Narrative theme: coming of age

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Book SynopsisA powerful coming-of-age novel about a twenty-something Black musician living in predominantly white Portland, Oregon, playing in a rock band on the verge of success while struggling with racism, romance, and the legacy of his strict religious upbringing.Julian Strickland is seemingly the lone Black man in the hipster dreamland of Portland, Oregon. To his friends, he’s the coolest member of the scene: the soulful drummer from Chicago in an indie rock band that’s just about to break through. But to himself, he’s a sheltered Christian homeschool kid who used to write book reports on Leviticus. A virgin until the night of his marriage, divorced at twenty-four, he’s still in disarray two years later—pretending to fit in, wondering if any of his relationships are real, estranged from his family, and struggling to reconcile his relationship with God. Then he meets Ida Blair, a Black painter at the start of a promising career. They begin a tentative relationship, and Ida seems to offer Julian relief from his confusion. But suddenly she stops responding to his texts. Things only get worse when Julian’s best friend mysteriously turns on him, his house burns down, and the band considers breaking up on the eve of their most important show yet. It seems the only thing Julian has left—the only thing he’s ever had, really—is the weight he is carrying. Jeff Boyd’s beguiling first novel is a piercing exploration of faith, racial identity, love, and friendship—woven of acid humor, disarming vulnerability, and unforgettable poignance.

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Book SynopsisThe heart-wrenching TikTok sensation about a group of terminally ill patients who vow to live the rest of their lives to the fullest and find a love that transforms and transcends.Against the unforgiving landscape of a hospital, a group of terminally ill patients embraces the joys within their reach: friendship, freedom, rebellion. Each in their own way is broken; each in their own way is stronger for it. In the midst of pain and loss, they find community, even miracles, and together they are determined to reclaim from life what illness has taken from them. But a singular heartbreak has led one to swear off love forever. The risk of experiencing another tragedy feels too great. Yet, in this desolate place where it seems impossible for love to make an appearance, a door opens?and so do hearts.

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Book SynopsisWhen fourteen-year-old Rene stepped off the streetcar in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1949, he entered a situation he could never have imagined. His mother had taken a position as head nurse at the Salvation Army’s Booth Memorial Home and Hospital where they would live on campus. For the next year he would be surrounded by ten women who had dedicated their lives to God, and fifty young girls…all pregnant…all unmarried. To hide that embarrassing fact from new classmates, he walked around the block before boarding a streetcar for school. To bond with neighborhood kids, he tried playing hockey even though he didn’t know how to skate. Although his religion censured it, he took an interest in the home, the women running it and in the lives of the girls there to hide their condition. He learned how hard it was for them to give up their babies and felt the pain when difficult births and deaths visited the home. Inevitably, there came a time when he learned that life’s decisions are not always easy…and not without consequence. Those experiences at Booth Memorial guided Rene in his first steps toward being the responsible man that he was someday to become.

