flax and Virginia Leeds will be the only ones who know why.

After catching their bandmates in a compromising position, 16-year-old Los Angelenos Riley and Reid become painfully aware of the romance missing from their own lives. And so a pact is formed: They'll both try to make something happen with their respective crushes and document the experiences in a shared notebook.

When Jerry falls asleep on the bus to school, he's incredibly hacked off to wake up and discover he's on another planet. The realisation that he's just been sold to a family of aliens by an exotic pet shop, does nothing to improve Jerry's mood. Harchi Jannan and his son, Chad, are thrilled with their unique new pet, but Rashila Jannan is so furious with her husband for buying it, she's ready to shed her tail tip.

It's his senior year, and Will Shea has conned his way into one of the country's most elite prep schools. But he soon runs into Andrea, a fellow con artist. With the school not big enough for the both of them, they make a bet that whoever can con Brandt Rush, the richest, most privileged student in the school, out of $50,000 gets to stay at the school. Will starts setting up his con (an online poker scam) with his uncle, who's one of the best grifters in the business, and with the unwanted help of his father.

An Na has earned critical raves for her young adult fiction. She has won the Michael L. Printz Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award. In The Fold, she examines the complications surrounding teenage plastic surgery. Joyce is thrilled when her aunt becomes suddenly wealthy. But when her aunt decides Joyce needs a makeover, Joyce must decide if she is ready to go under the knife to become the popular swan she's always wanted to be.

In this hilarious reboot of Pride and Prejudice, Megan McKnight is a soccer star with Olympic dreams. When her Southern belle mother secretly enters her as a debutante for the 2016 deb season in their hometown of Dallas, she's furious - and has no idea what she's in for.

Computer whiz Audrey McCarthy feels most at home in a tech lab, surrounded by her fellow geeks. Once popular and fearless, she hasn't been the same since her dad died. And her ex-best friend, gorgeous queen bee Blake Dawkins, has turned into her worst nightmare. Audrey is counting the minutes until high school is over and she can get the hell out of Dodge and go to college - if she can find a scholarship. So when Public Corporation, a giant tech company, announces a contest for the best app developed by a high schooler Audrey is spurred into action.

I realize that on paper I look like your standard type-A neurotic overachiever. And maybe I am. But I didn't get to be the editor of my school's long-revered newspaper by just showing up. I have one main goal for my senior year: early acceptance into my first-choice Ivy League college - and I will not be deterred by best friends, moms who think I could stand to "live a little", or boys.

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.

Conni besucht die weiterführende Schule. Ihre Liebe zu Tieren wird zur echten Herausforderung, als sie einen Hundewelpen aus dem heißen Inneren eines Autos befreit. Blöd nur, dass sowohl Auto als auch Hund dem Direktor der Schule gehören. Das Thema Tierschutz wird zur Familiensache, da auch Connis Oma Liane nach ihrer Pensionierung auf einem Gnadenhof für alte und ausgesetzte Tiere gebraucht wird.

Princess Wisdom, known as Dizzy, longs for a life of excitement beyond the staid old kingdom of Montagne. Tips, a soldier, longs to keep his true identity a secret. Fortitude, an orphaned maid, longs only for Tips. These three souls might possibly attain their dreams while preserving their empire from ruin - if only they can bear one another’s company long enough to devise a plan. Romance and adventure join forces in this hilarious tale told in diaries, letters, an encyclopedia, and even a play, all seamlessly stitched together by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.

elve-year-old Griff Carver knows a thing or two about fighting crime. Because Griffs not just any kidhes a kid with a badge. And if you are a criminal, he's your worst nightmare. Griff might be the new kid on the Rampart Jr. High Patrol squad, but he's no rookie. And he'll do whatever it takes to clean up the mean hallways of his middle school - even if it lands him in hot water. But when Griff links cool kid Marcus The Smile Volger to a counterfeit hall pass ring, can he and his friends close the case? Or will Griff let down the force - and lose his badge for good?

James Salley is turning 16, and it's not going well. His family's too busy to care, the local bully creates new tortures daily, someone appears to be following him, and he's just learned that he's the Antichrist. All James ever wanted out of life was for Dorian Delaney - the operatically trained and suicidal girl of his dreams - to fall as in love with him as he is with her. But once he's told of his bloody destiny, he finds himself fighting between who he thought he was and who he's supposed to be.