Showing results for "J" in Coming of Age

"There’s nothing there." The words may as well have been a death sentence to young Declan. Without mana, there could be no studying at the sky-piercing Pinnacle Towers, there could be no great monster hunts, and there could be no following in his father’s legendary footsteps. He’d be a cripple. But when a terrible accident forces him to flee, Declan learns the true nature of his mana. Just because it doesn’t resonate at any known frequency doesn’t mean it isn’t magic. Just because he can’t cast the same spells as everyone else doesn’t mean he isn’t a mage.

Sarah never admits that she’s his mother, but the beautiful boy has watched her survive as a “lot lizard”: a prostitute working the West Virginia truck stops. Desperate to win her love, he decides to surpass her as the best and most famous lot lizard ever.

In a small, Texas town where tradition reigns supreme, 14-year-old Grayson has always been told who he is supposed to be. But the world inside his heart doesn't match the world he's been born into. Struggling to embrace his true self while living under the watchful eye of his conservative, opinionated grandfather, Grayson finds himself caught in a tug-of-war between identity and expectation. As secrets unravel and courage takes root, Grayson discovers allies in unexpected places—and challenges his own perception of love, family, and what it means to live authentically.

Life is meant to be an adventure rich in love & laughter. Eight very different little girls going off on adventures that most children can only dream and imagine. Be it traveling to another world straight out of an RPG game or a Fantasy anime. Or becoming superheroes, protecting their home while struggling to find the balance of a college student. Or going off to discover the urban tales that had been passed down for generations.

Welcome to Ganymede's. An elite boys-only boarding school that has long stood at the vanguard of the world's decline. Here there is only one purpose; how to be the perfect boyfriend, partner, and ultimately, husband. At graduation, your future wife will be waiting to welcome you into society. Over the next thirty days, you will prove that you are ready to take your next steps. These challenges are meant to test your strength, knowledge, resilience and loyalty. What it means to be a man. Pass, and your future is ahead of you. Fail, and there are consequences…

In Tamil Nadu, India, a boy is born with blue skin. His father sets up an ashram, and the family makes a living off of the pilgrims who seek the child’s blessings and miracles, believing young Kalki to be the 10th human incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. In Kalki’s 10thyear, he is confronted with three trials that will test his power and prove his divine status and, his father tells him, spread his fame worldwide. While he seems to pass them, Kalki begins to question his divinity.

Lorraine Tyler is the only queer person in Bend, Minnesota. Or, at least, that’s what it feels like when the local church preaches so sternly against homosexuality. Which is why, she’s fighting so hard to win the McGerber scholarship - her ticket out of Bend -even though her biggest competition is her twin sister Becky. And even though she’s got no real hope - not with the scholarship’s morality clause and that one time she kissed the preacher’s daughter.

With sensitivity and a teenager’s ability to find humor even in disaster, Jan Blixen tells of his life growing up gay in the Midwest. An escaped mental patient living in a refrigerator box gives Jan a priceless gift. A university professor accused of a terrible crime is Jan’s best friend. Jan’s father, a drunk and a brawler, loathes his gay son as God’s practical joke. Jan’s stories are a concentration of emotional power, often heartwarming and heartbreaking in the span of a few minutes.

Death. Tragedy. Circumstances. World events. All of these impact everyone in the world, and one often thinks that adults remain on the receiving end. However, it is the middle schoolers and high schoolers who are impacted the most. These are the years and the events that shape everyone into being the person that they become. This is how the human brain, heart, and the entire system works. Within this system are middle-schoolers Jake, Steven, Evan, Justin, Kev, Stacey, and Ellie at Castle Rock Middle School, who have a journey that changed them for good.

Charlie’s got plans for this summer: hanging out in the cemetery behind his house, doing as little assigned reading as possible, and volunteering at the old costume shop in the Victorian District. What he doesn’t anticipate is meeting William: a handsome, mysterious guy who just so happens to have been dead for about 100 years. As the weeks go by, Charlie and William discover that they have a lot to teach each other.

Jessica Ann Stark, known as Jess, has lost the love of their life. A non-binary 20-something with a soft spot for girly girls, Jess has finally found the one: Emma Lee. The only problem is that she is dating their best bud, Rick. Watching Rick take Emma Lee from 19-year-old innocent high school dropout to a girl who needs to work "the program" takes its toll on Jess, who, when all is said and done, is left grieving and questioning everything.

One morning in the spring of 1958 I woke up in my room at the Hotel Alexandria with a paralyzing hangover (which was not unusual) and an idea for a book (which was). I sat in front of my typewriter, and within a few hours I had produced a chapter-by-chapter outline of a novel. I had all the characters sketched out and knew how they'd relate to one another, and how the rather elementary storyline would resolve itself. I even had a title: Shadows.