Special Collections
United States of YA
Description: Go on a vacation this summer without ever leaving your couch. Whether you choose to visit the Alaskan wilderness, the beaches of Hawaii, or the cornfields in Kansas, adventure awaits in this collection of young adult novels. Ages 13 and up. #teens
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The Caged Graves
by Dianne K. SalerniThe year is 1867, and seventeen-year-old Verity Boone is excited to return from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Catawissa, Pennsylvania, the hometown she left when she was just a baby.
Now she will finally meet the fiancé she knows only through letters!
Soon, however, she discovers two strangely caged graves . . . and learns that one of them is her own mother's.
Verity swears she'll get to the bottom of why her mother was buried in "unhallowed ground" in this suspenseful teen mystery that swirls with rumors of witchcraft, buried gold from the days of the War of Independence, and even more shocking family secrets.
I Am the Wallpaper
by Mark Peter HughesThirteen-year-old Floey Packer feels like she's always blended into the background.
After all, she's the frumpy younger sister of the Fabulous Lillian, a girl so popular and spontaneous that their house is always packed with a gaggle of admirers.
But when Lillian suddenly gets married and heads off on a month-long honeymoon, Floey decides it's her time to shine.
Armed with her trusty diary, some books on Zen philosophy, and a jar of Deep Wild Violet hair dye, Floey embarks on a self-improvement mission--with excellent results.
People are finally noticing her, especially the boy who really counts. But then disaster strikes.
Are people noticing Floey because she's so fabulous--or because her evil cousins posted her diary on the Internet? And how will Floey ever repair the damage?
Devilish
by Maureen JohnsonThe only thing that makes St. Teresa’s Preparatory School for Girls bearable for Jane is her best friend Ally.
But when Ally changes into a whole different person literally overnight the fall of their senior year, Jane’s suddenly alone—and very confused.
Turns out, Ally has sold her soul in exchange for popularity—to a devil masquerading as a sophomore at St. Teresa’s!
Now it’s up to Jane to put it all on the line to save her friend from this ponytail-wearing, cupcake nibbling demon... without losing her own soul in the process.
This YA take on Faust in a Catholic girls’ high school is clever, fun, and full of tasty surprises
The Indigo Girl
by Natasha Boyd and Saskia MaarleveldA deeply-researched and powerfully-written work of historical fiction, based on the untold story of Eliza Lucas, an extraordinary sixteen-year-old girl in Colonial-era South Carolina, whose actions were before their time: the story of the indigo girl.
In 1739, bright and determined sixteen-year-old Eliza Lucas is charged with keeping her family’s struggling plantations afloat, in her father’s absence.
Learning of the high value of indigo, Eliza becomes determined to learn the secret of growing the enigmatic crop, believing it to be her family’s salvation, but everyone tells Eliza growing indigo in the region is impossible.
Thwarted at nearly every turn, even by her own family, Eliza finds her only allies in an aging horticulturalist, an older and married gentleman lawyer, and a slave with whom she strikes a dangerous deal: teach her the intricate thousand-year-old secret process of making indigo dye and in return—against the laws of the day—she will teach the slaves to read.
So develops an incredible story of romance, intrigue, hidden friendships, threats, ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice, based on historical documents and Eliza Lucas’ own letters.
He Said, She Said
by Kwame AlexanderSparks will fly in this hip-hop-hot teen novel that mixes social protest and star-crossed romance He Said, She Said is perfect for fans of Walter Dean Myers and Rachel Vail alike.
He says: Omar "T-Diddy" Smalls has got it made--a full football ride to UMiami, hero-worship status at school, and pick of any girl at West Charleston High.
She says: Football, shmootball.
Heres what Claudia Clarke cares about: Harvard, the poor, the disenfranchised, the hungry, the staggering teen pregnancy rate, investigative journalism . . . the list goes on. She does not have a minute to waste on Mr. T-Diddy Smalls and his harem of bimbos.
He Said, She Said is a fun and fresh novel from Kwame Alexander that throws these two high school seniors together when they unexpectedly end up leading the biggest social protest this side of the Mississippi--with a lot of help from Facebook and Twitter.
The stakes are high, the romance is hot, and when these worlds collide, watch out
Hear the Crickets
by Bj SheldonSkyy's a freak. She'll tell you so herself.
Her past - a mystery.
Her future - uncertain.
Having spent most of her life avoiding humans in an effort to conceal her wings, she wants nothing more than to end it all, leaving behind the solitary life she's been forced to live.
But numerous attempts to die have proven immortality is both a curse and a nuisance.
She now lives out her days in self-imposed seclusion to stay hidden from the world.
But that quiet way of life is shattered when mysterious siblings arrive and reveal a destiny which sends her running for the hills.
When an earth shattering discovery is made in the Badlands, history and science collide furthering the mystery behind Skyy's past - and her future.
Skyy will need to embrace her fate and confront an evil so ancient, only a miracle can keep the world from ceasing to be.
Go Big or Go Home
by Will HobbsA meteorite is hurtling toward the Black Hills of South Dakota. . . .