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Book SynopsisSummertime on Rhode Island’s luxurious Aquidneck Island.A middle-class Cuban American—freshly graduated from college—reckons with his fragile standing among the wealthy community in which he was raised, from which he might be cast out before the summer ends.Raymond Wilson-Domingo has never felt entirely comfortable among the elitist crowd of Newport’s old-money aristocracy—partly because he's Cuban, partly because of his modest upbringing in the city’s undesirable Fifth Ward neighborhood. But this summer, Ray's job at a boutique wine shop, a lobster theft, a misguided plan to become a lawyer, an exclusive beach club, an ill-timed car crash, the Moon View mansion’s mysterious and controversial new resident, and a doomed romance with the doyenne of Newport—not to mention the impending Campbell-Doheny wedding and all of the money, gossip, and drama which surrounds it—will collide, casting the differences between Ray and his peers in high relief. Ray would do anything to cement his place among New England’s most elite social circles, but will it ever be enough?Trade Review“Perfectly captures the confounding moment between college graduation and adult responsibilities. All in all, the drunken escapades are great fun.” —Publishers Weekly“With a great ear for dialogue and a keen eye for place, Fletcher Michael’s Glass Bottle Season offers both a sharp dissection of privilege and an ode to the summers of youth. This is a smart, entertaining, and poignant story about the messiness of life on the cusp of adulthood.” —Alix Ohlin, award-winning author of Dual Citizens“Glass Bottle Season, a buoyant coming-of-age story that follows Raymond as he desperately attempts to solidify his place among the hobnobbing elites of Newport, Rhode Island, is more than just a delightful beach read. Fletcher Michael’s second novel will stick with you long after the last grains of sand have been vacuumed from the trunk of your car.” —James P. MacGuire, author of Out of Time: Surviving the Sixties and Real Lace Revisited“Fletcher Michael’s Glass Bottle Season is a closely observed coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of the insular culture of Newport royalty. This boozy, immersive novel will resonate with anyone who has ever felt like an outsider or has experienced that painful passage between the last gasps of childhood and beginnings of adulthood. It’s a terrific beach read, and just like summer, you won’t want it to end.” —Michelle Brafman, author of Washing the Dead and Bertrand Court“This boozy coming-of-age novel is a great read for anyone who’s felt out-of-place in their own home, or clung too hard to that one last carefree summer.” —Tyler McMahon, author of One Potato

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Book SynopsisThe oldest child in a troubled Philadelphia family, Angel Ferente struggles to care for her three sisters while pursuing her goal of attending college on a swimming scholarship. She has a problematic relationship with her mother, Pic, who uses alcohol and drugs to self-medicate and at one point lost custody for a year, and an outright hostile relationship with her stepfather, the only father figure in her life. Angel is the center of stability in the household—making sure the younger girls get to school, ensuring that holidays are observed, doing the family’s laundry at her part-time job at a Laundromat, and even taking care of Pic when she is sick or depressed. It’s 1993, the midst of the crack epidemic, and Angel and her sisters are witness to the everyday events of life in a community beset by poverty and drugs: dealers on the corner, shoot-outs that kill bystanders, prostitutes on the job, and more. Then Angel goes to a team party on New Year’s Eve—and doesn’t come home afterward. In the wake of her disappearance, her teammates, her coach’s church, and her family search the city for her. The result changes their lives forever.Trade Review2021 IPPY Awards Silver Winner in Autobiography/Memoir II (Coming of Age/Family Legacy/Travel) 2020 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Bronze Medal in Fiction: Sports 2020 Sarton Awards Finalist in Contemporary Fiction “A measured, affecting look at a struggling and burdened teenager . . . tight, unembellished prose makes for an easy read and even adds a hint of mystery.” —Kirkus Reviews “Watermark is a shrewd and unflinching mystery set in some of the less charming parts of Philadelphia. Great characters, broken hearts, and lots of twists make this compelling reading. Elise Schiller makes her mark with this book.” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of V-Wars and Rage “I found this book to be fascinating and insightful . . . incredibly compelling and a wonderful read. I can highly recommend this story and look forward to the next iteration of the Broken Bell series.” —Reader’s Favorite (5-star review) “Schiller’s Watermark is a perfect start to what will surely be a compelling series.” —San Francisco Book Review

