Young Adult

  • Solis

    by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher

    $12.99

    From the authors of Sanctuary comes a haunting near-future companion tale about undocumented immigrants subjected to deadly experiments in a government labor camp and the four courageous rebels who set into place a daring plan to liberate them.

    The year is 2033, and in this near-future America where undocumented people are forced into labor camps, life is bleak. Especially so for seventeen-year-old Rania, a Lebanese teenager from Chicago. When she and her mother were rounded up by the Deportation Force, they were given the brutal job of digging in the labor camp’s mine searching for the destructive and toxic, but potentially world-changing chemical, aqualinium. With this chemical the corrupt and xenophobic government of the New American Republic could actually control the weather—ending devastating droughts sweeping the planet due to climate change. If the government succeeds, other countries would be at their mercy. Solidifying this power comes at the expense of the undocumented immigrants forced to endure horrendous conditions to mine the chemical or used in cruel experiments to test it, leaving their bodies wracked in extreme pain to the point of death. As the experiments ramp up, things only get worse. Rania and her fellow prisoners decide to start a revolution; if they don’t, they know they will die.

    Told by four narrators—Rania, Jess (a former teenage Deportation Force officer), Vali, and Vali’s mother Liliana—Solis is about the courage and sacrifice it takes to stand and fight for freedom.

  • The Passing Playbook

    by Isaac Fitzsimons

    $11.99

    *ships in 7 - 10 days*

    Love, Simon meets Bend It Like Beckham in this feel-good contemporary romance about a trans athlete who must decide between fighting for his right to play and staying stealth.

    “A sharply observant and vividly drawn debut. I loved every minute I spent in this story, and I’ve never rooted harder for a jock in my life.” – New York Times bestselling author Becky Albertalli

    Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother, and a David Beckham in training. He's also transgender. After transitioning at his old school leads to a year of isolation and bullying, Spencer gets a fresh start at Oakley, the most liberal private school in Ohio.

    At Oakley, Spencer seems to have it all: more accepting classmates, a decent shot at a starting position on the boys' soccer team, great new friends, and maybe even something more than friendship with one of his teammates. The problem is, no one at Oakley knows Spencer is trans—he's passing.

    But when a discriminatory law forces Spencer's coach to bench him, Spencer has to make a choice: cheer his team on from the sidelines or publicly fight for his right to play, even though it would mean coming out to everyone—including the guy he's falling for.

  • APRIL 2024: Young Adult Book Club for Adults - April 23 @ 6:30 PM
    Sold out

    The bookclub meeting will take place on April 23, 2024 at 6:30 PM in the Kindred Stories' Reading Garden. Be sure to show up with the book read (or partially read). You are always welcome to just come and take up space. 

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    From the New York Times bestselling author of the Brown Sisters trilogy, comes a laugh-out-loud story about a quirky content creator and a clean-cut athlete testing their abilities to survive the great outdoors—and each other.

    Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes . . . except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.
     
    Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption—yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.)

    These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her.

    Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed . . . or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

  • The Dark Place

    by Britney S. Lewis

    $18.99

    *ships in 7-10 business days*

    Every secret comes to haunt you in this YA horror that combines the swoony romance and emotional resonance of John Green with the surrealist horror imagery and razor-sharp wit of Jordan Peele.

    Seventeen-year-old Hylee Williams didn’t ask to disappear. But she did disappear, and not only that, but when she vanished from our world, she materialized in a dark, twisted version of the night that changed her life forever: the night her older brother went missing.

    Just as Hylee realizes this moment could be the key to unraveling the truth about her brother, she’s yanked away from the dark place back to our world. Craving a sense of normalcy, she goes to a party with her best friend—where she meets Eilam Roads. Tall, handsome, and undeniably, inexplicably familiar, Hylee can’t help the pull she feels towards him. It’s a classic teen girl-meets-boy situation, until it happens again. She disappears, right in front of him.

    Together, Hylee and Eilam investigate the truth about time, space, and reality, with Hylee increasingly convinced her time travel holds the key to saving her brother. But the more they learn, the more Hylee begins to see darkness lurking in her world—and in herself.

  • Study Break: 11 College Tales from Orientation to Graduation

    edited by Aashna Avachat

    $20.99
    *ships in 7 -10 business days*
    This collection of interconnected YA short stories, written by Gen Z authors, explores different parts of "the college experience," from questioning your major to questioning your identity.
    College . . . the best time, the worst time, and something in between.