Brady Steele's love for all things extreme is given a boost when a fireball crashes through the roof of his house. It turns out that Brady's space rock is one of the rarest meteorites ever found.
In fact, a professor from a nearby museum wants to study it in search of extraterrestrial bacteria, hoping to discover the first proof of life beyond Earth.
During a wild week of extreme bicycling, fishing, and caving, Brady discovers he's able to do strange and wonderful feats that shouldn't be possible.
At the same time, he's developing some frightening symptoms.
Could he be infected with long-dormant microbes from space? Is his meteorite a prize . . . or a menace?
Ringside, 1925
by Jen BryantTake a ringside seat at one of the most controversial trials in American history.
The year is 1925, and the students of Dayton, Tennessee, are ready for a summer of fishing, swimming, and drinking root beer floats at Robinson's Drugstore.
But when their science teacher, J. T. Scopes, is arrested for having taught Darwin's theory of evolution, it seems it won't be an ordinary summer in Dayton.
As Scopes's trial proceeds, the small town pulses with energy and is faced with astonishing nationwide publicity.
Suddenly surrounded by fascinating people and new ideas, Jimmy Lee, Pete, Marybeth, and Willy are thrilled.
But amidst the excitement and circus-like atmosphere is a threatening sense of tension--not only in the courtroom, but among even the strongest of friends.
The Revenge Playbook
by Rachael AllenDon't get mad, get even!
In this poignant and hilarious novel, Rachael Allen brilliantly explores the nuances of high school hierarchies, the traumas sustained on the path to finding true love, and the joy of discovering a friend where you least expect.
In the small town of Ranburne, high school football rules and the players are treated like kings.
How they treat the girls they go to school with?
That's a completely different story.
Liv, Peyton, Melanie Jane, and Ana each have their own reason for wanting to teach the team a lesson--but it's only when circumstances bring them together that they come up with the plan to steal the one thing the boys hold sacred.
All they have to do is beat them at their own game.
Shattered Souls
by Mary LindseyDeath, love, destiny, and danger!
Lenzi knows she must be going crazy.
She's hearing voices and having visions--specifically of gravestones, floods, and a gorgeous guy with steely gray eyes.
And there's nothing anyone can do to help, not even her handsome musician boyfriend, Zak.
Until she meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, and learns she can speak with lost souls.
Now Lenzi must choose: destiny or normalcy.
Alden or Zak.
Life or death.
And time is quickly running out.
Emergency Contact
by Mary H.K. ChoiFor Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her.
When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.
Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.
When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.
A New York Times Bestseller
Hostage!
by Edward MyersWhile hiking with a group of other teens in the Utah desert, Alyssa and Rob attempt to foil the plans of a fossil-stealing kidnapper.
Everneath
by Brodi AshtonLast spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath.
Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever.
She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.
Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything.
But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home.
Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen.
And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.
As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.
Everneath is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.
God of Beer
by Garret KeizerHigh school kids in Salmon Falls are much the same as high school kids anywhere else: bored.
In the far reaches of Ira County, Vermont, in the dead of winter, it seems there's nothing to do.
But when eighteen-year-old Kyle Nelson and a handful of friends decide to challenge the status quo with an act of civil disobedience, they discover that there's more to do than they ever bargained for.
Garret Keizer's gripping novel about young men and women desperate for change bears witness to the dangerous force of ideas and the searing power of friendship.
Here is a novel that looks truth squarely in the eye, and dares to keep on looking.
True Letters from a Fictional Life
by Kenneth Logan“A funny and realistic coming-out tale… The rounded characters deal with betrayal and honesty and love and near tragedy in ways teen readers, gay or straight, will recognize. Just the right touch of humor, mystery, drama, and romance should earn this a place on every teen bookshelf.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“We need stories that give courage to kids struggling to be honest with themselves and others about who they are. Logan tells one that will give you hope and make you laugh.” — Robbie Rogers, LA Galaxy midfielder, former midfielder for the US National Soccer Team“James and his friends have deep, meaningful, complex bonds... Logan’s look at a boy reconciling his private and public selves is well written and affecting.” — School Library Journal“Logan handles his material exceptionally well, building suspense as he dramatizes both the downside of being in the closet and the realistic complications of coming out, while creating, in James, an unusually thoughtful and sympathetic character... [a] satisfying debut.” — Booklist“A wonderful book that will encourage young readers to seek authenticity and stand up for their true selves… LGBT teens, as well as straight, will recognize much of their lives in this story. Highly recommended.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)“Logan tackles the complexities of coming out thoughtfully, presenting realistic (and not always fully supportive) responses to James’s revelation.” — Publishers Weekly“[James’] painful, funny experiences with family, love, and friends will resonate with many teens.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
The Raven Boys
by Maggie StiefvaterAn all-new series from the masterful, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.
Annie, Between the States
by L. M. ElliottAnnie's home and heart are divided by the Civil War.Annie Sinclair's Virginia home is in the battle path of the Civil War.
Her brothers, Laurence and Jamie, fight to defend the South, while Annie and her mother tend to wounded soldiers.
