List: 2023 Teen Reading Challenge: Song Lyrics in the Title
Never Ever Getting Back Together
Eighteen-year-old Maya Bailey enters a reality dating competition to get revenge on her cheating, royal-adjacent ex-boyfriend, and she ends up falling for another girl on the show--in fact, the girl he cheated on her with.
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(Don't You) Forget About Me
Gardnerville seems like a paradise. But every four years, a strange madness compels the town's teenagers to commit terrible crimes. Four years ago, Skylar's sister, Piper, led her classmates on a midnight death march into a watery grave. Now Piper is gone. And to get her back, Skylar must find a way to end Gardnerville's murderous cycle.
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You Can Go Your Own Way
The pinball arcade is the only piece of his dad that Adam Stillwater has left. Philadelphia's newest tech mogul wants to turn it into another one of his cold, lifeless gaming cafes. Whitney Mitchell's parents split up, she lost all her friends, her boyfriend dumped her... and now she's spending her senior year running social media for her dad's chain of super successful gaming cafes. Most of the job consists of trading insults with that decrepit old pinball arcade across town. When a snowstorm traps Adam and Whitney inside the arcade, the tension between them seems to melt away. What will happen when the storm stops?
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You Should See Me in a Crown
Liz Lighty has always done her best to avoid the spotlight in her small, wealthy, and prom-obsessed midwestern high school, after all, her family is black and rather poor, especially since her mother died; instead she has concentrated on her grades and her musical ability in the hopes that it will win her a scholarship to elite Pennington College and their famous orchestra where she plans to study medicine--but when that scholarship falls through she is forced to turn to her school's scholarship for prom king and queen, which plunges her into the gauntlet of social media which she hates and leads her to discoveries about her own identity and the value of true friendships.
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Youngblood
Seventeen-year-olds Kat Finn and Taylor Sanger, two queer bloodsuckers at an elite vampire-only boarding school, must go up against all of Vampirdom when they uncover a frightening conspiracy on campus.
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Spin Me Right Round
All Luis Gonzalez wants is to go to prom with his boyfriend, something his "progressive" high school hasn't allowed since an incident ages ago. Not after what happened to Chaz Wilson-- back when Luis's parents were in high school. Then a hit on the head knocks Luis back in time to 1985, and Luis meets Chaz. Luis concocts a plan: he's going to give this guy his first real kiss. Though it turns out a conservative school in the '80s isn't the safest place to be a gay kid. Especially with homophobes running the campus, including Gordo-- Luis's estranged father. If Luis can even make it back to present day, will he have made things better... or worse? --
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You Know I'm No Good
Mia is officially a "Troubled Teen"--she gets bad grades, drinks too much, and has probably gone too far with too many guys. But she doesn't realize how out of control she seems until she is taken from her home in the middle of the night and sent away to Red Oak Academy, a therapeutic girls' boarding school in the middle of nowhere. While there, Mia is forced to confront her painful past at the same time she questions why she's at Red Oak. If she were a boy, would her behavior be considered wild enough to get sent away? But what happens when circumstances outside of her control compel Mia to make herself vulnerable enough to be truly seen?
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Take Me Home Tonight
Despite being polar opposites, Kat and Stevie bonded over their love of theater. They sneak away from the suburbs to spend a night in New York City. It's all planned: see a play, eat at the city's hottest restaurant, and have the best night ever. What could go wrong? They're barely off the train before they're dealing with destroyed phones, family drama, and unexpected Pomeranians. They'll have to grapple with old flames, terrible theater, and unhelpful cab drivers. Both Kat and Stevie will get a wake-up call about their friendship, their choices-- and what they really want for their futures. --
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The Way You Make Me Feel
Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad's business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind?
