Bauer, Joan.  Rules of the Road

Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of successful shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who is trying to force her to retire, and along the way Jenna hones her talents as a saleswoman and finds the strength to face her alcoholic father.     

 

Bechard, Margaret.  Hanging out with Max

When his girlfriend decides to give their baby away, seventeen-year-old Sam is determined to keep him and raise him alone.     

Cormier, Robert.  Tenderness

A psychological thriller told from the points of view of a teenage serial killer and the runaway girl who falls in love with him.

 

Douglas, Lola.  Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet

Teen movie star Morgan Carter retreats to a small midwestern town to recuperate anonymously after an overdose and rehabilitation, recording her thoughts in a diary.     

 

Douglas, Lola.  More Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet

When her true identity as a Hollywood starlet is revealed, seventeen-year-old Morgan Carter, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, must choose whether to return to her glamorous movie star existence or stick with the wholesome life, and the new love, she has found in the Midwest. Told in the form of diary entries.  The author also writes under her real name, Lara Zeises.

Draper, Sharon M.  Romiette and Julio

Romiette, an African-American girl, and Julio, a Hispanic boy, discover that they attend the same high school after falling in love on the Internet, but are harassed by a gang whose members object to their interracial dating.     

Draper, Sharon M.  Tears of a Tiger

The death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile accident affects the lives of his close friend Andy, who was driving the car, and many others in the school.  

 

Duncan, Lois.  Don’t Look Behind You

Seventeen-year-old April finds her comfortable life changed forever when death threats to her father, a witness in a federal case, force her family to go into hiding under assumed names and flee the pursuit of a hired killer.     

 

Gantos, Jack.  Hole in my Life

The author relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.

 

Hahn, Daniel.  The Ultimate Teen Book Guide

Not sure what to read?  Here’s a list of recommended reading!

 

Heimberg, Justin.  The official movie plot generator : 27,000 hilarious movie plot combinations

Perfect for anyone who loves movies - The Official Movie Plot Generator is part humor book, part game, part creative tool. Simply flip the tabs to discover 27,000 hilarious movie plot combinations. Whether it's a single mom fighting crime with a wise-cracking robot or Bigfoot coaching a little league baseball team, your combination is sure to become the next blockbuster.

 

Hesser, Terry Spencer.  Kissing Doorknobs

Fourteen-year-old Tara describes how her increasingly strange compulsions begin to take over her life and affect her relationships with her family and friends.     

 

Hurwin, Davida Wills.  A Time for Dancing

Seventeen-year-old best friends Samantha and Juliana tell their stories in alternating chapters after Juliana is diagnosed with cancer.

 

Johnson, Angela.  The First Part Last

Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.     

 

Kaywell, Joan F.  Dear Author:  letters of hope

Authors do not read the letters you write to them. Sometimes they do respond to what many say. Many Authors are future in this book. The book is trying to get you to read the book that the authors wrote.

 

Kerr, M.E.  I Stay Near You

Three generations suffer the consequences of an ill-fated romance between a young girl from the wrong side of the tracks and the son of the richest family in a small upstate New York town.     

 

Myers, Walter Dean.  Monster

While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.  This is the first winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.

 

Okey, Shannon. Knitgrrl : learn to knit with 15 fun and funky projects

Learn how to knit!     

 

Rall, Ted.  Mad About Comic Strips

This book includes a lot of comics that will make you fall out of your seat.

 

Sones, Sonya.  What My Mother Doesn’t Know

Sophie describes her relationships with a series of boys as she searches for Mr. Right.   

 

Walls, Jeannette.  The Glass Castle

This book has been selected for the Cayuga Reads program in 2008.  Jeannette Walls tells the story about her childhood. She talks about living like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Retreating to the dismal West Virginia mining town--and the family-- her father, Rex Walls, had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.    

 

Haddix, Margaret Peterson.  Turnabout

It is 2000, and two best friends who are going to be young again. They go from old ages to 15 in the year of 2085. Know they have to find someone to help them go back to the way they were before they hit the age 0.

 

Werlin, Nancy.  The Rules of Survival

Seventeen-year-old Matthew recounts his attempts, starting at a young age, to free himself and his sisters from the grip of their emotionally and physically abusive mother.     

 

Wong, Janet S.  Behind the Wheel:  poems about driving

Thirty-six poems look at various aspects of driving, including passing the written driver's test, being pulled over by a cop, and having an accident, and treat them as metaphors for life.     

 

Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn.  Reaching for Sun

Josie, who lives with her mother and grandmother and has cerebral palsy, befriends a boy who moves into one of the rich houses behind her old farmhouse.     

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