Lists and Suggestions for Teens

Aspiring artist Fanny Price is an unwelcome guest at her uncle Sir Thomas Bertram's estate. It's his affection for Fanny that's keeping her from being forced out by her cousins Tom and Maria and nasty Aunt Norris, back to a home to which she never wants to return. But then Sir Thomas dies in a tragic accident inside his art emporium, and Fanny finds evidence of foul play that, if revealed, could further jeopardize her already precarious position. Edmund, her best friend and secret crush, urges Fanny to keep quiet about her discovery, but Fanny can't ignore the truth: a murderer is among them. Determined to find the killer, Fanny's pursuit for justice has her wading into the Bertram family business, uncovering blackmail, and brushing with London's high society when Henry and Mary Crawford arrive at Mansfield Park with an audacious business proposal. But a surprising twist of fate--and the help of local legends Lizzie Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy--brings Fanny more complications than she ever expected and a life-altering realization about herself she never saw coming.

An unflinching reimagining of Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing for young adults. Written specifically for young adults, reluctant readers, and literacy learners, Killing the Wittigo explains the traumatic effects of colonization on Indigenous people and communities and how trauma alters an individual's brain, body, and behavior. It explores how learned patterns of behavior -- the ways people adapt to trauma to survive -- are passed down within family systems, thereby affecting the functioning of entire communities. The book foregrounds Indigenous resilience through song lyrics and as-told-to stories by young people who have started their own journeys of decolonization, healing, and change. It also details the transformative work being done in urban and on-reserve communities through community-led projects and Indigenous-run institutions and community agencies. These stories offer concrete examples of the ways in which Indigenous peoples and communities are capable of healing in small and big ways -- and they challenge readers to consider what the dominant society must do to create systemic change.

Last year Rachel Riley was one of the most popular girls at East Middle School. This year she has become a social outcast. Anna Hunt is new at the school, and as a die-hard podcast enthusiast she knows there's always more to a story than meets the eye. Putting her fact-seeking skills to the test, Anna creates her own to find out what happened to Rachel Riley. With the entire eighth grade working against her, Anna dives headfirst into the evidence. The story is more complex than Anna could have anticipated. -- adapted from jacket

Moud is an out gay teen living in Los Angeles with his distant father, Saeed. When Moud gets the news that his grandfather in Iran is dying, he accompanies his dad to Tehran, where the revelation of family secrets will force Moud into a new understanding of his history, his culture, and himself. 1978. Saeed is an engineering student with a promising future ahead of him in Tehran. But when his parents discover his involvement in the country's burgeoning revolution, they send him to safety in America, a country Saeed despises. And even worse--he's forced to live with the American grandmother he never knew existed. 1939. Bobby, the son of a calculating Hollywood stage mother, lands a coveted MGM studio contract. But the fairy-tale world of glamour he's thrust into has a dark side. Set against the backdrop of Tehran and Los Angeles, this tale of intergenerational trauma and love is an ode to the fragile bonds of family, the hidden secrets of history, and all the beautiful moments that make us who we are today.

Elliott D’Angelo-Brandt is making a list. Every week, as she sits in the Santa Barbara, California, kindergarten classroom where her sexual assault support group meets, she observes the other teens and considers who should join her coven. Eventually she settles on prim and proper Madeline, bubbly rich girl Chloe, and introspective and athletic Bea. With the help of Elliott’s late mother’s spell book , the quartet set out to get what society won’t provide: revenge on their attackers. The spells and their repercussions astonish and begin to scare the young witches as their power—and its consequences—begins to grow.

Mia is still getting used to living with her mom and stepfather, and to the new role their Jewish identity plays in their home. Feeling out of place at home and at her Jewish day school, Mia finds herself thinking more and more about her Muscogee father, who lives with his new family in Oklahoma. Her mother doesn't want to talk about him, but Mia can't help but feel like she's missing a part of herself without him in her life. Soon, Mia makes a plan to use the gifts from her bat mitzvah to take a bus to Oklahoma--without telling her mom--to visit her dad and find the connection to her Muscogee side she knows is just as important as her Jewish side.

Give teens the tools to decipher their emotions, understand themselves, and improve their lives.The simple and empowering message of In My Feelings is that emotions, especially unpleasant ones, are not just to be avoided, controlled, or treated. Emotions can serve as a source of information that teens can use to make decisions and help them live their best lives. The path to emotional health for teens lies in improving their ability to recognize, understand, manage, and use emotions. Dr. Vidal Annan encourages teens to think of emotions as messengers or sources of data that they can access and use to set and achieve goals, and to continue to grow and develop. In My Feelings starts by exploring what it means to be a teenager, what emotions are, and why people have them. In the second part of the book, Dr. Annan delves into specific emotions that teens may be experiencing daily. In My Feelings helps teens develop their emotional literacy and tap into the power of their emotions to improve their mental health.

TJ Powar and her cousin Simran have become the subject of a meme: with TJ being the "expectation" of dating an Indian girl and her Sikh cousin who does not remove her body hair being the "reality." TJ decides to ditch her razors, cancel her waxing appointments, and sets a debate resolution for herself: "This House Believes That TJ Powar can be her hairy self, and still be beautiful." The infuriating boy from a rival debate team seems determined to prove otherwise. As her carefully crafted sense of self begins to crumble, TJ soon realizes that he hardest judge to convince of her arguments might just be herself. -- adapted from jacket.

