Showing titles in Bullying & Abuse

Jason Roberts knows how to take a hit, and he has taken plenty: both from the boys at his high school, and from his deadbeat, drug-dealing father. But Jason has learned to give as good as he gets, and his reputation as the school tough guy has made him something of a legend. It isn't his rep that concerns him, though - all he really wants to do is get himself and his sister Janie out of this life and move to a place where his father can't hurt them anymore.

Gardner Dickinson is almost 15, and his life is a mess. His bedroom is littered with library books he never reads. He daydreams about building muscles, but never gets around to it. Worst of all, his recently laid-off dad is more interested in playing golf than finding a new job. But one day life starts to click for Gardner. He finishes a few of those library books, begins running after school and starts earning some spare cash - and those muscles he’s craved - by splitting wood for the neighbors.

From master storyteller An Na comes the Printz Award-winning novel about a Korean girl who tells her firsthand account of trying to find her place and identity in America from the day she leaves Korea as a child to her rocky journey through the teenage years.

Bettina Vasilis can hardly believe it when basketball star Brady Cullen asks her out, and she just about faints when her strict father actually approves of him. Over the course of the summer, Bettina falls in love with Brady - and with the new freedom that comes along with him. But when school starts up again, Brady changes. What happened to the sweet boy she fell in love with? Then she meets a smoldering guy in his twenties, and this "Cowboy" is everything Brady is not.

Tim's a struggling black kid on the mean streets of Newark. How far can he run? Where can he hide? What is innocence? Where does it go? Tim doesn't read as well as his classmates in an inner-city Newark high school. He's got good street creds, though, riffing strange rap-rhymes and running like the wind. He's packed into a three-flat with his mother, sister, and Uncle Gentrale. His father, a drunk, recently walked out on the family, wanting some "freedom". He says, "Ahgottahandleonit, son". He doesn't. Nor does Tim.

1962, Anchor Bend, Oregon. The sea calls to Eleanor. Like the turn of the waves it beckons her from the heart of the town she’s always known, from her husband Hob and their young daughter, Agnes, to the unfathomable depths of the ocean. 1985. Agnes’s daughter Eleanor is six years old. She shares her name with the grandmother she never knew and everything else with her identical twin, Esmerelda. But to Agnes, only Eleanor is a constant reminder of the past.

Jesse seems like a normal sixteen-year-old, but he isn't. He is a victim of King - a ruthless hacker who has been blackmailing Jesse with incriminating screen photos and videos. So far, Jesse's given in to King's demands in order to protect his family. But now King wants something that's too horrible to contemplate - and if he doesn't get it, King will kill Jesse's little sister.

Fifteen-year-old Polarity Weeks just wants to live a normal life, but with a mother diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, that's rarely easy. Her life gets exponentially more disastrous when her sixth-period history classmates start ogling a nude picture of her on the Internet.

After Diego lands himself on probation for fighting, he doesn’t trust his probation officer, Mr. Vidas. But as he begins to open up, Diego realizes that he needs Mr. Vidas’s help to get his anger under control. To do that, Diego will need to face the nightmares from his past head-on and confront the memories he’s been avoiding. Will anyone even believe him if he tells the truth about his stepfather? Award-winning author Alex Sanchez writes about a teen’s very real struggle to overcome his anger and take control of his life.

In 1954, two preteen boys, with opposite personalities, electrify Glenwood, a small African-American section of a town called Chesterville, when one, a feared bully with homicidal fantasies, becomes terrified of the other, a mild-mannered bookworm who would hardly shoo a fly.

In this modern-day love story, girl likes boy. Girl snaps photo and posts it online. Boy becomes insta-famous. And what starts out as an innocent photo turns into a whirlwind adventure that forces them both to question whether fame and love are worth the price and changes both of their lives forever. Told from alternating points of view, #famous captures the sometimes crazy thrill ride of social media and the equally messy but wonderful moments of liking someone in real life.

After three months in the suicide prevention wing of St. George's, Audrey Bales is finally coming home. Enrolled at a new school, she plans to reinvent herself with a new look, new friends, and a second chance to be just like everyone else. But the kids who drove her over the edge aren't through with her yet. And one of her new friends has an agenda all his own.

Austin Gray is almost 15 and sheï¿¿ï¿¿s tired of not being noticed. So she hatches a plan to become Prosper County's Sweetheart in order to ride through town during the annual parade waving and smiling to everyone. To make her dream come true, however, she'll have to join the Future Farmers of America. But what's a little hunting and fishing (and livestock raising) to a determined teenager?

Stupid Fast is playwright Geoff Herbach’s first book for young adults. No one’s more shocked than shy 15-year-old Felton Reinstein himself when he undergoes a tremendous growth spurt. After dusting the football jocks in a race, Felton marvels at his new athletic ability. Everything isn’t looking up, however. Felton must also come to grips with his mother’s sudden depression and his bratty younger brother. And then Felton learns a shocking secret about his past that helps put things in perspective.

Who ever said being nice would get you to the top? Certainly not Alexandra Miles. She isn't nice, but she's more than skilled at playing the part. She floats through the halls of Spencer High, effortlessly orchestrating the actions of everyone around her, making people bend to her whim without even noticing they're doing it. She is the queen of Spencer High - and it's time to make it official.

From the best-selling author of What the Birds See comes a brilliantly told suspense novel. As life slips away, Gabriel looks back over his brief 20 years that have been clouded by frustration and humiliation. A small town and distant parents ensure that he is never allowed to forget the horrific mistake he made as a child. He has only two friends, his dog Surrender, and the unruly wild boy Finnigan, with whom he made a boyhood pact.

Olivia Peters is over the moon when her literary idol, the celebrated novelist and much-adored local priest Mark D. Brendan, offers to become her personal writing mentor. But when Father Mark’s enthusiasm for Olivia’s prose develops into something more, Olivia’s emotions quickly shift from wonder to confusion to despair. Exactly what game is Father Mark playing, and how on earth can she get out of it?

Loann's always wanted to be popular and pretty like her sister, Claire. So when Claire's ex-boyfriend starts flirting with her, Loann is willing to do whatever it takes to feel special even if that means betraying her sister. But as Loann slips inside Claire's world, she discovers that everything is not as it seems. Claire's quest for perfection is all-consuming, and comes at a dangerous price. And Loann is frightened she could lose the sister she's always idolized.

Then: Ever since Mabby died while picking beans in their garden - with the pock-a-pock of a helicopter overhead - Valkyrie knows what her job is: hide in the underground den with her brother, Bo, while Da is working, because Those People will kill them like coyotes. One Year Ago: Those People have come. It has to be them; because when Valkyrie and Bo return from a lesson of alert and ready, everything is on fire and Da is gone. But they‘ve been trained by their Da for this....

Benito's father, Xavier, has been in Iraq for more than a year. When he returns, Benito's family life is not the same. Xavier suffers from PTSD - post-traumatic stress disorder - and yells constantly. He causes such a scene at a school function that Benny is embarrassed to go to back to Southside High. Benny can't handle seeing his dad so crazy, so he decides to run away. Will Benny find a new life? Or will he learn how to deal with his dad - through good times and bad?