Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Dating, relationships, romance and love

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA shocking thriller about a group of friends who go to a cabin to play a murder mystery game...only to have the game turned against them, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends.FIVE friends go to a cabin.FOUR of them are hiding secrets.THREE years of history bind them.TWO are doomed from the start.ONE person wants to end this.NO ONE IS SAFE.Five friends take a trip to a cabin. It's supposed to be one last getaway before going their separate ways-a chance to say goodbye to each other, and to the game they've been playing for the past three years. But they're all dealing with their own demons, and they're all hiding secrets.And as they start to play the murder mystery game that brought them together in the first place, the lines between the game and reality blend, with deadly consequences. Someone knows their secrets. Someone wants to make them pay. Soon, it's a race against time before it's game over-forever.Are you ready to play?"Immersive and captivating. Thrilling in every sense of the word."-KAREN M. MCMANUS, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us is Lying and One of Us is NextPerfect for readers who love:teenage mystery books or YA horrorLGBT stories about intersectional groups of friendsKaren McManus, Gretchen McNeil, or Natasha PrestonPraise for Even If We Break:"The darkly twisted ode to self-discovery briskly whisks an intersectionally inclusive group through a reasonably stormy, emotionally charged scenario that considers the sometimes-steep price of growing up and growing apart."-Publishers Weekly"An engaging read, providing readers with some solid suspense, and twists to sink their teeth into."-Booklist"A fast-paced thriller that will leave you both gushing over the geekiness and gasping over the game."-Rachel Strolle, Glenside Public Library DistrictMore Teen Thrillers by Marieke Nijkamp:This Is Where It EndsBefore I Let GoAt the End of Everything

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTalking to girls an exciting part of a boy's life - well, exciting and potentially agonising.This book gives a realistic picture of the challenges and choices that face boys today when they're talking to girls. Written by a highly experienced counsellor and educator, it provides a clear and informative guide to help boys through obstacles like shyness and awkwardness.Featuring 'uncut' individual comments from boys, this book links their ideas about their ability to develop girls as friends and looks at what is needed to further a friendship into a relationship. It's all about talking, listening and asking the kinds of questions that lead to healthy friendships and relationships. It's not rocket science!

Read more less

Book SynopsisTalking to boys is an exciting part of a girl's life - well, exciting and potentially agonising .How to Talk to Boys gives a realistic picture of the challenges and choices that face girls today when they're talking to boys. Written by a highly experienced educator, it provides a clear and informative guide to help girls through obstacles like shyness and awkwardness.Featuring 'uncut' individual comments from girls, this book links their ideas about their ability to develop boys as friends and looks at what is needed to further a friendship into a relationship. It's all about talking, listening and asking the kinds of questions that lead to healthy friendships and relationships. It's not rocket science!

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat happens when your enemy becomes your friend … with benefits? Red, White and Royal Blue meets The Magicians in this surprising, wildly original and joyously funny LGBTQ YA novel set in a magical boarding school. Tim Te Maro and Elliott Parker – classmates at Fox Glacier High School for the Magically Adept – have never gotten along. But when they both get dumped the day before the big egg-baby assignment, they reluctantly decide to ditch their exes and work together. When the two boys start to bond over their magically enchanted egg-baby, they realise that beneath their animosity is something like friendship … or physical attraction. Soon, a no-strings-attached hook-up seems like a good idea. Just for the duration of the assignment. After all, they don’t have feelings for each other … so what could possibly go wrong? From debut Kiwi author H.S. Valley, the latest winner of the Ampersand Prize, comes this gleefully addictive romantic comedy that’s perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan. In a word – it’s magic.Trade Review'... As heartfelt as it is melodramatic. Tim, a Māori teen, is paired up with his nemesis, Elliott, to take care of an egg for a school project. Soon that tension turns from bickering to kissing. As the boys move from enemies to lovers, Tim has to find a way to deal with his self-esteem issues before it fractures their fledgling relationship. Sweet, invigorating and effervescent, like cold lemonade on a hot summer’s day.' – Alex Brown, NPR 'Sweet and sexy in equal measure,Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues explores all the confusion, messiness and joy that comes with queer first love.' – Erin Gough, author of Amelia Westlake '... Sex, sexuality, and its various realities — including anxiety, boundaries, and consent — are discussed openly and honestly, and the characters’ myriad relationship dramas are portrayed using good-humored dialogue. The racially diverse cast and the worldbuilding surrounding the magic system ... provide a unique backdrop for Kiwi author Valley’s witty and buoyant debut.' – Starred review, Publishers Weekly '... A fun, low-stakes (but high-investment) romp through the brains of lovelorn, hormone-driven teenagers, and the delightful array of queer people that populate their school and by proxy their world.' – Sam Brooks, TheSpinoff.co.nz 'A beautiful and sweet story about figuring out your bisexuality set at a magical boarding school, highly recommended for anyone who loves the combination of a cute queer story with some fantasy on the side!' – Annie's Reading Tips

