Cut

Cut

Patricia McCormick

Young Adult / Fiction / Realistic Fiction

Callie cuts herself. Never too deep, never enough to die. But enough to feel the pain. Enough to feel the scream inside. Now she's at Sea Pines, a "residential treatment facility" filled with girls struggling with problems of their own. Callie doesn't want to have anything to do with them. She doesn't want to have anything to do with anyone. She won't even speak. But Callie can only stay silent for so long...
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The Clue at the Zoo

The Clue at the Zoo

Patricia Reilly Giff

Young Adult / Realistic Fiction / Fiction

Oh, no! Arno the killer kindergarten kid is back. And Dawn Bosco's grandmother is his baby-sitter. How will Dawn and Jill ever have fun at the zoo with him along? Luckily, Dawn. the Polka Dot Private Eye, finds a mystery to solve. Someone has lost a notebook with gritty white poison all over it. But Arno has disappeared. If Dawn and Jill spend all their time looking for Arno, will they ever find out who owns the book?
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The Valentine Star the Valentine Star

The Valentine Star the Valentine Star

Patricia Reilly Giff

Young Adult / Realistic Fiction / Fiction

February is fun. It's time for everyone in Ms. Rooney's room to make cards for the Valentine box. Emily Arrow couldn't be happier when Dawn Bosco gives her some colored starsto decorate her cards. She plans to make a special one for Ms. Vincent, the new student teacher. But things take a turn for the worse when Ms. Rooney asks Emily to be class monitor.Emily feels important sitting at the teacher's desk, until Sherri Dent leaves her seat without Emily's permission. Emily reports her. That's when Sherri tells Emily, "You'll besorry." Emily is really worried. What will Sherri do to get even? "From the Trade Paperback edition."
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Messenger

Messenger

Carol Lynch Williams

Young Adult / Fiction / Realistic Fiction

From PEN Award–winning author Carol Lynch Williams comes an eerie and atmospheric coming-of-age tale about a girl who can talk to the dead—even if she would rather not. Evie Messenger knows that her family is different from other families. But it isn’t until her fifteenth birthday that the Messenger gift is revealed to her. Evie has the family’s gift—a special power. Soon she realizes she is able to see and talk to the dead—ghosts—often with no idea who the person was. Or as Evie says: “I see Dead People. It’s a Messenger gift.” That doesn’t mean she wants the Messenger gift. So Evie tries to ignore it but soon she finds she cannot. Can Evie find a way to live her life without letting her power take over? And what if the dead person is someone close to Evie’s family?
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November Blues

November Blues

Sharon M. Draper

Realistic Fiction / Young Adult / Fiction

In this second novel in Sharon M. Draper’s Jericho Trilogy and Coretta Scott King Honor Book, Jericho and November are locked together in pain from the past and fear for the future, and it feels as though there’s no way to escape either. When November Nelson loses her boyfriend, Josh, to a pledge stunt gone horribly wrong, she thinks her life can’t possibly get any worse. But Josh left something behind that will change November’s life forever. She’s pregnant and now she’s faced with the biggest decision of her life. How in the world will she tell her mom? And how will Josh’s parents take the news? She’s never needed a friend more. Jericho Prescott lost his best friend when he lost his cousin, Josh, and the pain is almost more than he can bear. His world becomes divided into “before” and “after” Josh’s death. He finds the only way he can escape the emptiness he feels is to quit doing the things that made him happy when his cousin was alive, such as playing his beloved trumpet. At the same time, he begins playing football, where he hopes the physical pain will suppress the emotional agony. But will hiding behind shoulder pads really help? And will his gridiron obsession prevent him from being there for his cousin’s girlfriend when she needs him most?
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R My Name Is Rachel

R My Name Is Rachel

Patricia Reilly Giff

Young Adult / Realistic Fiction / Fiction

Rachel, Cassie, and Joey live in the city with their Pop, until Pop's search for work lands the family on a run down farm. Dreamy Rachel loves to read, and doesn't know much about the country. Times are hard there, too—the school and library are closed.  When Pop gets work near Canada, he has to leave the children on the farm alone. For two months! But Rachel's the oldest, and she'll make sure they're all right. Somehow. From the Hardcover edition.
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Because of Mr. Terupt