    What do you do when orientation isn't going according to your (sister's) detailed plans? Where do you go when you're searching for community in faith? What happens when your partner for your last film project is also your crush and graduation is quickly approaching?

    Told over one academic year, this collection of stories set on the same fictional campus features students from different cultures, genders, and interests learning more about who they are and who they want to be. Gen Z contributors include Jake Maia Arlow, Arushi Avachat, Boon Carmen, Ananya Devarajan, Camryn Garrett, Christina Li, Racquel Marie, Oyin, Laila Sabreen, Michael Waters, and Joelle Wellington.

  • Wish of the Wicked

    by Danielle Paige

    $19.99

    *ships in 7 - 10 business days*

    Bestselling author Danielle Paige puts a dark YA spin on Cinderella’s fairy godmother in this new origin story of magic and revenge.

    Everyone knows a fairy godmother helped Cinderella get to the ball. But no one knows why.

    For centuries, Farrow’s family has used their magic to guide the Queendom. Until the new queen outlaws magic and executes them all. Only Farrow manages to survive, but her magic is left warped: she can now only use it to fill the wishes of others.
    Farrow dreams of nothing but revenge. The best way to reach the queen is through her son, who is nearing the age when he will need a bride. But the closer Farrow gets to the prince, the more she finds herself drawn to him. To reclaim her magic and destroy the queen, Farrow will have to question what—and who—she’s willing to sacrifice.
    Bestselling author Danielle Paige launches a new series full of intrigue, magic, and romance, set in a lush fairy-tale inspired world.

  • The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
    $11.99

    Catalog Copy: *"With wonderfully descriptive language, Clayton builds a grand and lavish world, carefully chipping away at the veneer to reveal its dark, sinister interior... A refreshingly original concept, this substantial fantasy...is an undeniable page-turner." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

    A twisted world. A beautiful power.

    Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.

    But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land.

    But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.

  • Briarcliff Prep

    by Brianna Peppins

    $17.99

    *ships/available for pickup in 7-10 business days

    Set at a luxe, aspirational boarding school inspired by the author's beloved alma mater Spelman College, this debut is a captivating celebration of the friends we choose, the family we protect, and the love we owe ourselves.

    It's fourteen-year-old Avielle "Avi" LeBeau's turn to do what everyone in her family has done: leave home to attend Briarcliff Prep—a Historically Black Boarding School (HBBS). And as scared as she is to say goodbye to her parents and move to Georgia, she knows her fearless big sister Belle will be there to show her the ropes.

    Before long, Avi settles into life at Briarcliff. New friends (and foes), challenging classes (at times too challenging), and maybe a cute tutor-turned-something-more (if her brothers don't get in the way). Meanwhile, Belle does what she always does: she runs the campus's social scene, especially now that she's dating Logan, the pride and joy of Briarcliff's sibling school Preston Academy.

    But something about Logan doesn't sit well with Avi, no matter how many times Belle reassures her Logan is a good guy. And when Avi stumbles across the truth, her relationship with Belle is put to the test. If Avi reveals what she knows, their sisterhood might never recover. But if she doesn't, she might lose Belle forever.

    Debut author Brianna Peppins deftly balances a celebration of sisterhood, self-discovery, and Black joy with an empathetic exploration of teen dating violence in this novel that is, at its heart, a love letter to Black girls.

  • Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Puberty—and Shouldn't Learn on TikTok: For Curious Girls
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    *ships in 7-10 business days*

    Reading this book is like having a cool older sister holding your hand through every curve that puberty throws your way. Funny, frank, and fully illustrated, it covers all of the physical, emotional and social changes going on inside and out.

    Puberty is a time of tremendous change. Curves form, moods swing, socializing takes on a whole new look and feel. It can be intimidating and awesome, overwhelming and  liberating. 

    In Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Puberty, author Andrea Davis tells girls what to expect as their bodies change—from how to handle acne, to how to choose a bra, to what to use when you get your period. Fully illustrated by Amelia Pinney, the book uses graphics, humor, and loads of anecdotes to explore relationships, sexual feelings, social media, and other pressing, contemporary issues. Engaging, no-holds-barred, and full of useful information, this is a must-read for curious middle school girls.

  • You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen
    $18.99

    *Ships in 7-10 business days

    "You Truly Assumed is a beautiful portrayal of the multitude of ways to be Black and Muslim while navigating our contemporary world. A must-read for everyone."—Adiba Jaigirdar, author of The Henna Wars

     
    In this compelling and thought-provoking debut novel, after a terrorist attack rocks the country and anti-Islamic sentiment stirs, three Black Muslim girls create a space where they can shatter assumptions and share truths.