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA gripping locked-door YA murder mystery told from multiple perspectives from Governor General’s Award – and Crime Writers of Canada Award – nominated author of The Grey Sisters and Blood Will Out.The back-to-school blowout filled with drinks and drugs isn’t Frankie’s scene, but she would do anything for her childhood best friend, Jessa, whose recent ugly duckling transformation has her hanging with a new crowd and vying for pretty boy Malcolm – the popular senior throwing the all-out rager on his father’s deserted development property.Martin hasn’t heard from his old friends since his father lost everything and moved them across town. Until the party invitation. Between working double-shifts and avoiding his father’s sad-guilty routine, Martin decides to blow off some steam. But the party house is a monument to the bad real estate deal that left half the town in financial ruin – and the heart of all that has gone wrong for him and his family.Cara and her crew of lost girls have been squatting in a model home on the property, stealing for their survival. The party is the perfect mark – privileged kids, abundant alcohol, and dark corners. The girls score big with their haul, but the celebration is short-lived when they learn their temporary home is at risk of discovery. They could be split up and forced back onto the unsafe streets.In the wake of a brutal brawl, the guests find a lifeless body—and this murder is only the first. Escalating violence drives Frankie, Martin, and Cara to forge new bonds, and together unmask a killer. Narrated from multiple perspectives, Heartbreak Homes is about what compels us to kill – and the true face of justice.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis"Genuinely moving... An entertaining YA romance with multilayered charaters -a winner." -Kirkus Reviews In a faraway land, Bettina Diaz lives in a shining castle . . . Okay, so she lives on a sprawling ranch in California, but close enough. Nicknamed "the Beast" at school, Bett has an infamous temper. And a secret. When Beau LeFrancois's mother hits Bett's luxury SUV, his family faces an impossibly large bill. To pay off the debt, Beau spends his weekends working on the Diaz Ranch. He's prepared to work, but he's not prepared for Bett's harshness to melt away as he learns what's behind her tough facade. Beau finds himself falling for her . . . until the day he catches her in a lieTrade Review"Genuinely moving... An entertaining YA romance with multilayered charaters -- a winner." -- Kirkus Reviews

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this heartfelt and powerfully affecting coming of age story, a neurodivergent 7th grader is determined to find her missing best friend before it's too late. Now in paperback.Things never seem to go as easily for thirteen-year-old Frankie as they do for her sister, Tess. Unlike Tess, Frankie is neurodivergent. In her case, that means she can't stand to be touched, loud noises bother her, she's easily distracted, she hates changes in her routine, and she has to go see a therapist while other kids get to hang out at the beach. It also means Frankie has trouble making friends. She did have one--Colette--but they're not friends anymore. It's complicated.Then, just weeks before the end of seventh grade, Colette unexpectedly shows up at Frankie's door. The next morning, Colette vanishes. Now, after losing Colette yet again, Frankie's convinced that her former best friend left clues behind that only she can decipher, so she persuades her reluctant sister to help her unravel the mystery of Colette's disappearance before it's too late.A powerful story of friendship, sisters, and forgiveness, Tornado Brain is an achingly honest portrait of a young girl trying to find space to be herself. Inspired by her own neurodiverse child, Cat Patrick writes with authenticity and sincerity in her depiction of Frankie in what is ultimately a love letter to neurodiverse children everywhere.Trade ReviewPraise for Tornado Brain:A 2022-2023 Truman Readers Book Award Nominee (MO)A 2021 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the YearA 2021 Texas Lone Star Reading List PickA 2021 Washington State Book Award for Young Readers FinalistA Summer 2020 Kids Indie Next List Pick A Spring 2020 Apple Most Anticipated Book A Junior Library Guild Pick★ “Frankie’s first-person narration is spot-on as she describes her feelings about her attention-deficit and sensory-processing disorders and her Asperger’s syndrome as well as her distaste for the medications that impair her thinking. . . This moving account of Frankie’s emerging maturity—with extra challenges—is perfect. . . An intriguing mystery embedded within a richly insightful coming-of-age story.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review★ “Patrick...has done a remarkable job of creating an unforgettable character in Frankie, who tells the story in her own idiosyncratic first person voice, which takes readers inside her head as she struggles with her many challenges. The result is a tour de force that readers will remember long after they have finished the book.” —Booklist, starred review “Much of this upper middle grade novel’s success is thanks not just to Frankie’s nuanced portrayal, but to all the characters, who are written to be both beautiful and flawed, doing the best that they can under difficult circumstances. Author Patrick is adept at developing a seamless blend of genres, and this title is at once a coming-of-age tale, a family drama, and a mystery. . . Elementary and middle school librarians should recommend this title to fans of Rain Reign, John Green, and anyone who might see themselves reflected in Frankie.” —School Library Connection, recommended review “Frankie’s narration is solid and plausible, remaining credibly and creditably unyielding as she deals with the world in her own way rather than mapping onto neurotypical emotions . . . A brisk yet moving story that will satisfy lovers of friendship tales and hard-won growth.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books“A clever and suspenseful mystery where, in time-honored tradition, kids defy authority and solve the puzzle themselves. . . Frankie joins other memorable protagonists who are not neurologically typical, such as Willow in Counting by 7s and Rose in Rain Reign. . . The detailed setting and a strong cast of supporting characters, including the twins’ exhausted mother and a kindly boy who like likes Frankie, make this a satisfying reading experience.” —The Horn Book“The characters are a strength in this story . . . The different ways in which people can experience anger, hope, fear, and loss are beautifully explored. This is an important book.” —School Library Journal