Because of Mr. Terupt

Rob Buyea

Realistic Fiction / Childrens / Middle Grade

**Features seven narrators, each with a unique story, and each with a different perspective on what makes their teacher so special. It’s the start of fifth grade for seven kids at Snow Hill School. There’s . . . Jessica, the new girl, smart and perceptive, who’s having a hard time fitting in; Alexia, a bully, your friend one second, your enemy the next; Peter, class prankster and troublemaker; Luke, the brain; Danielle, who never stands up for herself; shy Anna, whose home situation makes her an outcast; and Jeffrey,** who hates school. Only Mr. Terupt, their new and energetic teacher, seems to know how to deal with them all. He makes the classroom a fun place, even if he doesn’t let them get away with much . . . until the snowy winter day when an accident changes everything—and everyone. "The characters are authentic and the short chapters are skillfully arranged to keep readers moving headlong toward the satisfying conclusion."--School Library Journal, **Starred "This powerful and emotional story is likely to spur discussion."--Publishers Weekly "No one is perfect in this feel-good story, but everyone benefits, including sentimentally inclined readers."--*Kirkus Reviews "Compelling. . . . Readers will find much to ponder on the power of forgiveness."--Booklist*
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The Battle of Jericho

The Battle of Jericho

Sharon M. Draper

Realistic Fiction / Young Adult / Fiction

WARRIORS ROCK! Sixteen-year-old Jericho is psyched when he and his cousin and best friend, Josh, are invited to pledge for the Warriors of Distinction, the oldest and most exclusive club in school. Just being a pledge wins him the attention of Arielle, one of the hottest girls in his class, whom he's been too shy even to talk to before now. But as the secret initiation rites grow increasingly humiliating and force Jericho to make painful choices, he starts to question whether membership in the Warriors of Distinction is worth it. How far will he have to go to wear the cool black silk Warriors jacket? How high a price will he have to pay to belong? The answers are devastating beyond Jericho's imagination.
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Winter Sky

Winter Sky

Patricia Reilly Giff

Young Adult / Realistic Fiction / Fiction

Siria loves everyone at Pop's firehouse. And she loves the stars in the winter sky. Her mother, who died, named her after Sirius—the Dog Star, brightest in January. But starry nights can fill with flames, and Siria sneaks out to chase the firetrucks.  If she's there, everyone will be safe. Still, Siria's not brave like Pop. Her best friend Douglas used to chase with her, and it wasn't so scary. But she did something wrong; they're not friends now. This winter, Siria must learn to be brave. Because she's got to fix things with Douglas; and when Pop is injured, she needs courage, and her friends, more than ever.
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Tears of a Tiger

Tears of a Tiger

Sharon M. Draper

Realistic Fiction / Young Adult / Fiction

After a car accident kills Robert, Andy's best friend and teammate on the Hazelwood High Tigers, Andy doesn't know if he can go on. He's consumed with guilt for driving the night of the accident after a long evening of drinking and partying. With perceptiveness and compassion, Sharon M. Draper portrays an African-American teenager who feels driven to consider suicide in the wake of a devastating tragedy.
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Rules

Rules

Cynthia Lord

Realistic Fiction / Young Adult / Fiction

Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules-from "a peach is not a funny-looking apple" to "keep your pants on in public"-in order to stop his embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a paraplegic boy, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, it's her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?
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The Backyard Animal Show

The Backyard Animal Show

Sharon M. Draper

Realistic Fiction / Young Adult / Fiction

THE BLACK DINOSAURS TO THE RESCUE!Ziggy, Rashawn, Jerome, and Rico are excited about watching the heavy machinery at the construction site for a new apartment complex -- until a doe is killed by a dump truck, and the boys rescue her orphaned fawn. Suddenly they realize what the destruction of their habitat means to the animals in the area.So they decide to stage a neighborhood animal show to raise money for the local wildlife rescue center, with the adorable fawn they've named Dino as the star attraction. After all, they've managed round-the-clock feedings and cleaning up after Dino; how much trouble can their friends' cats, dogs, and hamsters be?
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