When she develops a romantic connection with a Union Army lieutenant, Annie's view of the war broadens.
Then an accusation calls her loyalty into question. A nation and a heart divided force Annie to choose her own course.
Under the Bridge
by Michael HarmonTate's younger brother Indy is probably the best skateboarder in Spokane. He's also really smart though he couldn't care less about school.
But when Indy clashes with his father one too many times and drops out of school, it's up to Tate to win his brother back from the seedier elements of Spokane.
Can Tate convince Indy to come home, finish his high school degree, and return to skating Under the bridge with their crew?
Michael Harmon's fast-paced and highly charged novel captures the enduring bond between brothers and their struggle for survival on the gritty streets of Spokane.
The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak
by Brian KatcherThe Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak is Stonewall Award-winning author Brian Katcher's hilarious he said/she said romance about two teens discovering themselves on an out-of-this-world accidental first date at a sci-fi convention.
When Ana Watson's brother ditches a high school trip to run wild at Washingcon, type-A Ana knows that she must find him or risk her last shot at freedom from her extra-controlling parents.
In her desperation, she's forced to enlist the last person she'd ever want to spend time with--slacker Zak Duquette--to help find her brother before morning comes.
But over the course of the night, while being chased by hordes of costumed Vikings and zombies, Ana and Zak begin to open up to each other.
Soon, what starts as the most insane nerdfighter manhunt transforms into so much more. . . .
The Upside of Unrequited
by Becky AlbertalliFrom the award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda comes a funny, authentic novel about sisterhood, love, and identity.
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.
Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back.
There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?
All American Girl
by Meg CabotTop Ten Reasons Samantha Madison is in Deep Trouble --
10. Her big sister is the most popular girl in school.
9. Her little sister is a certified genius.
8. She's in love with her big sister's boyfriend.
7. She got caught selling celebrity portraits in school.
6. And now she's being forced to take art classes.
5. She's just saved the president of the United States from an assassination attempt.
4. So the whole world thinks she is a hero.
3. Even though Sam knows she is far, far from being a hero.
2. And now she's been appointed teen ambassador to the UN.
And the number-one reason Sam's life is over?
1. The president's son just might be in love with her.
Shelter
by Jayne Anne PhilipsIn a West Virginia girls camp in July 1963, a group of children experience an unexpected rite of passage.
Shelter is an astonishing portrayal of an American loss of innocence as witnessed by a drifter named Parson, two young sisters, Lenny and Alma, and a feral boy.
Like Buddy, the wide-eyed boy so at home in the natural bower of the forest, Lenny and Alma are forever transformed by violence, by family secrets, by surprising turns of love.
What they choose to remember, what they meet within and around the boundaries of the camp, will determine the rest of their lives.
In a leafy wilderness undiminished by societal rules and dilemmas, Lenny and Alma confront a terrible darkness and find in themselves a knowledge never lent them by the adult world.
Visceral, filled with suspense and surprise, Shelter is an extraordinary achievement.
Jayne Anne Phillips continues to explore family ties and generational complexities. She questions the idea of the existence of evil and brings to startling immediacy the primal divinity of the isolated, mountainous landscape of rural Appalachia. Shelter is a novel of transcendent beauty by one of the finest writers of our time.
Obsidian
by Jennifer L. ArmentroutStarting over sucks.When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes.
Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all.
But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.
The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.
If I don't kill him first, that is.
Dairy Queen
by Catherine Gilbert MurdockWhen you don't talk, there's a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.Harsh words indeed, from Brian Nelson of all people. But, D. J. can't help admitting, maybe he's right.When you don't talk, there's a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.Stuff like why her best friend, Amber, isn't so friendly anymore. Or why her little brother, Curtis, never opens his mouth. Why her mom has two jobs and a big secret. Why her college-football-star brothers won't even call home. Why her dad would go ballistic if she tried out for the high school football team herself. And why Brian is so, so out of her league.When you don't talk, there's a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.Welcome to the summer that fifteen-year-old D. J. Schwenk of Red Bend, Wisconsin, learns to talk, and ends up having an awful lot of stuff to say.
Seventeenth Summer
by Maureen DalyUntil the summer before college, Angie Morrow didn't really date. Her mother didn't like her to go out much. But no one -- not even Angie's mother -- can resist the charm of strikingly handsome Jack Duluth.
His good looks grab Angies's attention from the moment in June when Jack throws Angie a smile at McKight's drugstore. And on their first date sailing under the stars -- when Jack leans in and whispers to Angie, "You look nice with the wind in your hair," the strange new feeling s begin.
Tingles, prickles, warmth: the tell-tale signs of romance. It's the beginning of an unforgettable summer for Angie, full of wonder, warmth, tears, challenge, and love.
Maureen Daly had created a love story so honest that it has withstood the test of time, winning new fans for more than six decades.
Today, this classic is enjoyed by many who think of it as the quintessential love story, and as a glimpse of love in the 1940's; a refreshing alternative to modern love stories, reflecting the beauty and innocence of new love.