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Susane Colasanti

Waiting for You

Genre:
Romance
Age Level:
YA
For best friends Marissa and Sterling, their sophomore year of high school has a lot in store for them, especially in the relationship department. Marissa is thrilled when Derek, the cutest boy in school, finally notices her. Throughout her ups and downs with Derek and her parent’s split, Marissa’s next door neighbor, Nash gives Marissa support… and love. Will Marissa be able to see Derek for who he really is and give Nash a chance?
Walls
L.M. Elliott

Walls

Genre:
Historical Fiction
Age Level:
YA

Can two cousins on opposite sides of the Cold War and a divided city come together when so much stands between them? Drew is an army brat in West Berlin, where soldiers like his dad hold an outpost of democracy against communist Russia. Drew’s cousin Matthias, an East Berliner, has grown up in the wreckage of Allied war bombing, on streets ruled by the secret police.

From enemy sides of this Cold War standoff, the boys become wary friends, arguing over the space race, politics, even civil rights, but bonding over music. If informants catch Matthias with rock ’n’ roll records or books Drew has given him, he could be sent to a work camp. If Drew gets too close to an East Berliner, others on the army post may question his family’s loyalty. As the political conflict around them grows dire, Drew and Matthias are tested in ways that will change their lives forever.

Set in the tumultuous year leading up to the surprise overnight raising of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, and illustrated with dozens of real-life photographs of the time, Walls brings to vivid life a heroic and tragic episode of the Cold War.

Middle grade and YA author Walter Dean Myers

Walter Dean Myers (1937-2014)

“It’s a hard life sometimes and the biggest temptation is to let how hard it is be an excuse to weaken”
― Walter Dean Myers, Scorpions

Close up portrait of author Walter Dean Myers with Dope Sick cover using bold hand drawn typography
Background Knowledge, Content-Area Literacy, Dropout Prevention, Gender & Diversity Issues, Motivation and Engagement

Walter Dean Myers' Second Chance Initiative

Inspired by Walter Dean Myers’ powerful book, Dope Sick, the Second Chance Initiative is an effort to motivate teens to overcome life’s challenge, move beyond mistakes of the past, take advantage of the second chances they are given, and make better choices in the future.

Warcross book cover
Marie Lu

Warcross

Genre:
Science fiction / Dystopian
Age Level:
YA

Emika Chen’s life goes from desperation to unbelievable fame and fortune literally overnight, when she is hired to detect and stop a scheme to disrupt the mega-popular annual Warcross games.

Native American girl portrait with mythical beings in front of her
Angeline Boulley

Warrior Girl Unearthed

Genre:
Fiction
Age Level:
YA

Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen history.

Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won’t ever take her far from home, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.

Watch Us Rise
Renée Watson, Ellen Hagan

Watch Us Rise

Genre:
Fiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade, YA

Teen best friends Irish- and Italian-American Chelsea and African-American Jasmine find and use their voices to confront stereotypes, biases, and societal wrongs in their community.