Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Coming of Age

First-time novelist Jenny Han has penned a realistic story that all middle-graders will surely be able to relate to. Meet 12-year-old Annemarie “Shug” Wilcox. What’s not to like about her? She’s smart, she’s tall, and she has lots of freckles. She lives in a small Georgia town with her popular, gorgeous older sister and intellectual mother. Shug is excited about starting the seventh-grade, but she’s not prepared for all the vicious teasing that comes with the new school year.

Macy's school officially classifies her as "disturbed", but Macy isn't interested in how others define her. She's got more pressing problems: Her mom can't move off the couch, her dad's in prison, her brother's been kidnapped by Child Protective Services, and now her best friend isn't speaking to her.

Raised among the ruins of a conquered mountain nation, Maren dreams only of sharing a quiet life with her girlfriend Kaia - until the day Kaia is abducted by the Aurati, prophetic agents of the emperor, and forced to join their ranks. Desperate to save her, Maren hatches a plan to steal one of the emperor's coveted dragons and storm the Aurati stronghold.

Poppy Pullman has her life all planned out. Her social media is carefully curated. Her list of extracurriculars is flawless. All so she can achieve her ultimate goal: Stanford. Her best friends say she’s missing out. But Poppy’s playing a long game. And the morning of her Stanford alumni interview, she’s positive everything is going to work out.

After Zahra Paracha makes a decision at odds with her beliefs, her mother forces Zahra to make an impossible choice about her future. So Zahra runs away. A train and a plane ride later, she finds herself in New York, where she relinquishes her past in favor of a new future. There, she must learn who she is without the marionette strings of control in her mother’s hands. There, she must learn who she wishes to become.

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

When Lou enlists her best friend, Molly, to shave her head, it’s partly so she doesn’t have to deal with washing her hair all the time while on tour—and partly because she’s ready to be a new person. No stranger to reinventing herself, restless Lou is a Cuban-American girl who’s never left Texas, let alone the country. But the “New Lou” has deferred her first semester at Texas State to work for a celebrity musician on tour. She’s bound for China, Japan, half of Europe, and everywhere in between, though it means getting intimately acquainted with the band’s dirty laundry.

Southern Illinois is a place of mixed emotions as the American Civil War erupts. For the Creightons, the war lures two sons to the Union army and one to the Confederacy, leaving 10-year-old Jethro to care for the family farm. As the war rages, Jethro does whatever he can to learn about the fates of his brothers, while the Creighton family faces its own danger. Some townspeople can’t forgive the Creightons for having a rebel son-and they’re willing to use violence to make their feelings known. In a state torn by conflicting loyalties, Jethro is forced to grow up quickly to preserve his family and their home.

At Jonesville High, casual misogyny runs rampant, slut-shaming is a given, and school athletes are glorified above all else. Best friends Suze, Nikki, Ani, and Lydia swear they'll always have each other's backs against predatory guys - so when Suze suddenly starts dating wrestling star and toxic douchebag Tarkin Shaw, it's a big betrayal. Turns out, it's not a relationship - it's blackmail. At first, Suze feels like she has no choice but to go along with it, but when Tarkin starts demanding more, she enlists the help of intelligent misfits DeShawn and Marcus....

Kids have been picking on 14-year-old Harold ever since he can remember. They stare at him and call him "maggot" or "ghost boy" because he's an albino. Even his mother seems angry and withdrawn when he's around.One day the circus comes to town, and Harold runs away to join it. When Fossil Man and Princess Minikin accept him into their family, he feels that he has at long last come home.

Ezra Slevin is an anxious, neurotic insomniac who spends his nights questioning his place in the universe and his days obsessing over Imogen, a nerdy girl with gigantic eyebrows and a heart of gold. For weeks, Ezra has been working up the courage to invite Imogen to prom. The only problem is Imogen's protective best friend, Wynonna Jones. Wynonna has blue hair, jams to 80s rock, and has made a career out of tormenting Ezra for as long as he can remember. Then, on the night of a total solar eclipse, something strange happens to Ezra and Wynonna - and they wake up in each other's bodies.