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this companion to Tornado Brain, a moving tale of loss and healing comes full circle.Tess has always understood her role in her family. She is supposed to be the "okay" one. The one no one has to worry about. But all Tess does is worry, constantly picking at her fingers every time a new worry arises. Still grieving her best friend's death, she is consumed by the fear that everything was her fault and her sadness that Colette is never coming back. Worse still, it seems like everyone else has found a way to move on, even her twin sister Frankie. When her mom decides a change of location might do her good, Tess finds herself on an airplane bound for her aunt's house in small town Wyoming and a summer vacation attending art camp.Tess thinks she might never be able to move on from losing Colette but her quirky but determined cousin Kennedy and new friend Izzy are determined to help. When Tess becomes convinced that Colette's ghost might be haunting her, Kennedy and Izzy find new ways for Tess to make peace with the past and finally let go of the grief that has been haunting her heart.Trade ReviewPraise for Paper Heart:★ “Utterly convincing and compelling . . . Patrick writes with a sure hand, a fine eye for detail, and a quick, accessible understanding that will have readers on Tess’ side and happy to see her finding and forgiving herself.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review“An engaging tale of grief and the power of friendship.” —Kirkus Reviews“Patrick’s cleverly plotted tale is a mashup of mystery and summer romance that makes for an agreeable companion to Tornado Brain, and it can also be read and enjoyed independently.” —Booklist“Patrick provides a unique look into the world of a grief-stricken kid trying to stay above water. She intertwines mystery, realistic fiction, romance, and social-emotional issues with aplomb, creating a lovely and therapeutic story . . . [and] weaves an authentic tale of a young girl with a sensitive heart who endures life’s hardships.” —School Library Journal“A highly readable, convincing, and gripping narrative . . . Crisp dialogue, subtle characterization, a sprinkling of romance, liberal handfuls of humor, and clever mystery plotting add up to a very satisfying read.” —The Horn BookPraise for Tornado Brain:A 2022-2023 Truman Readers Book Award Nominee (MO)A 2021 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the YearA 2021 Texas Lone Star Reading List PickA 2021 Washington State Book Award for Young Readers FinalistA Summer 2020 Kids Indie Next List PickA Spring 2020 Apple Most Anticipated BookA Junior Library Guild Pick★ “Frankie’s first-person narration is spot-on as she describes her feelings about her attention-deficit and sensory-processing disorders and her Asperger’s syndrome as well as her distaste for the medications that impair her thinking. . . This moving account of Frankie’s emerging maturity—with extra challenges—is perfect. . . An intriguing mystery embedded within a richly insightful coming-of-age story.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review★ “Patrick...has done a remarkable job of creating an unforgettable character in Frankie, who tells the story in her own idiosyncratic first person voice, which takes readers inside her head as she struggles with her many challenges. The result is a tour de force that readers will remember long after they have finished the book.” —Booklist, starred review

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less