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  A Heart in a Body in the World

  Deb Caletti

  When everything has been taken from you, what else is there to do but run? From Seattle to Washington, DC, Annabelle is running through mountain passes and suburban landscapes, from long lonely roads to college towns. She's not ready to think about the why yet, just the how - muscles burning, heart pumping, feet pounding the earth. But no matter how hard she tries, she can't outrun the tragedy from the past year, or the person - The Taker - that haunts her. Followed by Grandpa Ed in his RV and backed by her brother and two friends (her self-appointed publicity team), Annabelle becomes a reluctant activist as people connect her journey to the trauma from her past. Her cross-country run gains media attention and she is cheered on as she crosses state borders, even thrown a block party and given gifts. The support would be nice, if Annabelle could escape the guilt and shame from what happened back home. They say it isn't her fault, but she can't feel the truth of that. Through welcome and unwelcome distractions, she just keep running to the destination that awaits her. There, she'll finally face the miles of love and loss behind her...and what still lies ahead.

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  And She Was

  Jessica Verdi

  When Dara finds her birth certificate, she is puzzled to find two strange names on it, but when her mother, Mellie, reveals that she is transgender and transitioned when Dara's biological mother died soon after Dara's birth, Dara is stunned and angry--and she sets off with her friend Sam, in search of the grandparents she never knew existed (and who may be able to fund her tennis career), and the family secrets she can only guess at.

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  Anger is a Gift

  Mark Oshiro

  Six years ago, Moss Jefferies' father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Along with losing a parent, the media's vilification of his father and lack of accountability has left Moss with near crippling panic attacks. Now, in his sophomore year of high school, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals in their own school. New rules. Random locker searches. Constant intimidation and Oakland Police Department stationed in their halls. Despite their youth, the students decide to organize and push back against the administration. When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.

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  A Plan for Pops

  Heather Smith

  Lou spends every Saturday with Grandad and Pops. They walk to the library hand in hand, like a chain of paper dolls. Grandad reads books about science and design, Pops listens to rock and roll, and Lou bounces from lap to lap. But everything changes one Saturday. Pops has a fall. That night there is terrible news: Pops will be confined to a wheelchair, not just for now, but for always. Unable to cope with his new circumstances, he becomes withdrawn and shuts himself in his room. Hearing Grandad trying to cheer up Pops inspires Lou to make a plan. Using skills learned from Grandad, and with a little help from their neighbors, Lou comes up with a plan for Pops.

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  As Brave As You

  Jason Reynolds

  Scooping poop at his grandparent's house - that sure as heck wasn't the way eleven-year-old Genie expected to be spending his summer. But when his parents send him and his big brother, Ernie, to Virginia to experience the great (not!) outdoors, they're in for some big surprises. First, there are chores galore (picking peas, really?). Second, Grandpop just might be completely off his rocker. The man has a big ol' secret - and once Genie learns what it is, all of Grandpop's oddities start to make sense. Like why he locks himself up in a room that's filled with birds. And why he never - not ever, no sir, no how, no way - steps foot outside. On top of that, Grandpop has a crazy idea for how to celebrate Ernie's fourteenth birthday. Actually, to Genie it isn't so crazy, but Ernie thinks it's completely wack. Genie wonders if that's because Ernie isn't brave enough. but is being brave doing something? Or knowing when not to?

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  A Silent Voice, Volume 5

  Yoshitoki Oima

  Despite their tense pasts, Shoya begins to embrace the friend group that used to terrorize Shoko because she couldn’t hear. Now that summer vacation is in full swing, the crew can work together to film Tomohiro’s eccentric movie. Each fun-filled day lazily passes by, but doubt tugs at Shoya’s heavy heart and he is desperate to cling on to meaningful moments before they are gone.

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  A Silent Voice, Volume 6

  Yoshitoki Oima

  Time stands still for both Shoya and Shoko. Triggered by past traumas, Shoya coldly attacked his friends and burnt the bridges he first set out to rebuild. Shoko feels a deep responsibility for this disaster and attempts to pay for it by taking her own life. Meanwhile, each of their friends finally show their true colors. After everything has fallen apart, how will they mend their hearts and put the pieces back together?

