Reading: Realistic Fiction

Two teen males—one black, one white—grapple with the aftermath of a police officer who has brutally beaten the black teen. A powerful story about what it means to you a young man in America across the lines of race. Young Adult Fiction. 316 pages.

Logan Witherspoon is attracted to a new student at his small-town high school, Sage, who is tall, unconventionally pretty, and a much-needed friend. One day, Logan kisses her, and then Sage discloses a secret: biologically, she's a boy. Young Adult Fiction. 360 pages. Available as ebook

Beth and Jennifer know their company monitors their office e-mail, but they still spend all day sending each other messages, gossiping about their coworkers at the newspaper and baring their personal lives like an open book. When Lincoln applied to be an Internet security officer, he never imagined he'd be reading personal emails like some Peeping Tom, but here he is, falling in love with someone he's never met. You'll want to read this sparkling, laugh-out-loud funny book over and over again. Fiction. 323 pages.

The novel explores the experiences of characters who have immigrated to the United States from a number of Latin American nations through differing first-person perspectives. Fiction. 285 pages. Available as ebook

High school student Daelyn Rice, who's been bullied throughout her school career and has more than once attempted suicide, again makes plans to kill herself, in spite of the persistent attempts of an unusual boy to draw her out. Young Adult Fiction. 200 pages.

Set against a vibrant South Bronx neighborhood and the youth culture of Manhattan, Chulito is a coming-of-age. coming out love story of a sexy Latino man and the colorful characters that populate his block. Honest and gritty. Fiction. 317 pages.

Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter, but she meets a boy who introduces her to drugs and becomes a very different person, struggling to control her life and her mind. Young Adult Fiction. 537 pages.

School outsider Jesse, a lesbian, is having secret trysts with Emily, the popular student council vice president,who also has a boyfriend. Their relationship becomes more complicated when they find themselves on the opposite side of a major issue. Young Adult Fiction. 256 pages.

One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, Disappearing Earth is described as brilliant, engrossing and daring. Set on the shoreline of the Kamchatka peninsula at the northeastern edge of Russia, the novel begins when two sisters, ages eight and eleven, go missing. Fiction. 255 pages.

This is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. Terrifically written and full of 1980s music references. Young Adult Fiction. 328 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

Hazel,a 16-year old girl with stage IV thyroid cancer. To help her deal with her clinical depression, her doctor sends her to a weekly support group where she meets "hottie" Augustus Waters, a fellow cancer survivor. Irreverent, raw, and unforgettable. Young Adult Fiction. 318 pages. Available as ebook

Five months ago, Valerie’s boyfriend , Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Val was as shocked as everyone else -- but, despite her own serious injury, she's implicated in the crime because of the list she and Nick made of people they hated. Young Adult Fiction. 408 pages.

This runaway best seller tells the story of 16-year-old Starr Carter, who is drawn to activism after she witnesses the police shooting of her unarmed friend. Winner of the Coretta Scott King award. Young Adult Fiction. 444 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

When the sister who delighted their parents by her faithful embrace of Mexican culture dies in a tragic accident, Julia, who longs to go to college and move into a home of her own, discovers that her sister may not have been as perfect as believed. Described as a "perfect book about imperfection." Young adult fiction. 344 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

Heart-wrenching and ultimately uplifting, this stirring memoir chronicles one Asian-American immigrant's struggle to find himself--and to transcend the dangers of gang life in Los Angeles. Nonfiction. 249 pages.

A humorous account of a New York City teenager's battle with depression and his time spent in a psychiatric hospital. This is a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness. Young Adult Fiction. 444 pages. Available as audiobook

In the perfect and progressive suburb of Shaker Heights, two very different families will change each other's lives forever. When Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl rent a house from the wealthy Richardson family, they quickly become entwined in each other's lives with the Richardson children becoming especially close to the Warrens. When family friends of the Richardsons try to adopt a Chinese baby from a local woman a battle erupts that forces both families to reckon with culture, the powerful bond of motherhood, and long-hidden secrets. This book is a compelling and emotional character study of people who all feel they are doing the right thing, even though they often are hurting others by doing it. Fiction. 328 pages.