Jack is on the verge of leaving for college, but before he does, he wants to track down his estranged brother, Alex, and find some closure in the wake of their father's death. Meanwhile, Hallie has just found out some upsetting news about a friend in Oregon, and she has a small window to go see him before it's too late. Jack and Hallie are practically strangers. They shared a class together years ago and haven't seen each other since, though they have more in common than they'd ever imagine.

Will is a 17-year-old on the cusp of freedom—freedom from providing and caring for their abusive, addicted mother, freedom from their small town with an even smaller mindset, and freedom from having to hide who they truly are. When their mother dies months before their 18th birthday, Will is granted this freedom earlier than expected. They begin to dream of escaping to the big city of Baltimore, of dating the magnetic and gorgeous Julian, and of living, unencumbered and free.

For most sixteen year olds, life is all about friends, fun, and family. But for Matt Franco, it's different. Because Matt and his family are undocumented immigrants— like many other Brazilian emigres in his town. And that means he can't get a job, he can't get a driver's license, and as for college? Get real. But Matt is also carrying a burden much closer to his own heart. Matt is gay. And right now, he's the only one who knows it. But that changes when handsome, kind-eyed, and charming transfer student James Alberte walks into class.

Grace Woodhouse has left a lot behind. She used to have a great friend group, an amazing girlfriend, and a right foot set to earn her a Division I football scholarship—before she came out as trans. As senior year begins, Grace is struggling to find her place in early transition, new social circles, and a life without football. But when her skills as the best kicker in the state prove to be vital, her old teammates beg her to come out of retirement, dragging her back into a sport—into a way of life—she thought had turned its back on her forever.

Brian, a 20-something reporter on the Niagara Cascade's City Desk, is navigating life as the only Indigenous writer in the newsroom, being lumped into reporting on stereotypical stories that homogenize his community, the nearby Tuscarora reservation. But when a mysterious roadside assault lands Tim, the brother of Brian's mother's late boyfriend in the hospital, Brian must pick up the threads of a life that he's abandoned.

Sixteen-year-old Arden Grey is struggling. Her mother has left their family, her father and her younger brother won't talk about it, and a classmate, Tanner, keeps harassing her about her sexuality—which isn't even public. (She knows she likes girls romantically, but she thinks she might be asexual.) At least she's got her love of film photography and her best and only friend, Jamie, to help her cope. Then Jamie, who is trans, starts dating Caroline, and suddenly he isn't so reliable. Arden's insecurity about their friendship grows.

Fifteen-year-old RJ Armante has never known a life outside his dead-end hometown of Arcangel, CA. The Blackjacks rule as they have for generations, luring the poorest kids into their monopoly on petty crime. For years, they’ve left RJ alone, but now they have a job for him: Prey upon an old loner in town. In spite of the danger, RJ begins to resist.

Marens world was shattered when her girlfriend, Kaia, was abducted by the Aurati. After a daring rescue, they've finally been reunited, but Maren's life is still in pieces: Kaia seems more like a stranger than the lover Maren knew back home; Naava, the mother of all dragons, has retreated into seclusion to recover from her wounds, leaving Maren at a loss on how to set the rest of the dragons free; and worst of all, her friend Sev has been captured by the emperors Talons.

West Finch is one hurricane away from falling into the sea. Yet 16-year-old Harlow Prout is determined to save her small Maine hometown. If only she could stop getting in her own way and find someone - anyone - willing to help. But her best friend, Ellis MacQueen, “fixes” problems by running away from them - including his broken relationship with his twin brother, Tommy. And Tommy’s depression has hit a new low, so he’s not up for fixing anything. In the wake of the town’s latest devastating storm, Tommy goes out for a swim that he doesn’t intend to survive.