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  Bait

  Alex Sanchez

  Diego keeps getting into trouble because of his explosive temper until he finally finds a probation officer who helps him get to the root of his anger so that he can stop running from his past.

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  Ball Don't Lie

  Matt De La Pena

  Sticky is a beat-around-the-head foster kid with nowhere to call home but the street, and an outer shell so tough that no one will take him in. He started out life so far behind the pack that the finish line seems nearly unreachable. He’s a white boy living and playing in a world where he doesn’t seem to belong. But Sticky can ball. And basketball might just be his ticket out . . . if he can only realize that he doesn’t have to be the person everyone else expects him to be.

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  Beast

  Brie Spangler

  After falling off the roof, fifteen-year-old misfit Dylan must attend a therapy group for self-harmers where he meets Jamie, a beautiful and amazing person he does not know is transgender.

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  Before I Let Go

  Marieke Nijkamp

  Best friends Corey and Kyra were inseparable in their tiny snow-covered town of Lost Creek, Alaska. But as Kyra starts to struggle with her mental health, Corey's family moves away. Worried about what might happen in her absence, Corey makes Kyra promise that she'll stay strong during the long, dark winter. Then, just days before Corey is to visit, Kyra dies. Corey is devastated―and confused, because Kyra said she wouldn't hurt herself. The entire Lost community speaks in hushed tones, saying Kyra's death was meant to be. And they push Corey away like she's a stranger. The further Corey investigates―and the more questions she asks―the greater her suspicion grows. Lost is keeping secrets―chilling secrets. Can she piece together the truth about Kyra's death and survive her visit

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  Billy Had to Move: A Foster Care Story

  Theresa Ann Fraser

  Child Protection Services have been involved with Billy and his mother for some time now. He has been happily settled in a kinship placement with his grandmother and enjoys his pet cat, interacting with neighbors and even taking piano lessons. As the story unfolds, Billy's grandmother has unexpectedly passed away and so the story of Billy Had To Move begins. Unfortunately, Billy's mother cannot be located. Mr. Murphy, Billy's social worker, places him in the foster home of Amy, Tim, and their baby "Colly." Billy experiences great loss resulting not only from his grandmother's death, but also the loss of the life he knew. Billy's inner journey therefore has also begun and with the help of Ms. Woods, a Play Therapist, there is hope.

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  Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America

  Ibi Zoboi

  Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi and featuring some of the most acclaimed best-selling black authors writing for teens today - Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it's like to be young and black in America.

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  Camo Girl

  Kekla Magoon

  Ella, a biracial girl with a patchy and uneven skin tone, and her friend Z, a boy who is very different, have been on the bottom of the social order at Caldera Junior High School in Las Vegas, but when the only other African-American student enters their sixth grade class, Ella longs to be friends with him and join the popular group, but does not want to leave Z all alone.

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  Caterpillars Can’t Swim

  Liane Shaw

  Two boys look to the water for escape, but for very different reasons. For sixteen-year-old Ryan, the water is where he finds his freedom. Ever since childhood, when he realized that he would never walk like other people, he has loved the water where gravity is no longer his enemy. But he never imagined he would become his small town's hero by saving a schoolmate from drowning. Jack is also attracted to the water, but for him it's the promise of permanent escape. Disappearing altogether seems better than living through one more day of high school where he is dogged by rumors about his sexuality. He's terrified that coming out will alienate him from everyone in town - and crush his adoring mother. Ryan saves Jack's life, but he also keeps his secret. Their bond leads to a grudging friendship, and an unexpected road-trip to Comic Con with Ryan's best friend Cody, the captain of the swim team. The unlikely trio ends up subverting preconceptions and prejudices of their own and of those around them.

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  Compromised

  Heidi Ayarbe

  With her con-man father in prison, fifteen-year-old Maya sets out from Reno, Nevada, for Boise, Idaho, hoping to stay out of foster care by finding an aunt she never knew existed, but a fellow runaway complicates all of her scientifically-devised plans.

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  Countdown

  Deborah Wiles

  Franny Chapman just wants some peace. But that's hard to get when her best friend is feuding with her, her sister has disappeared, and her uncle is fighting an old war in his head. Her saintly younger brother is no help, and the cute boy across the street only complicates things. Worst of all, everyone is walking around just waiting for a bomb to fall. It's 1962, and it seems the whole country is living in fear.