    Sabriya has her whole summer planned out in color-coded glory, but those plans go out the window after a terrorist attack near her home. When the terrorist is assumed to be Muslim and Islamophobia grows, Sabriya turns to her online journal for comfort. You Truly Assumed was never meant to be anything more than an outlet, but the blog goes viral as fellow Muslim teens around the country flock to it and find solace and a sense of community.

    Soon two more teens, Zakat and Farah, join Bri to run You Truly Assumed and the three quickly form a strong friendship. But as the blog’s popularity grows, so do the pushback and hateful comments. When one of them is threatened, the search to find out who is behind it all begins, and their friendship is put to the test when all three must decide whether to shut down the blog and lose what they’ve worked for…or take a stand and risk everything to make their voices heard.

    “I reached the ending with tears in my eyes—tears cued not by sadness but hope and elation.” —S. K. Ali, New York Times bestselling author of The Proudest Blue and Love from A to Z

  • Rise to the Sun

    by Leah Johnson

    $17.99

    *Ships in 7-10 Business Days*

    Olivia is an expert at falling in love . . . and at being dumped. But after the fallout from her last breakup has left her an outcast at school and at home, she’s determined to turn over a new leaf. A crush-free weekend at Farmland Music and Arts Festival with her best friend is just what she needs to get her mind off the senior year that awaits her.

    Toni is one week away from starting college, and it’s the last place she wants to be. Unsure about who she wants to become and still reeling in the wake of the loss of her musician-turned-roadie father, she’s heading back to the music festival that changed his life in hopes that following in his footsteps will help her find her own way forward.

    When the two arrive at Farmland, the last thing they expect is to realize that they’ll need to join forces in order to get what they’re searching for out of the weekend. As they work together, the festival becomes so much more complicated than they bargained for. Olivia and Toni will find that they need each other, and music, more than they ever could have imagined.

    Packed with irresistible romance and irrepressible heart, bestselling author Leah Johnson delivers a stunning and cinematic story about grief, love, and the remarkable power of music to heal and connect us all.

  • This Thing of Ours
    $12.99

    “Both heartening and heartbreaking, this richly layered, sensitive YA fiction debut from Joseph unflinchingly confronts systemic racism, classism, and homophobia via a powerful story of self-discovery and social justice that aims, shoots, and scores.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

    In an instant, Ossie Brown’s entire future is in jeopardy when a torn ACL ends his promising basketball career. Now that basketball is no longer a major part of his identity, Ossie—a Black teen who doesn’t come from wealth and privilege—must navigate his new place in the social and academic ecosystems of his affluent, predominantly white school. When a Black teacher encourages him to join her highly regarded writing program, Ossie begins to find a new purpose, buoyed by not only the rich works of literature by marginalized authors he’s now reading, but also by new friends who see him as something more than an asset to the sports program. Everything changes when some students’ viral “anti-woke” video puts the teacher’s job, the writing program, and even Ossie’s friends’ safety at risk—and Ossie must find his true voice. This unflinching novel confronts critical issues like racism and classism, the treatment of student athletes, homophobia, and book banning while weaving together a moving testament to family, romance, friendship, and the power of words.

  • PRE-ORDER: Legacy of Orisha Boxed Set: Deluxe Edition with Designed Edges and Full-Color Map
    $51.97

    Prepare to explore the groundbreaking world of Orïsha ahead of the release of the Children of Blood and Bone movie in theatres and IMAX in 2027.

    With over 1.8 million copies sold across the trilogy, Tomi Adeyemi's New York Times-bestselling Legacy of Orïsha series is now available in a deluxe paperback box set for the first time with gorgeous designed edges and an exclusive full-color map.

    Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic before a ruthless king ordered all maji killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie fights to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy while struggling to control her powers―and her growing feelings for an enemy… Follow Zélie and her friends as their battles take them across Orïsha and far beyond its borders for the sake of a more just world.

  • The Search for Sadiqah
    $15.99

    Imagine 1921. The tragedy of the Black Wall Street Massacre forces 13 year-old Sadiqah to flee. With a tattered map and two unlikely companions, she heads west on a perilous journey to find her ancestral home and reconnect with her family. The Search for Sadiqah is a vibrant blend of American history, thrilling action, and heartwarming adventure brought to life.  