After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine's Day, Emilie Hornby escapes to her grandmother's house for some comfort. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she's back home in her own bed-- and it's Valentine's Day all over again. And the next day. And the next. Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare: re-watching her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day. And she keeps running into Nick-- sometimes literally-- in unfortunate ways. When something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?

Nikki, an aspiring photographer, accompanies her family on a trip to Dubai to celebrate the five days of Diwali in style. It would be the trip of a lifetime, if Yash, the boy next door--with whom Nikki has a rocky history--wasn't also on the flight. Oblivious to the tension, Nikki's matchmaking family encourages Nikki to get better acquainted with Yash. It turns out a lot can change on a 12-hour flight beyond just continents. But can betrayals and conflicting ambitions be set aside long enough for the two teens to discover the true meaning of the Festival of Lights?

It's January 1, 1996, and high school junior Christine wants more than anything to be that cool girl everyone notices, like her gorgeous best friend, Landry. She usually hates New Year's resolutions, but this year she vows to be that shiny kind of girl--and record it all in her diary through prose, illustration, and comics. When Landry drops her, Christine is surprised to discover just how much she doesn't miss her and her drama. But a misguided kiss with film-obsessed Paul, her only other close friend, also causes a rift, and she finds herself facing a long, lonely summer. With nothing to lose, Christine finds a new sense of courage. She gets a job at her neighborhood video store, experiments with her art, and becomes romantically entangled with her next-door neighbor Whit, who's either the coolest guy ever or a total jerk. In spite of all this, she doesn't quite feel shiny--until a shocking betrayal shows her the value of the words and drawings she hides in her diary, and she finally understands that she doesn't need to be cool to be noticed--she only needs to be herself.

"Zaira Citlali is supposed to die. After all, she's the god Indigo reborn. Indigo, whose song created the universe and unified people across galaxies to banish Ozvios, the god of destruction. Although Zaira has never been able to harness Indigo's powers, the Ilori Emperor wants to sacrifice her in Ozvios's honor. Unless she escapes and finds Wesley, the boy prophesized to help her defeat Ozvios and the Ilori, once and for all. Wesley Daniels didn't ask for this. He just wants to work as a smuggler so he can save enough money to explore the stars. Once he completes his biggest job yet--bringing wanted celebrity Rubin Rima to a strange planet called Earth--he'll be set for life. But when his path crosses with Zaira, he soon finds himself in the middle of an intergalactic war with more responsibility than he bargained for. Together, Zaira, Wesley, and Rubin must find their way to Earth and unlock Zaira's powers if they're going to have any hope of saving the universe from total destruction." --

Andre Jackson is determined to reclaim his identity. But returning from juvie doesn't feel like coming home. His Portland, Oregon, neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, and COVID-19 shuts down school before he can even return. And Andre's suspicions about his arrest for a crime he didn't commit even taint his friendships. It's as if his whole life has been erased. The one thing Andre can count on is his relationship with the Whitaker kids--especially his longtime crush, Sierra. But Sierra's brother Eric is missing, and the facts don't add up as their adoptive parents fight to keep up the act that their racially diverse family is picture-perfect. If Andre can find Eric, he just might uncover the truth about his own arrest. But in a world where power is held by a few and Andre is nearly invisible, searching for the truth is a dangerous game.

Magic is forbidden throughout the Morning Realms. Magicians are called abomination, and blamed for the plague of monsters that razed the land twenty years before. Jin Zhara already had enough to worry about--appease her stepmother's cruel whims, looking after her blind younger sister, and keeping her own magical gifts under control-without having to deal with rumors of monsters re-emerging in the marsh. But when a chance encounter with an easily flustered young man named Han brings her into contact with a secret magical liberation organization called the Guardians of Dawn, Zhara realizes there may be more to these rumors than she thought. A mysterious plague is corrupting the magicians of Zanhei and transforming them into monsters, and the Guardians of Dawn believe a demon is responsible. In order to restore harmony and bring peace to the world, Zhara must discover the elemental warrior within, lest the balance between order and chaos is lost forever.

Maisie is on her way to her first fancon and she can't wait to meet her idol, an action star who had an above-the-knee amputation, just like Maisie. But then she meets Ollie. Ollie is a cute volunteer working the show, and they geek out about nerd culture, just as much as Maisie does. After spending the day together, Maisie notices feelings for Ollie that she's never had before. Could Ollie feel the same way?

Sasha Johnson-Sun might not know everything--like how to fully heal after her dad's passing or how many more Saturdays her mom can spend cleaning houses. But the one thing Sasha is certain of? She will graduate this year as Skyline High's class valedictorian. At least, she was sure before the principal calls Sasha and her cute, effortlessly gifted ex-best friend, Ezra Davis-Goldberg, into his office to deliver earth-shattering news: they're tied for valedictorian and the scholarship attached... This outcome can't be left to chance. So, Sasha and Ezra agree on a best-of-three, winner-take-all academic bet. As they go head-to-head, they are forced not only to reexamine why they drifted apart but also to figure out who they've become since. With her future hanging in the balance, Sasha must choose: honor her family's sacrifices by winning (at all costs) or give her heart a shot at finding happiness?