Showing results by publisher "-emdashery books-" in Coming of Age

Heir apparent, young Prince Ahkin feels unprepared for leadership after his father's death. His royal blood controls the power of the sun, and he’s now responsible for the lives of all the Chicome people. Despite all Ahkin’s efforts, the sun is fading - and the end of the world may be near. For Mayana, the only daughter of the Chicome family whose blood controls the power of water, the old emperor’s death may mean that she's next. Ahkin must marry before ascending the throne, and Mayana is one of six noble daughters presented to him. Those who are not chosen will be sacrificed.

17-year-old Dovie doesn’t believe in magic even though she comes from a long line of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing, and for the past few years the bones have been crooning nonstop, calling out to Dovie to dig them up. Because there is a killer on the loose – someone is snatching hikers from the miles of tracks, leaving their mutilated bodies for Dovie to find. And the body count grows ever higher.

Everyone says hotshot goalie Luke Jackson is God's gift to girls, but the only girl he wants is his best friend, Malina Hall. He's always known how brilliant she is, but now that he's "accidentally" kissed her, he can't stop thinking about her...or wanting to kiss her again.

Mina is an outcast. A childhood accident left her scarred and with a curse that her master exploits to hunt dragons for sport. She wants freedom, from both her master and the curse, but unless the right dragon is killed, she'll be a bondservant for the rest of her days. With Mina's uncanny ability and her master's magical strength, the beast responsible for her misery will fall... even if she has to take matters into her own hands.

Self-focused and emotional 14-year-old Margaret can't imagine her deceased mama being erased from their home for goodor how her daddy could replace her with another woman. It will take coming to terms with her own humility and accountability as surprising truths come to light, and as unexpected events show her that life, and what she holds dear, can change in an instant.

Cassandra McMurtrey has the best parents a girl could ask for; they’ve given Cass a life she wouldn’t trade for the world. She has everything she needs - but she has questions, too. Like, to know who she is. Where she came from. Questions her adoptive parents can’t answer, no matter how much they love her. But 18 years ago, someone wrote Cass a series of letters. And they may just hold the answers Cass has been searching for.

One way or another...she will be the end of the world. With powers that weren't supposed to be touched by mortal hands, Vi Solaris is determined to free herself and the world from the deadly vortex it's trapped in. This mission has taken her to forbidden lands and has transformed her from a sheltered princess to a fearsome warrior. But the ultimate triumph requires the ultimate sacrifice, forcing Vi to choose between the last tethers to her humanity and the very people she's sworn to protect.

Izzy Beswick is a typical high school senior. Well, except for the incident with Sondra and the fact that Izzy doesn’t remember exactly what happened. Luckily, Izzy and her dad inherit a house from Izzy's Gran-gran in East Gate, Connecticut. The timing seems perfect. Plus, her childhood crush lives in East Gate, so how bad could it be? Soon after moving, strange things happen, and Izzy learns of rumors surrounding her late relative. Nearly everyone in town believes Gran-gran was a cursed witch, including her new friends: Jessa, Tahlia, and Margo.

There’s nothing All Star pitcher Peter Friedman loves more than baseball. It’s his life. He breathes baseball, dreams about it, and works his tail off to be great. Most kids are nervous about starting high school, but Pete’s amazing arm is going to make his life pretty easy. When you’re the star, girls, popularity, and all-around stud status are sure to follow. But Pete’s freshman year doesn’t turn out as planned. A pitching accident over the summer ruins his arm. If he can’t play baseball, what is he supposed to do? If he isn’t the star pitcher, then who is he?

They say that whoever you are it's okay, you were born that way. Those words don't comfort Emily, because she was born Christopher and her insides know that her outsides are all wrong. They say that it gets better, be who you are and it'll be fine. For Emily, telling her parents who she really is means a therapist who insists Christopher is normal and Emily is sick. Telling her girlfriend means lectures about how God doesn't make that kind of mistake.