    Greg Burnham is a comic book/children’s book writer out of Norcross, Georgia. Along with illustrator Marcus Williams, his YA science fiction adventure comic series, Tuskegee Heirs, burst on to the Black comix scene, soon to become a fan favorite and winner of two Glyph Awards. Subsequently, Burnham has written comics for FairSquare Graphics (Little Rock Files), as well as stories for DC Comics: “The Spoils” (Ghouls #1) featuring Superman; “Ablution” (New Talent Showcase: The Milestone Initiative #1) featuring Icon; and “Fair Play” (DC Power) starring Mr. Terrific. The Search for Sadiqah is Greg's' first project with Rosarium Publishing.

  • Bad Queer
    $14.95

    A luminous and romantic debut novel in verse about navigating first love as a non-binary teenager.

    I feel invincible.
    Like I could run and run
    and never stop for breath.

    I feel a power in me
    I didn't know I had.

    The power to speak,
    to say what I need.

    Prema knows exactly who they are. Coming out as non-binary to their queer parents and best friend? A total non-event. Catching feelings for Blessing - the boy in drama club whose smile makes their heart race? That's trickier.

    As their final year of school unfolds and the two of them grow closer, Prema starts to question: Does Blessing really see them? Or just a version of them that doesn't exist? They'd ask their best friend for advice, but she's busy falling in love too. . .

    With gorgeous illustrations throughout, Bad Queer draws us deeply into queer friendship, family secrets, and the necessary act of loving yourself. Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman, Dean Atta, and Sarah Crossan.

    This is a love letter to queer futures - tender, curious, and fiercely alive.

  • Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance
    $18.99

    A young adult anthology featuring fictional stories of everyday resistance.

    You might be the kind of person who stands up to online trolls.Or who marches to protest injustice.Perhaps you are #DisabledAndCute and dancing around your living room, alive and proud.Or perhaps you are the trans mentor that you wish you had when you were younger.Maybe you call out false allies, or stand up to loved ones. Maybe you speak your truth and drop the mic, or maybe you take it with you when you leave.This anthology features fictional stories--in poems, prose, and art--that reflect a slice of the varied and limitless ways that readers like you resist every day. Take the Mic's powerful collection of stories features work by literary luminaries and emerging talent alike, including Newbery-winner Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestseller Samira Ahmed, anthologist and contributor Bethany C. Morrow, Darcie Little Badger, Keah Brown, Laura Silverman, L.D. Lewis, Sofia Quintero, Ray Stoeve, Yamile Mendez, and Connie Sun, with cover and interior art by Richie Pope.

  • The Dividing Sky

    Jill Tew

    $12.99

    A cunning teen memory merchant falls for the handsome rookie officer on her tail in this swoony dystopian romance that's “one to watch” (Amie Kaufman, New York Times bestselling author of The Isles of the Gods)

    In 2364, eighteen-year-old Liv Newman dreams of a future beyond her lower-class life in the Metro. As a Proxy, she uses the neurochip in her brain to sell memories to wealthy clients. Maybe a few illegally, but money equals freedom. So when a customer offers her a ludicrous sum to go on an assignment in no-man’s-land, Liv accepts. Now she just has to survive.

    Rookie Forceman Adrian Rao believes in order over all. After discovering that a renegade Proxy’s shady dealings are messing with citizens’ brain chemistry, he vows to extinguish the threat. But when he tracks Liv down, there’s one problem: her memories are gone. Can Adrian bring himself to condemn her for crimes she doesn’t remember?

    As Liv and Adrian navigate the world beyond the Metro and their growing feelings for one another, they grapple with who they are, who they could be, and whether another way of living is possible.

  • Dear Justyce

    Nic Stone

    $12.99

    An NPR Best Book of the Year * The stunning sequel to the critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Martin. An incarcerated teen writes letters to his best friend about his experiences in the American juvenile justice system.

    An unflinching look into the tragically flawed practices and silenced voices in the American juvenile justice system.

    Vernell LaQuan Banks and Justyce McAllister grew up a block apart in the Southwest Atlanta neighborhood of Wynwood Heights. Years later, though, Justyce walks the illustrious halls of Yale University . . . and Quan sits behind bars at the Fulton Regional Youth Detention Center.

    Through a series of flashbacks, vignettes, and letters to Justyce--the protagonist of Dear Martin--Quan's story takes form. Troubles at home and misunderstandings at school give rise to police encounters and tough decisions. But then there's a dead cop and a weapon with Quan's prints on it. What leads a bright kid down a road to a murder charge? Not even Quan is sure.

