REALISTIC FICTION

Speak
Laurie H. Anderson (YA ANDERSON) 197p HS
Melinda can’t bear to tell her terrible secret, so she doesn’t
speak at all.

Alt Ed
Catherine Atkins (YA ATKINS) 224p HS
School’s bad enough—try group “therapy” for the nearly expelled.

Scrambled Eggs at Midnight 262p MS/HS
Brad Barkley & Heather Hepler (YA BARKLEY)
Cal & Eliot each want what most teens want: normal parents!

Best Foot Forward
Joan Bauer (YA BAUER) 208p MS/HS
Are you passionate about shoes? So’s Jenna. She loves selling them!

Dear Zoe
Philip Beard (YA BEARD) 198p HS
What do you do when you cause your sister’s death? Write her a letter….

Girls, Girls, Girls (Diary of a Teenage Stud)
Jonah Black (YA BLACK) 233p HS
Sometimes living in a fantasy world (full of girls) is SOOO much easier!

Boy2Girl
Terence Blacker (YA BLACKER) 296p MS/HS
Sure, Sam can go live w/ relatives. He just has to go
to school…as a girl!

Candy
Kevin Brooks (YA BROOKS) 368p HS
Can you become addicted to a girl? What if she’s a drugged
out prostitute?

Upstate
Kalisha Buckhanon (YA BUCKHANON) 256p HS
“Baby, the first thing I need to know is...do you believe I killed my father?”

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky (YA CHBOSKY) 213p HS
What do you do when you’re caught between trying to live your life…and trying to run from it?

Prep
Jake Coburn (YA COBURN) 182p HS
Nick has left the prep-gang life. Now he must return to help the girl he loves.

The Face on the Milk Carton
Caroline Cooney (YA COONEY) 184p MS/HS
One day you wake up & discover your parents are kidnappers & your life is a lie!

Shelf Life
Robert Corbet (YA CORBET) 184p MS/HS
Working at a supermarket isn’t glam, but the teen staff have
lots of secrets!

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
Chris Crutcher (YA CRUTCHER) 216p HS
Eric goes to extremes to help save his friend from the scars she bears... inside & out.

Red Kayak
Priscilla Cummings (YA CUMMINGS) 209p MS/HS
It was just a prank—no one was supposed to die….

Bucking the Sarge
Christopher Paul Curtis (YA CURTIS) 240p MS/HS
Luther’s GOT to get out of Flint. His escape plans include the help of a pit-bull, a rat, a friend & his wits.

Played
Dana Davidson (YA DAVIDSON) 234p HS
The challenge: get a girl to “give it up.” The prize: elite status. Is it worth it?

Romiette & Julio
Sharon Draper (YA DRAPER) 236p MS/HS
Cyberspace brought them together. Will gangs & loved ones tear them apart?

48 Shades of Brown
Nick Earls (YA EARLS) 288p HS
Dan’s 4 summer goals: beer, sex, attitude & Calculus.

Bang
Sharon Flake (YA FLAKE) 304p HS
“They kill people where I live. They shoot ‘em dead for no real reason.”

Breaking Point
Alex Flinn (YA FLINN) 241p MS/HS
How far would you go to fit in?

Wrecked
E.R. Frank (YA FRANK) 247p HS
Just like that, Anna killed her brother’s girlfriend. Everyone says it’s not her fault. But it is. How does she live with that?

Keesha’s House
Helen Frost (YA FROST) 166p HS
When their problems are too much, everyone goes to Keesha’s house.

Endgame
Nancy Garden (YA GARDEN) 287p HS
Gray’s tired of the bullies. He’ll show them...w/ a semi-automatic.

Shattering Glass
Gail Giles (YA GILES) 215p HS
“We each hated [Simon Glass] for a different reason, but we didn't realize it until the day we killed him.”

Fat Kid Rules the World
K.L. Going (YA GOING) 187p HS
“Would it be funny if the fat kid got splattered by a subway train?”

Looking for Alaska
John Green (YA GREEN) 237p HS
Pudge discovers a world that’s anything but safe & boring; but there’s a price.

Godless
Pete Hautman (YA HAUTMAN) 208p MS/HS
How cool & hilarious to start your own religion! All you need is a god—like the town’s water tower...and a couple of followers.

Burned
Ellen Hopkins (YA HOPKINS) 532p HS
Surrender to a life of abuse & subservience? Or fight for a new life?

Things Change
Patrick Jones (YA JONES) 216p HS
Joanna wants Paul. Gets Paul. Loves Paul. Lives for Paul. Dies for Paul?

