From the Stonewall Honor-winning author of Like a Love Story comes a revelatory novel about the enclosed world of privilege and silence at an elite boarding school and the unlikely group of friends who dare to challenge the status quo through their writing. Perfect for fans of E. Lockhart, Kathleen Glasgow and Jandy Nelson, with crossover appeal for readers of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep.
Beth Kramer is a “townie” who returns to her sophomore year after having endured a year of tension with her roommate, Sarah. But Sarah Brunson knows there’s more to that story. Amanda Priya “Spence” Spencer is the privileged daughter of NYC elites, who is reeling from the realization that her family name shielded her from the same fate as Sarah. Ramin Golafshar arrives at Chandler as a transfer student to escape the dangers of being gay in Iran, only to suffer brutal hazing under the guise of tradition in the boys’ dorms. And Freddy Bello is the senior who’s no longer sure of his future but knows he has to stand up to his friends after what happened to Ramin.
At Chandler, the elite boarding school, these five teens are brought together in the Circle, a coveted writing group where life-changing friendships are born—and secrets are revealed. Their professor tells them to write their truths. But is the truth enough to change the long-standing culture of abuse at Chandler? And can their friendship survive the fallout?
Truly Devious meets Turtles All the Way Down in critically acclaimed author Katie Henry’s YA contemporary comedic mystery, a hilarious send-up of the hardboiled detective genre that spotlights family, friendship and love.
Gideon’s short-lived run as a locally famous boy detective ended when middle school started, and everyone else—including his best friend, Lily—moved on while Gideon kept holding on to his trench coat, fedora and his treasured film noir collection. Now he’s sixteen and officially retired. That is, until Lily shows up suddenly at Gideon’s door, needing his help.
He might be mad at her for cutting him off with no explanation, but Gideon can’t turn down a case. As a cover, Gideon joins Lily on the school paper. Surprisingly, he finds himself warming up to the welcoming, close-knit staff . . . especially Tess, the cute, witty editor-in- chief
But as the case gets bigger than Gideon or Lily could have anticipated, Gideon must balance his black-and-white quest for the truth with the full colors of real life—or risk a permanent fade to black.
Hockey player Griffin Tardiff is starting Grade 11 in a new school, new home, new town. He has not been able to play hockey for months because of a broken arm and now is also cut off from his hockey friends and his on-again, off-again girlfriend. Floundering to find a new focus, he gets an opportunity for school credit to work at the local radio station with the hockey guy. It's a break (no pun intended) that fits with his abilities as a writer and his fascination with the game. It's not long before he has made a strong positive impression.
In his new neighborhood, Griff befriends a young boy, Noah, as he practices his ball hockey shots in the driveway. The boy would love to be a hockey player but his mother has vetoed that because of the costs of the hockey program. And Noah's older sister does not seem interested in encouraging her brother or in the older boy who has become a mentor to Noah. Then one night, Noah bursts in to Griff's home terrified because of something that has been happening at his home. Now Griff must face a complicated reassessment about his radio station mentor and several aspects of his new life. Jean Mills' astute insights into the hockey world as well as her ability to penetrate the emotional lives of teenagers makes this a compelling page-turner.
David has a mind that never stops running. He reads Dante and Moby Dick, he sinks into Hemingway and battles with Milton. But on Florida’s Gulf Coast, one can slip into deep water unconsciously; at the age of 14, David runs away from home to pursue a girl and, on his journey, tries crack cocaine for the first time. He’s hooked instantly. Over the course of the next decade, he fights his way out of jail and rehab, trying to make sense of the world around him—a sunken world where faith in anything is a privilege. He makes his way to a tenuous sobriety, but it isn't until he takes a literature class at a community college that something within him ignites.
All Day is a Long Time is a spectacular, raw account of growing up and managing, against every expectation, to carve out a place for hope. We see what it means, and what it takes, to come back from a place of little control—to map ourselves on the world around, and beyond, us. David Sanchez’s debut novel resounds with real force and demonstrates the redemptive power of the written word.
A gripping tour de force in which three estranged brothers return to the Swedish lakeside cottage where, more than two decades before, an unspeakable accident forever altered their family and changed the course of their lives.
"Takes you deep into an emotional labyrinth [where] you'll cry for these brothers. For the men they became, for the boys they were, for the innocence they lost. Brilliant, haunting and unforgettable." —Fredrik Backman, author of A Man Called Ove
There is Nils, the oldest, who couldn't escape his suffocating home soon enough, and Pierre, the youngest, easily bullied and quick to lash out. And then there is Benjamin, always the family's nerve center, perpetually on the lookout for triggers and trap doors in a volatile home where the children were left to fend for themselves, competing for their father's favor and their mother's elusive love.
But as the years have unfolded, Benjamin has grown increasingly untethered from reality, frozen in place while life carries on around him. And among the brothers a dangerous current now vibrates. What really happened that summer day when everything was blown to pieces?
In a thrillingly fast-paced narrative, The Survivors mixes the emotional acuity of Edward St. Aubyn, the literary verve of Ian McEwan and the heart of Shuggie Bain. By brilliantly dissecting a mind unravelling in the wake of tragedy, Alex Schulman reveals the ways in which our deepest loyalties leave us open to the greatest betrayals.
Sophomore Cole Renner knows teamwork inside and out from running cross-country at his multi-ethnic Chicago public school. He knows about braving the elements and not getting passed in the chute.
What Cole doesn't know is how much he'll need all of his mental and physical skills when the heavy doors of Cook County Jail slam shut on his father, a community activist; when his English teacher catches Cole tagging the school with the F word and sentences him to write two poems a week, each on a word that starts with F; when his best friend Felipe Ramirez runs for class president against the girl who dumped him; when the school bully prowls the halls looking for Cole and the principal seems more interested in punishing Cole than the bully.
As much as Cole wants to win meets, what he wants even more is justice -- for his father, for himself, for Felipe and for his fellow students. Cole learns that actions matter, but so do words. He takes his write words (in both Spanish and English) and turns them into the right words to fight for justice.