    "A powerful, raw, must-read told through the lens of a Black boy ensnared by our broken criminal justice system." -Kirkus, Starred Review

  • March 2024: Young Adult Book Club for Adults - March 26 @ 7PM
    Sold out

    The bookclub meeting will take place on March 26, 2024 at 7 PM in the Kindred Stories' Reading Garden. Be sure to show up with the book read (or partially read). You are always welcome to just come and take up space. 

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    In this new pulse-pounding thriller from the author of The Black Queen, two brothers must come together to solve the murder of the most popular girl in school after one of them is caught fleeing the scene of her death.

    Amir Trudeau only goes to his half brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. Chloe is rich, and hot, and fits right into the perfect life Marcel inherited when their father left Amir’s mother to start a new family with Marcel’s mom. But Chloe is hot enough for Amir to forget that for one night.

    Does she want to hook up? Or is she trying to meddle in the estranged brothers’ messy family drama? Amir can’t tell. He doesn’t know what Chloe wants from him when, in the final hours of Mardi Gras, she asks him to take her home and stay—her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone. 

    Amir never finds out, because when he wakes up, Chloe is dead—stabbed while he was passed out on the couch. And in no time, Amir becomes the only suspect. A Black teenager caught fleeing the scene of a rich white girl’s murder? All of New Orleans agrees: the case is open-and-shut.

    Amir is innocent. He has a lawyer, but unless someone can figure out who really killed Chloe, things don’t look good for him. His number one ally? Marcel. Their relationship is messy, but Marcel knows that Amir isn’t a murderer—and maybe proving his innocence will repair the rift between them.

    To find Chloe’s killer, Amir and Marcel need to dig into her secrets. And what they find is darker than either could have guessed. Parents will go to any lengths to protect their children, and in a city as old as New Orleans, the right family connections can bury even the ugliest truths.

  • Monstrous

    by Jessica Lewis

    Sold out

    Forced to spend her summer in her aunt's strange small town, a teen girl discovers dark secrets hidden in the woods. From the author of Bad Witch Burning comes another pulse-pounding novel perfect for fans of Supernatural and Lovecraft Country.

    Don't go outside past dark. Come straight home after church. And above all—never, ever, go into Red Wood.

    These are the rules Latavia's aunt gives her when Latavia arrives in Sanctum, Alabama for the summer. Though, weird as they are, living in Sanctum does have its pros. Mainly, the cute girl who works at the local ice cream shop. 

    But Sanctum is turning out to be as strange as the rules—and the longer Latavia’s in town, the more suspicious she is that the people there are hiding something. And the more clear it is that she’s an outsider. Everyone’s nice enough, but they seem determined to prove everything is normal.

    But it's not. Because there’s something in Red Wood that the towns’ people are hiding. And if Latavia doesn't follow her aunt’s rules, she might not be able to leave Sanctum. Ever...

  • Songs of Irie

    by Asha Ashanti Bromfield

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    *Ships in 7-10 Business Days*

    It's 1976 and Jamaica is on fire. The country is on the eve of important elections and the warring political parties have made the divisions between the poor and the wealthy even wider. And Irie and Jilly come from very different backgrounds: Irie is from the heart of Kingston, where fighting in the streets is common. Jilly is from the hills, where mansions nestled within lush gardens remain safe behind gates. But the two bond through a shared love of Reggae music, spending time together at Irie's father's record store, listening to so-called rebel music that opens Jilly's mind to a sound and a way of thinking she's never heard before.


    As tensions build in the streets, so do tensions between the two girls. A budding romance between them complicates things further as the push and pull between their two lives becomes impossible to bear. For Irie, fighting—with her words and her voice—is her only option. Blood is shed on the streets in front of her every day. She has no choice. But Jilly can always choose to escape.

    Can their bond survive this impossible divide?

    Asha Bromfield has written a compelling, emotional and heart-rending story of a friendship during wartime and what it means to fight for your words, your life, and the love of your life.

  • Brooms

    by Jasmine Walls

    $18.99

    *ships in 7-10 business days*

    A queer, witchy Fast and the Furious - starting 6 BIPOC witches - that shines light on history not often told

    It’s 1930s Mississippi. Magic is permitted only in certain circumstances, and by certain people. Unsanctioned broom racing is banned. But for those who need the money, or the thrills...it's there to be found.