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  Damsel Distressed

  Kelsey Macke

  A teen girl struggles with obesity, self-harm, and the infuriatingly perfect stepsister in her journey to overcome the stigmas put on her life, on her friendships, and on her future.

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  Darius the Great is Not Okay

  Adib Khorram

  Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's a Fractional Persian -- half, his mom's side -- and his first ever trip to Iran is about to change his life. Darius has never really fit in at home, and he's sure things are going to be the same in Iran. His clinical depression doesn't exactly help matters, and trying to explain his medication to his grandparents only makes things harder. Then Darius meets Sohrab, the boy next door, and everything changes. Soon, they're spending their days together, playing soccer, eating faludeh, and talking for hours on a secret rooftop overlooking the city's skyline. Sohrab calls him Darioush the original Farsi version of his name -- and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Adib Khorram's brilliant debut is for anyone who's ever felt not good enough then met a friend who makes them feel so much better than okay.

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  Dear Rachel Maddow

  Adrienne Kisner

  Brianna gets the lead in the Thanksgiving school play. She'll be Hero the Hen! She almost forgets about the coughing and breathing trouble she's been having.Brianna loves practicing her leaping and flapping. But at the dress rehearsal, she has a bad coughing attack and feels a tightness in her chest. The teacher calls 911 and the paramedics take Brianna to the hospital. There, Dr. Anderson diagnoses Brianna with asthma. Brianna begins to learn about her disease and how to manage it. Things are soon under control, and she's back on stage for her debut!

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  (Don't) Call Me Crazy

  Kelly Jensen

  A Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2018Who’s Crazy? What does it mean to be crazy? Is using the word crazy offensive? What happens when a label like that gets attached to your everyday experiences? To understand mental health, we need to talk openly about it. Because there’s no single definition of crazy, there’s no single experience that embodies it, and the word itself means different things—wild? extreme? disturbed? passionate?—to different people. In (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, thirty-three actors, athletes, writers, and artists offer essays, lists, comics, and illustrations that explore a wide range of topics:their personal experiences with mental illness,how we do and don’t talk about mental health,help for better understanding how every person’s brain is wired differently,and what, exactly, might make someone crazy. If you’ve ever struggled with your mental health, or know someone who has, come on in, turn the pages . . . and let’s get talking.

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  Drita, My Homegirl

  Jenny Lombard Lombard

  When ten-year-old Drita and her family, refugees from Kosovo, move to New York, Drita is teased about not speaking English well, but after a popular student named Maxine is forced to learn about Kosovo as a punishment for teasing Drita, the two girls soon bond.

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  Either the Beginning or the End of the World

  Terry Farish

  For sixteen years, it's been just Sofie and her father, living on the New Hampshire coast. Her Cambodian immigrant mother has floated in and out of her life, leaving Sofie with a fierce bitterness toward her-and a longing she wishes she could outgrow. "To me she is as unreliable as the wind." Then she meets Luke, an army medic back from Afghanistan, and the pull between them is as strong as the current of the rushing Piscataqua River. But Luke is still plagued by the trauma of war, as if he's lost with the ghosts in his past. Sofie's dad orders her to stay away; it may be the first time she has ever disobeyed him. "A ghost can't love you." When Sofie is forced to stay with her mother and grandmother while her dad's away, she is confronted with their memories of the ruthless Khmer Rouge, a war-torn countryside, and deeds of heartbreaking human devotion. "I don't want you for ancestors. I don't want that story." As Sofie and Luke navigate a forbidden landscape, they discover they both have their secrets, their scars, their wars. Together, they are dangerous. Together, they'll discover what extraordinary acts love can demand.

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  Fangirl

  Rainbow Rowell

  Being consummate fans of the Simon Snow series helped Cath and her twin sister, Wren, cope as little girls whose mother left them, but now, as they start college but not as roommates, Cath fears she is unready to live without Wren holding her hand--and without her passion for Snow.

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  Fans of the Impossible Life

  Kate Kate Scelsa

  At Saint Francis Prep school in Mountain View, New Jersey, Mira, Jeremy, and Sebby come together as they struggle with romance, bullying, foster home and family problems, and mental health issues.