After a life-changing summer, four friends are finally ready for senior year. Gabriel is thrilled to create his school's first LGBTQ+ advocacy group, but his long-distance relationship is fading from summer love to something else. Heath feels secure for the first time in years, but with his future riding on a baseball scholarship each pitch triggers his anxiety. Reese is set on pursuing a career in fashion design, but his creativity takes him in an unexpected direction. Sal wants to be in politics. After a chat with his aunt, he is ready for an unlikely path.

Ophelia Rojas knows what she likes: her best friends, Cuban food, rose-gardening, and boys – way too many boys. Her friends and parents make fun of her endless stream of crushes, but Ophelia is a romantic at heart. She couldn’t change, even if she wanted to. So when she finds herself thinking more about cute, quiet Talia Sanchez than the loss of a perfect prom with her ex-boyfriend, seeds of doubt take root in Ophelia’s firm image of herself. Add to that the impending end of high school and the fracturing of her once-solid friend group, and things are spiraling a little out of control.

Senior year was supposed to be the time of Colt's life, but when he meets Lucas Oliver, a college-aged vagabond with a mysterious past, Colt's life takes an unexpected turn. Lucas mentors Colt and a group of eleven other senior guys, guiding them through a series of rites of passage over the course of the year. They are challenged by the power of sacred questions, courageous acts, and vulnerable authenticity, but the question remains: can Lucas be trusted with his unorthodox ideas about God, life, and death?

To celebrate the end of high school, Izzy Morales joins her best friend Kassidy and five friends on a luxury 1920s-themed getaway at the glamorous Ashwood Manor. There, Izzy and her friends party in vintage dresses and expensive diamonds - until Kassidy's boyfriend turns up dead. And when a raging storm traps them on the island with two detectives, the sparkling young socialites become the prime suspects in his murder. There's the girlfriend, and the other girl. The old friend, and the new friend. The brooding enigma. And then, there's Izzy - the girl who brought the knife.

Fifteen-year-old Amelina Scott lives in Cambridge with her dysfunctional family, a mysterious black cat, and an unusual girl who is imprisoned within the mirrors located in her house. When an unexpected message arrives inviting her to visit the Crystal Cottage, she sets off on a forbidden path where she encounters Ryder, a charismatic, perplexing stranger. With the help of a magical paint set and some crystal wizard stones, can Amelina discover the truth about her family?

Winnie is living her best fat girl life and is on her way to the best place on earth. No, not Disneyland - her granny’s diner, Goldeen’s, in the small town of Misty Haven. While there, she works in her fabulous '50s-inspired uniform, twirling around the diner floor and earning an obscene amount of tips. With her family and ungirlfriend at her side, she has everything she needs for one last perfect summer before starting college in the fall...until she becomes Misty Haven’s Summer Queen in a highly anticipated matchmaking tradition that she wants absolutely nothing to do with.

Fourteen-year-old Reese’s dream of winning the Black Elk race is shattered when her beloved horse, Trusted Treasure, falls at the last jump, and the vet suggests they put him down. While still reeling from that loss, her family suffers a second tragedy—one that results in the end of their family business, the sale of Trusted Treasure, and irreparable damage to Reese’s relationship with her father.

Father John controls everything inside The Fence. And Father John likes rules. Especially about never talking to Outsiders. Because Father John knows the truth. He knows what is right and what is wrong. He knows what is coming. Moonbeam is starting to doubt, though. She's starting to see the lies behind Father John's words. She wants him to be found out. What if the only way out of the darkness is to light a fire?

Michael is content to live in the shadow of his best friends, James and Becky. Plus, his brother, Connor, has already been kicked out of the house for being gay, and laying low seems to be Michael's only chance at avoiding the same fate. To pass the time before graduation, Michael hangs out at The Echo, where he can dance and forget about his father's angry words, the pressures of school, and the looming threat of AIDS, a disease that everyone is talking about, but no one understands

A fierce teen game developer battles a real-life troll intent on ruining the Black Panther-inspired video game she created and the safe community it represents for black gamers. By day, 17-year-old Kiera Johnson is a college student and one of the only black kids at Jefferson Academy. By night, she joins hundreds of thousands of black gamers who duel worldwide in the secret online role-playing card game Slay.