    Meet Billie Mae, captain of the Night Storms racing team, and Loretta, her best friend and second-in-command. They’re determined to make enough money to move out west to a state that allows Black folks to legally use magic and take part in national races.

    Cheng-Kwan – doing her best to handle the delicate and dangerous double act of being the perfect “son” to her parents, and being true to herself while racing.

    Mattie and Emma -- Choctaw and Black -- the youngest of the group and trying to dodge government officials who want to send them and their newly-surfaced powers away to boarding school.

    And Luella, in love with Billie Mae. Her powers were sealed away years ago after she fought back against the government. She’ll do anything to prevent the same fate for her cousins.  

    Brooms is a queer, witchy Fast and the Furious that shines light on history not often told – it’s everything you’d ever want to read in a graphic novel. 

  • Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health Stereotypes

    edited by Nora Shalaway Carpenter & Rocky Callen

    from $16.99

    Channeling their own experiences, sixteen exceptional authors subvert mental health stereotypes in a powerful and uplifting collection of fiction.

    A teen activist wrestles with protest-related anxiety and PTSD. A socially anxious vampire learns he has to save his town by (gulp) working with people. As part of her teshuvah, a girl writes letters to the ex-boyfriend she still loves, revealing that her struggle with angry outbursts is related to PMDD. A boy sheds uncontrollable tears but finds that in doing so he’s helping to enable another’s healing. In this inspiring, unflinching, and hope-filled mixed-genre collection, sixteen diverse and notable authors draw on their own lived experiences with mental health conditions to create stunning works of fiction that will uplift and empower you, break your heart and stitch it back together stronger than before. Through powerful prose, verse, and graphics, the characters in this anthology defy stereotypes as they remind readers that living with a mental health condition doesn’t mean that you’re defined by it. Each story is followed by a note from its author to the reader, and comprehensive back matter includes bios for the contributors as well as a collection of relevant resources.

    With contributions by:
    Mercedes Acosta * Karen Jialu Bao * James Bird * Rocky Callen * Nora Shalaway Carpenter * Alechia Dow * Patrick Downes * Anna Drury * Nikki Grimes * Val Howlett * Jonathan Lenore Kastin * Sonia Patel * Marcella Pixley * Isabel Quintero * Ebony Stewart * Francisco X. Stork

  • The Blackwoods

    by Brandy Colbert

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    The Blackwoods. Everyone knows their name. Blossom Blackwood burst onto the silver screen in 1962, and in the decades that followed, she would become one of the most celebrated actors of her time—and the matriarch of Hollywood’s most famous Black family. To her great-granddaughters, Hollis and Ardith, she has always just been Bebe. And when she passes away, it changes everything.

    Hollis Blackwood was never interested in fame. Still, she’s surrounded by it, at home with her family and at the prestigious Dupree Academy alongside Los Angeles’s elite. When private photos of Hollis are leaked in the wake of Blossom’s death, she is thrust into the spotlight she’s long avoided—and finds that trust may be a luxury even she can’t afford.

    Ardith Blackwood has always lived in the public eye. A television star since childhood, she was perhaps closer with Blossom than anyone—especially after her mother died from a drug overdose. Ever since, she has worked to be everything her family, her church, and the media want her to be. But as a family secret comes to light and the pressures from all sides begin to mount, she wonders what is left beneath the face she shows the world.

    Weaving together the narratives of Hollis, Ardith, and Blossom, award-winning author Brandy Colbert tells a boldly original story set in an America where everything is personal, and nothing is private.  

  • The Jump by Brittney Morris
    $19.99

    *ships in 7-10 business days

    From the acclaimed author of SLAY and The Cost of Knowing comes an action-driven, high-octane novel about a group of working-class teens in Seattle who join a dangerous scavenger hunt with a prize that can save their families and community.

    Influence is power. Power creates change. And change is exactly what Team Jericho needs.

    Jax, Yas, Spider, and Han are the four cornerstones of Team Jericho, the best scavenger hunting team in all of Seattle. Each has their own specialty: Jax, the puzzler; Yas, the parkourist; Spider, the hacker; and Han, the cartographer. But now with an oil refinery being built right in their backyard, each also has their own problems. Their families are at risk of losing their jobs, their communities, and their homes.

    So 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 it as the chance of a lifetime. If they win this game, they could change their families’ fates and save the city they love so much. But with an opposing team hot on their heels, it’s going to take more than street smarts to outwit their rivals.