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I Wanna Be Where You Are
When Chloe Pierce's mom forbids her to apply for a spot at the dance conservatory of her dreams, she devises a secret plan to drive two hundred miles to the nearest audition. But Chloe hits her first speed bump when her annoying neighbor Eli insists upon hitching a ride, threatening to tell Chloe's mom if she leaves him and his smelly dog, Geezer, behind. So now Chloe's chasing her ballet dreams down the east coast--two unwanted (but kinda cute) passengers in her car, butterflies in her stomach, and a really dope playlist on repeat. Filled with roadside hijinks, heart-stirring romance, and a few broken rules, I Wanna Be Where You Are is a YA debut perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sandhya Menon.
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Cool for the Summer
Larissa Bogdan was supposed to spend her summer babysitting and bookselling. Instead, she tagged along with her mom to the Outer Banks, working on her tan and making new friends. Now she's back and starting her senior year at Stratford High, only to face another unexpected turn: She's finally attracted the attention of superstar quarterback Chase Harding, the guy she's crushed on since middle school. Then Jasmine Killary shows up. Jasmine, who's supposed to be in North Carolina, not the New York City suburbs. Jasmine, who immediately entices Stratford's student body with her glittering beauty and casual-cool style. Jasmine, who gave Larissa the three most perfect months of her life. But now Jasmine's keeping her distance, not even acknowledging their friendship, much less the hot summer nights they spent together. Larissa knows she should be glad to bury their secret, but she also knows she never felt more comfortable, more confident, more herself than when she was with Jasmine. What was supposed to be a playful fling became something much deeper than she ever could have imagined. If Larissa's finally got the guy, why can't she stop thinking about the girl?
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Somebody That I Used to Know
Dylan and Langston used to be best friends. After he moved away, Langston became a star R&B artist. He returns for visit and stays with Dylan and her family. They start to renew their friendship--and maybe see their relationship grow into something else.
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Don't You Forget About Me
The Gossip Girl and her friends spend a summer partying before heading off to college in the fall.
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Now That I've Found You
Following in the footsteps of her überfamous grandma, eighteen-year-old Evie Jones is poised to be Hollywood's next big star. That is until a close friend's betrayal leads to her being blacklisted . . . Fortunately, Evie knows just the thing to save her floundering career: a public appearance with America's most beloved actress--her grandma Gigi, aka the Evelyn Conaway. The only problem? Gigi is a recluse who's been out of the limelight for almost twenty years. Days before Evie plans to present her grandma with an honorary award in front of Hollywood's elite, Gigi does the unthinkable: she disappears. With time running out and her comeback on the line, Evie reluctantly enlists the help of the last person to see Gigi before she vanished: Milo Williams, a cute musician Evie isn't sure she can trust. As Evie and Milo conduct a wild manhunt across New York City, romance and adventure abound while Evie makes some surprising discoveries about her grandma--and herself.
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Somewhere Only We Know
Told from two viewpoints, teens Lucky, a very famous K-pop star, and Jack, a part-time paparazzo who is trying to find himself, fall for each other against the odds through the course of one stolen day.
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If It Makes You Happy
When Winnie is crowned Summer Queen in the small town of Misty Haven, she has to balance her new responsibilities with her friendships, a new romance, and her job at her granny's diner...
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We Can Be Heroes
After a girl is killed by her ex-boyfriend in a school shooting, her two best friends attempt to memorialize her in a town economically dependent on the shooter's family.
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We Used To Be Friends
At the start of their senior year in high school, James (a girl with a boy's name) and Kat are inseparable, but by graduation, they're no longer friends. James prepares to head off to college as she reflects on the dissolution of her friendship with Kat while, in alternating chapters, Kat thinks about being newly in love and having a future that feels wide open.
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Bad at Love
Ever since Daniel moved to L.A. from Brazil to join the band Mischief & Mayhem, he's become the tabloids' bad boy. Paparazzi follow him and girls swoon over him ... except for Sasha, who hates bad boys. When a chance encounter brings them together, Sasha sees an opportunity to get close to Daniel and write a story that will make a name for herself at the celebrity gossip magazine where she interns. But Daniel is surprisingly sweet and extremely cute--could she be falling for him? The truth is: Daniel is hiding something. When Sasha discovers his secret, will she follow her heart or deliver the hottest story of the summer?