No More Dead Dogs
Gordon Korman (YA KORMAN) 180p MS/HS
See, detention CAN be a good thing!

Heavy Metal and You
Christopher Krovatin (YA KROVATIN) 192p HS
Sam’s determined to please Melissa, even if means becoming something he’s not.

Absolutely, Positively Not...
David LaRochelle (YA LAROCHELLE) 224p HS
Steven is absolutely, positively not gay. No, really. Honest!

Rx
Tracy Lynn (YA LYNN) 262p HS
Thyme is smart & popular. She’s also a drug dealer.

Pretty Things
Sara Manning (YA MANNING) 256p HS
Brie loves Charlie, who loves Walker, who loves Daisy, who hates everyone.

My Brother’s Keeper
Patricia McCormick (YA MCCORMICK) 192p MS/HS
Jake’s always been the golden boy & Toby’s second best. Until their dad bails.

Dairy Queen
Catherine Murdock (YA MURDOCK) 278p MS/HS
“I just did what my parents told me, & my coaches...and [my dog] even….I was nothing but a cow on two legs.”

Monster
Walter Dean Myers (YA MYERS) 281p MS/HS
Steve’s in jail, maybe forever. He’s on trial for murder. He’s only 16.

Wait for Me
An Na (YA NA) 240p MS/HS
Mina’s life is a lie. Will she do what her family wants or follow her own truth?

Teach Me
R.A. Nelson (YA NELSON) 264p HS
What happens when a student & her teacher cross that line?

Going, Going
Naomi Shihab Nye (YA NYE) 232p MS/HS
What do you do when the big box stores take over your town? Fight back!

Sexy
Joyce Carol Oates (YA OATES) 263p HS
Darren Flynn has the perfect life...until that day in November.

M or F?
Lisa Papademetriou (YA PAPADEMITRIOU) 304p MS/HS
Frannie & Marcus have been BFF, until they both start lusting after Jeff.

Between Mom & Jo
Julie Ann Peters (YA PETERS) 232p MS/HS
It’s bad enough when your parents split, but how about when you’re
a guy w/ 2 moms?

What Happened to Lani Garver
Carol Plum-Ucci (YA PLUM) 307p HS
Lani helps Claire get control of her own life at the risk of his own.

King Dork
Frank Portman (YA PORTMAN) 352p HS
Little does Tom know that his dead dad’s book will change his life.

An Order of Amelie, Hold the Fries
Nina Schindler (YA SCHINDLER) 136p HS
Who knew love could begin w/ a dropped note & mistaken identity?

Hip-Hop High School
Alan Sitomer (YA SITOMER) 368p HS
Tee-Ay’s got her eye on college. Will the streets get in her way?

Tale of Two Summers
Brian Sloan (YA SLOAN) 241p HS
“In the one day I have been gone from your life you have lost none of your knack for being a raving lunatic.”

Accidental Love
Gary Soto (YA SOTO) 179p MS/HS
Marissa’s tough; Rene’s a geek. They’re total opposites. So why can’t Marissa stay away from him?

Stargirl
Jerry Spinelli (YA SPINELLI) 176p MS/HS
“I imagined my life without her & without them & I didn’t like it either way.”

Chanda’s Secrets
Alan Stratton (YA STRATTON) 193p HS
One girl against the epidemic that threatens her family, her
community, her own life. And no one will talk about it.

The Gospel According to Larry
Janet Tashjian (YA TASHJIAN) 227p MS/HS
Can Larry save the world AND get the girl?

Surviving the Applewhites
Stephanie Tolan (YA TOLAN) 216p MS/HS
Jake is notorious. Only one place will take him. He thinks surviving it will be a breeze. The joke’s on him.

Inside Out
Terry Trueman (YA TRUEMAN) 117p HS
A robbery gone wrong leaves hostages. Including Zach, whose mind is more dangerous than any weapon….

Homecoming
Cynthia Voigt (YA VOIGT) 312p MS/HS
What do you do when one day your mom just leaves...forever?

Blind Faith
Ellen Wittlinger (YA WITTLINGER) 280p MS/HS
When her grandma dies, Liz’s family falls apart. Can she put it—and herself—back together?

Make Lemonade
Virginia Euwer Wolff (YA WOLFF) 200p MS/HS
“One good thing you do in a day for somebody else don’t cost you.”

I Am the Messenger
Marcus Zusak (YA ZUSAK) 368p HS
Ed gets mysterious clues that lead to life-altering missions.

MS = Most appropriate for middle schoolers
MS/HS = Most appropriate for middle/high schoolers
HS = Most appropriate for high schoolers

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