  • The Minus-One Club by Kekla Magoon
    $19.99

    *ships in 7-10 business days* 

     

    From the acclaimed author of How It Went Down and Light It Up comes a moving contemporary YA novel about a group of teens whose lives have been upended by tragedy, and the bond they share to lift them out of their grief.

     

    Fifteen-year-old Kermit Sanders knows grief and its all-encompassing shadows. After losing his beloved older sister in a tragic car accident, nothing quite punctures through the feelings of loss. Everywhere Kermit goes, he is reminded of her.

    But then Kermit finds a mysterious invitation in his locker, signed anonymously with "-1." He has no idea what he's in for, but he shows up to find out. Dubbed the "Minus-One Club," a group of his schoolmates has banded together as a form of moral support. The members have just one thing in common—they have all suffered the tragic loss of someone they loved.

    The usual dividing lines between high school classes and cliques don’t apply inside the Minus-One Club, and Kermit’s secret crush, the handsome and happy-go-lucky Matt (and only out gay student at school), is also a part of the group. Slowly, Matt's positive headstrong approach to life helps relieve Kermit of his constant despair.

    But as Kermit grows closer to Matt, the light of his new life begins to show the cracks beneath the surface. When Matt puts himself in danger by avoiding his feelings, Kermit must find the strength to not only lift himself back up but to help the rest of the group from falling apart.

  • We Are All So Good at Smiling

    by Amber McBride

    $19.99

    *ships in 7-10 business days* 

    They Both Die at the End meets The Bell Jar in this haunting, beautiful YA novel in verse about clinical depression and healing from trauma, from National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride.

     

    Whimsy is back in the hospital for treatment of clinical depression. When she meets a boy named Faerry, she recognizes that they both have magic in the marrow of their bones. And when Faerry and his family move to the same street, the two start to realize that their lifelines may have twined and untwined many times before.

    They are both terrified of the forest at the end of Marsh Creek Lane.

    The Forest whispers to Whimsy. The Forest might hold the answers to the part of Faerry he feels is missing. They discover the Forest holds monsters, fairy tales, and pain that they have both been running from for eleven years.

  • Rain Rising

    by Courtne Comrie

    $16.99

    *ships in 7-10 business days* 

     

    This dazzling debut middle grade novel in verse is a riveting journey toward self-acceptance for fans of Genesis Begins Again. Thirteen-year-old Rain must overcome sadness after her all-star brother is badly beaten up at a white frat party. Eventually, Rain finds hope again and helps her family heal. 

    I feel like Rain.

    Rain rising through the unexpected.

    Gentle and a force like Mom says.

    I feel like me.

    Rain is keeping a big secret from everyone around her: She's sad. All the time.

    Xander, her older brother, is an all-star student athlete and a superhero to Rain since their dad is not around. But even he can’t help Rain with her dark thoughts. Rain hates the way she looks, and she feels inferior to her best friend, Nara, who’s skinny and got more money, lighter skin, and hair that curls.

    When Xander is the victim of a hate crime, things take a turn for the worse. Xander stops speaking to everyone, including Rain, whose dark thoughts turn into action.

    Rain’s secret battle puts her life on the line. But when her favorite teacher invites her to an after-school circle group, Rain finds friends and the courage to help herself and her family heal. Like the rain, she is both gentle and a force, and though she faces many storms in her life, she finds the strength to rise again. 

  • Rising Troublemaker: A Fear-Fighter Manual for Teens

    by Luvvie Ajayi Jones

    $17.99

    *ships in 7-10 business days*

    In this young readers edition of her New York Times bestseller Professional Troublemaker, Luvvie Ajayi Jones uses her honesty and humor to inspire teens to be their bravest, boldest, truest selves, in order to create a world they would be proud to live in.


    The world can feel like a dumpster fire, with endless things to be afraid of. It can make you feel powerless to ask for what you need, use your voice, and show up truly as your whole self. Add the fact that often, people might make you feel like your way of showing up is TOO MUCH.
     
    BE TOO MUCH, and use it for good. That is what it means to be a troublemaker. In this book, Luvvie Ajayi Jones - bestseller of books, sorceress of side-eyes and critic of culture - gives you the permission you might need to be the troublemaker you are, or wish to be. This is the book she needed when she was the kid who got in trouble for her mouth when she spoke up about what she felt was not fair. This is the book she needed when kids made fun of her Nigerian accent. This is the book that she needed when it was time to call herself a writer, but she was too scared.
     