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Book Synopsis"Brilliance on every single page."-CHRISTINA LAUREN, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, for Boyfriend MaterialFAKE AMNESIA. REAL FEELINGS? REAL PROBLEMS.Sam Becker loves-or, okay, likes-his job. Sure, managing a bed and bath retailer isn't exactly glamorous, but it's good work and he gets on well with the band of misfits who keep the store running. He could see himself being content here for the long haul. Too bad, then, that the owner is an infuriating git.Jonathan Forest should never have hired Sam. It was a sentimental decision, and Jonathan didn't get where he is by following his heart. Determined to set things right, Jonathan orders Sam down to London for a difficult talk...only for a panicking Sam to trip, bump his head, and maybe accidentally imply he doesn't remember anything?Faking amnesia seemed like a good idea when Sam was afraid he was getting sacked, but now he has to deal with the reality of Jonathan's guilt-as well as the unsettling fact that his surly boss might have a softer side to him. There's an unexpected freedom in getting a second shot at a first impression...but as Sam and Jonathan grow closer, can Sam really bring himself to tell the truth, or will their future be built entirely on one impulsive lie?"The apotheosis of the rom-com."-Entertainment Weekly, A+ Review, for Boyfriend Material"Delicious, ridiculous, and often poignant." -Talia Hibbert, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, for Husband Material"Every once in a while you read a book that you want to SCREAM FROM ROOFTOPS about. I'm screaming, people!"-Sonali Dev, award-winning author, for Boyfriend Material

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Book SynopsisAn emotionally wrought debut fiction novel perfect for book clubs about a girl who escapes from a cult after a deadly fire destroys her family's compound, only to be haunted by That Night as she tries to build a new life for herself.A fire. Her escape. And the realization her entire life has been a lie.One night, nineteen-year-old Avery is awoken by a fire consuming her family's compound. She manages to escape and runs away with her younger brother, Cole, hiding in the woods and then a school gym for weeks, dodging stares and stealing food to survive. After police apprehend them for shoplifting, a horrific discovery is made-they were actually kidnapped as children, taken by the cult leaders they knew as Mom and Dad.Cole is quickly reunited with his family and permanently separated from Avery, who is taken to a women's shelter when no family comes forward. Avery isn't certain who survived the Bakelite cult fire or, more importantly, who set it. As she tries to move past the lies and the trauma of her childhood, the events of the night of the fire come bursting back into the news, and a police investigation throws Avery into the spotlight where she's pushed to answer questions she can't explain. The memories of that night and her former life threaten to undo all the progress she's made, but she must uncover the truth about the fire to truly be free.Suspenseful, emotionally charged, and deeply thought-provoking, After We Were Stolen delves into ideas of family-those we're born into and those we make, resilience, and the lengths a cult survivor will go to finally be free of her painful past. Brooke Beyfuss's powerful debut novel sparkles with heart, grit, and extraordinary characters who will stay with you long after the last page.

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Book SynopsisFrom International Latino Book Award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal comes a gorgeously written family saga about a Puerto Rican teenager who finds herself gifted (or cursed?) with a strange ability.There was always an old woman dying in the back room of her family's house when Isla was a child...Isla Larsen Sanchez's life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage.When Isla turns eighteen, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family's cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her.At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can't solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.

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Book SynopsisWanted:One (very real) husbandNowhere near perfect but desperately trying his bestTwo years ago, Luc O'Donnell and Oliver Blackwood met, pretended to fall in love, fell in love for real, dealt with heartbreak and disappointment and family and friends...and somehow figured out a way to make it all work.Now it seems like everyone around them is getting married, and Luc's feeling the social pressure to propose. That's what you do when you love someone this desperately, right? But it'll take more than four weddings, a funeral, and a hotly contested rainbow balloon arch to get this semi-disgraced son of former rock stars and his tightly-buttoned-up boyfriend from I don't know what I'm doing to 'I do'.Good thing Oliver is such perfect husband material. "Brilliance on every single page." -Christina Lauren, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, for Boyfriend Material "The apotheosis of the rom-com." -Entertainment Weekly, A+ Review, for Boyfriend Material "Every once in a while you read a book that you want to SCREAM FROM ROOFTOPS about. I'm screaming, people!" -Sonali Dev, award-winning author, for Boyfriend Material "FAKE DATING, REAL FEELINGS, BEST JOKES." -Olivia Waite, award-winning author, for Boyfriend Material "Fresh and vibrant." -Annie Carl, The Neverending Bookshop (Edmonds, WA), for Boyfriend Material

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