February 2, 2024
The other night, Trace Brewster, Max’s best friend and star hockey player for the Hawks, scored on his own net and put the team’s chances of qualifying for an upcoming tournament in jeopardy. Since then, Trace has gone silent and is shutting everyone out. But Max thinks there’s more going on with his friend than what happened on the ice. For one thing, there are bruises on Trace’s face that he refuses to explain. Can Max find a way to get Trace to open up and help him in time for the big game? The only thing that Max […]
February 2, 2024
A chilling new young-adult thriller about four teens whose dark secrets come back to terrorize them. Someone from the past is blackmailing Sam and his friends with their dangerous secrets. Sam isn’t sure who he can trust, who’s watching him – or how far he’s willing to go to bury the past once and for all. Sam Hall hopes he has left everything in the past about his fall from stardom. He participates in a secret cathartic ritual with a few of his friends where they vocalize their worst secrets in private in a wooden hut in the woods. […]
January 5, 2024
Generations of American history students have grown up believing that enslaved people accepted their lot and became attached to their enslavers, that rebellion was rare and that liberation from slavery happened thanks to the enslavers. In this newly updated version of a celebrated history book first published in 1990, high school teacher and children’s book author William Loren Katz offers a closer look at the lives of enslaved people in the United States, from their African abductions through to their brave resistance to harsh plantation life and their roles in the Civil War. It documents how enslaved people themselves were […]
January 5, 2024
An action-driven, high-octane “thrill ride” about a group of working-class teens who join a dangerous scavenger hunt with a prize that can save their families and community. Jax the puzzler, Yas the parkourist, Spider the hacker and Han the cartographer are Team Jericho, the best scavenger hunting team in Seattle. But with an oil refinery proposed in their backyard, they fear their families are at risk of losing their jobs, communities and homes. When “The Order,” a mysterious vigilante organization, hijacks the scavenger hunting forum and concocts a puzzle of its own, promising a reward of influence, Team Jericho sees […]
January 5, 2024
In the quaint yet politically charged town of Edgartown, North Carolina, two worlds are about to collide. Meet Gabe Delgado, the quintessential all-American boy, molded by his conservative, Cuban senator father. Across town there’s Annabelle Morningstar, an impassioned, quirky high school activist raised by her news anchor and surgeon mothers, both champions of progressive ideals. Edgartown is a town literally divided―the Liberal East and the Conservative North coexisting as neighbors but rarely as friends. But what happens when the two sides meet in the least likely of places: a local bookstore? Running Mates is not just a heartwarming coming-of-age tale. […]
January 5, 2024
Ignacio “Iggy” Garcia is an Ohio-born Colombian-American teen whose world is spun around when he bumps into Marisol at school. As he stresses over how to get Marisol to like him, his grandfather comes to the rescue. The thing is, not only is his abuelito dead, but he also gives terrible love advice. This is the story of Iggy searching for his place in his family, school, community and country. The novel challenges assumptions about Latino-American identity while reaffirming belief in the hope that all young people represent. Quirkiness aside, this graphic novel has a lot to offer aside […]
January 5, 2024
No phones. No internet. No social media at all. That’s what it’s going to take to finally get serious about school and focus on exams. Nova, Vin and Lotus even rented a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere so they won’t get distracted. After that, everything can go back to normal. But they aren’t alone. Someone is watching them from the forest. Someone who knows their secrets. Someone who wants revenge. And things will never be the same again. This dramatic, contemporary thriller involves inappropriate sexual relations, bullying, counter-bullying, blackmail, romantic triangles and revenge. What makes it particularly intriguing […]
December 1, 2023
A trans teen is swept up in a whirlwind friendship with lethal consequences in this taut thriller. Before: Newly-out trans guy Max is having a hard time in school. Things have been tough since his summer romance, Danny, turned into his bully. This year, his plan is to keep his head down and graduate. All that changes when new It-girl Gloss moves to town… After: Haircuts, makeovers, drugs, parties. It’s all fun and games until someone gets killed at a rager gone terribly wrong. McAdam writes the novels they wish they could have read when they were a teen. I’d certainly […]
December 1, 2023
Set against the backdrop of the tempestuous political eras of the 1960s and ‘70s, this novel features Ray Elias, a precocious but withdrawn 16-year-old growing up in an affluent suburb of New York. When Ray chances upon a documentary about Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey, Humphrey becomes his newfound hero. And to the amazement of Ray’s friends, Humphrey learns of Ray’s lobbying activities and takes Ray under his wing. The relationship unravels when Humphrey becomes an ardent public supporter of the Vietnam War. Tension between them grows and their bond deteriorates, but as Ray matures to young adulthood, he reconnects with Humphrey—who achieves […]
December 1, 2023
Wesley Mackenzie is failing senior year — thanks to his unchecked anger, rowdy friends and a tendency to ditch his homework for skateboarding and a secret photography obsession. Then he meets and gets an instant crush on ballet dancer Tristian Monroe. Wes is as closeted as they come, but slowly he feels driven by a new sense of purpose and begins to think that maybe he can change for the better and graduate on time. As a falling out with his friends becomes inevitable, Wes realizes that being himself means taking a stand — and blowing up the bad-boy reputation […]