    As a Rising Troublemaker, you need to know that the beautiful, audacious life you want is on the other side of doing the things that will scare you. This book will help you face and fight your fear and start living that life ASAP.        

  • Black and Resilient: 52 Weeks of Anti-Racist Activities for Black Joy and Empowerment (Journal for Healing, Black Self-Love, Anti-Prejudice, and Affirmations for Teens)

    by M.J. Fievre

    $19.95

    *ships/available for pickup in 7-10 business days

    “M.J. Fievre is the best friend, the confidante everyone yearns for.”—Mike, the Poet, author of Dear Woman and The Boyfriend Book

    From the bestselling author of Badass Black Girl comes a much-needed space for Black teens and kids to say “I am enough.” In this self-acceptance guidebook for teen boys, be empowered by 52 weeks of Black self-love and anti-racism lessons, affirmations for positive thinking, and prompts for Black Boy Joy.

    A Black male handbook for self-care. Black & Resilient includes prompts for teens to reflect and divulge what they're feeling on a deeper level. It comes with mind-strengthening affirmations for teens, stories of truth and power, and practices to teach Black teen boys how to stay empowered despite what life throws at them. This Black confidence book is a catalyst for change and healing to enter the heart and spirit of Black teens everywhere.

    Part of the Bold & Black series for Black self-love and antiracism. The Bold & Black series is specifically designed to help Black teens create a safe space to be themselves. The world often forgets that Black boys also need affirmations and words of empowerment to get through the day. Black & Resilient seeks to give Black teens the space to heal, find Black Boy Joy, and become empowered to walk boldly in their everyday lives.

    Inside, you’ll find: 

    • Instruction for gaining perspective, freedom, and power in the face of macro- and microaggressions
    • A safe place to acknowledge how racism affects you and create coping strategies to combat it
    • Encouragement for living your best life as a BIPOC person with self-acceptance and confidence

     

    If you liked Black confidence and anti-racism books for boys like This Book is Anti-Racist Journal, Cry Like a Man, or 39 Lessons for Black Boys & Girls, you’ll be empowered by Black & Resilient.

  • The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: Adapted for Young People

    by Jeanne Theoharis and adapted by Brandy Colbert and Jeanne Theoharis

    $18.95

    *ships in 7 - 10 days*

    Now adapted for readers ages 12 and up, the award-winning biography that examines Parks’s life and 60 years of radical activism and brings the civil rights movement in the North and South to life

    Rosa Parks is one of the most well-known Americans today, but much of what is known and taught about her is incomplete, distorted, and just plain wrong. Adapted for young people from the NAACP Image Award—winning The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert shatter the myths that Parks was meek, accidental, tired, or middle class. They reveal a lifelong freedom fighter whose activism began two decades before her historic stand that sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and continued for 40 years after. Readers will understand what it was like to be Parks, from standing up to white supremacist bullies as a young person to meeting her husband, Raymond, who showed her the possibility of collective activism, to her years of frustrated struggle before the boycott, to the decade of suffering that followed for her family after her bus arrest. The book follows Parks to Detroit, after her family was forced to leave Montgomery, Alabama, where she spent the second half of her life and reveals her activism alongside a growing Black Power movement and beyond.

  • Wicked Endeavors
    $19.99

    Perfect for fans of The Shadows Between Us and Powerless, this high stakes romantasy follows a vengeful teen who cons her way into an elite society of tyrannical witches. But her warring feelings for two people—an enemy prince and her childhood friend—could ruin everything.

    Caya was once the ward of Coventry’s royal family…until they were killed by the three witch Houses that now rule the peninsula.
     
    Now eighteen, Caya plans to infiltrate the witches' glittering world to enact justice. With the help of a mysterious benefactor, she adopts the persona of Marisol Vinyet, a disarmingly beautiful aristocrat. As Marisol, she'll attend the annual Coronet, a cutthroat social season during which witches increase their power by binding new members to their Houses. The Coronet will draw even the prince of neighboring Domingo—Tómas Castellan—to the peninsula just in time for “Marisol” to kill him. After all, his family set the witches upon Coventry in the first place.
     
    But Tómas is more charming than Caya ever anticipated. Worse, her estranged childhood friend, Bas Arroyo, is the prince’s protector, and she struggles to control her complicated feelings for him.
     
    To take down the witches from within, Caya will have to keep both her identity and her desperate heart under wraps: Although she’s made herself a weapon, she might be the one to bleed.

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