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Love Somebody
Sam Dickson is a charismatic actress with big plans for her future. Ros Shew is a loner, but one of the smartest people in school. Christian Powell is the darling of the high school soccer team, but isn't good at connecting with people. He and Sam broke up after dating for six months, but he makes up for it by being genuine, effusive, and kind, which is why they're still best friends. When Christian falls for Ros on first sight, their first interaction is a disaster, so he enlists Sam's help to get through to her. Sam, with motives of her own, agrees to coach Christian from the sidelines. As Sam starts to realize the complexity of her own feelings, their fragile relationships threaten to fall apart. --
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Let's Talk About Love
Alice's last girlfriend, Margo, ended things when Alice confessed she's asexual. Now Alice is sure she's done with dating... and then she meets Takumi. She can't stop thinking about him or the rom-com-grade romance feelings she did not ask for. When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge, Alice has to decide if she's willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated-- or understood.
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When You Call My Name
New York City, 1990. Film fanatic Adam is seventeen and on his first date, quickly falling in love with Callum like the movies always promised. Fashion-obsessed Ben is eighteen and has just left his home upstate after his mother discovers his hidden stash of gay magazines. When Callum disappears, it leaves Adam heartbroken. Ben finds out his new world is more closed-minded than he thought. In a chance meeting near a hospital where Callum is being treated, Ben and Adam meet. As both begin to open their eyes to the possibilities of queer love and life, they realize sometimes the only people who can help you are the people who can really see you-- in all your messy glory.
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She Drives Me Crazy
After an embarrassing loss to her ex-girlfriend in their first basketball game of the season, seventeen-year-old Scottie Zajac gets into a fender bender with her nemesis, Irene Abraham, head cheerleader for the Fighting Reindeer. When the accident sends Irene's car to the shop for repairs, the girls are forced to carpool, and their rocky start only gets worse. In trying to get back at her toxic ex, Scottie bribes Irene into a fake-dating scheme that threatens to reveal some very real feelings.
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One Way or Another
The average person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. Paige Collins lives in debilitating fear of making the wrong choice. The simple act of picking an art elective is enough to send her into a spiral of what ifs. When Paige is presented with two last-minute options for Christmas vacation, she's paralyzed by indecision. Should she go with her best friend (and longtime crush) Fitz to his family's romantic mountain cabin? Or accompany her mom to New York, a city Paige has spent her whole life dreaming about? A slip on a grocery store floor splits Paige's life into two very different parallel paths. Will either destiny give her a happy ending? --
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How To Save a Life
Told from their own viewpoints, seventeen-year-old Jill, in grief over the loss of her father, and Mandy, nearly nineteen, are thrown together when Jill's mother agrees to adopt Mandy's unborn child but nothing turns out as they had anticipated.
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I Think I Love You
"Arch-nemeses Emma, a die-hard romantic, and more-practical minded Sophia find themselves competing against one another for a coveted first-prize trip to a film festival in Los Angeles . . . what happens if their rivalry turns into a romance?"--
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Tiny Dancer
"Siena Cherson Siegel dreamed of being a ballerina. Her love of movement and dedication to the craft earned her a spot at the School of American Ballet.. Siena has worked hard her whole life to be a professional ballet dancer, then makes the difficult decision to quit dancing and tries to figure out what comes next. But what do you do when you have spent your entire life working toward a goal, having that shape your identity, and then decide it's time to move on? How do you figure out what to do with your life? And how do you figure out who you are?"--
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What I Like About You
Online Halle is Kels, the enigmatically cool creator of One True Pastry, a YA book blog that pairs epic custom cupcakes with covers and reviews. When she arrives at her Gramp's small town to spend senior year, she find herself face-to-face with her online best friend, Nash. Halle is sure that if she tells him she's actually Kels, it will ruin their digital friendship. Is it still a love triangle if there are only two people in it?
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