"Funny, surprising, and heartbreaking... A thought-provoking, thoroughly entertaining novel that captures the complexity of love." (review from People). Fiction. 369 pages.

Riveting courtroom drama. 16 year old Steven Harmon is on trial as an accomplice to murder. An emotionally compelling story about living in our times, especially for young African American males. Young Adult Fiction. 281 pages.

Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant Naples neighborhood, the novel follows the divergent life of paths of Elena and Lila during a time of momentous change. From one of Italy's most acclaimed authors. Fiction. 331 pages. Available as ebook

Tired of being known as "the gay kid", Rafe Goldberg decides to assume a new persona when he comes east and enters an elite Massachusetts prep school--but trying to deny his identity has both complications and unexpected consequences. Young Adult Fiction. 320 pages.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about what it’s like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school: the world of first dates, family dramas, sex, drugs, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and those wild and poignant times. Young Adult Fiction. 231 pages. Available as ebook

While Xiomara Batista’s parents are determined that she obey all of the laws of the Church, she pours her passions and frustration into a leather notebook. As her body is developing curves, her voice is developing through poetry. Written in verse, this book crackles with lyrical energy. Young adult fiction. 361 pages.

A self-portrait of a black teenage girl, big, fat, unloved, with a father who rapes her and a jealous mother who screams abuse. For Precious, hope appears when a courageous young teacher bullies, cajoles and inspires her to learn to read. Fiction. 139 pages.

This intense collection of short stories takes readers to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to
the soldiers who returned. One of the New York Times Best Books of 2014. Fiction. 291 pages.

Enduring a hardscrabble existence as the children of alcoholic and absent parents, four African American siblings from a coastal Mississippi town prepare their meager stores for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina while struggling with such challenges as a teen pregnancy and a dying litter of prize pups. Fiction. 261 pages.

Pat Peoples formulates a theory about silver linings while in a neural health facility. Once he becomes physically fit and emotionally supportive, his happy ending will be the return of his estranged wife, Nikki. Or so he thinks. Fiction. 289 pages.

Sixteen-year-old, not-so-openly-gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands he is blackmailed into playing wingman for his classmate or else his sexual identity-- and that of his pen pal-- will be revealed. This fresh, funny novel won many awards. Young adult fiction. 303 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

Fifteen-year-old Jeff wakes up on New Year's Day to find himself in the hospital. Make that the psychiatric ward. With the nut jobs... Suicide Notes is a darkly humorous novel that examines the fuzzy line between "normal" and the rest of us. Young Adult Fiction. 295 pages. Available as ebook

High school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide after recording the events leading up to her death. Mesmerizing and shatteringly real. Fiction. 288 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

"Provocative and insightful, this gender-bending novel will make readers question what it means to be a man or a woman, and how strongly these identities are influenced by biological and cultural pressures." (Booklist). Fiction. 352 pages.

Four African-American women are leaning on each other while "waiting to exhale", waiting for the one man who will take their breath away. Fiction. 409 pages.

Kya Clark is a young woman growing up practically on her own in the wild marshes of coastal North Carolina. This lush, lyrical novel takes a suspenseful turn when Kya is accused of murder. Fiction 368 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

Abandoned by her boyfriend at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma, Novalee Nation, 17 years old and seven months pregnant, soon discovers the treasures hiding in this small Southwest town. Fiction. 376 pages.

Terry McMillan (author of Waiting to Exhale) offers a valentine to the power and beauty of black families and the indestructible bond that holds us together. -- Essence. "Hillarious, irreverent, ... thoroughly entertaining." NYTimes Book Review. Fiction. 385 pages.

When two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both. Young Adult Fiction. 310 pages. Available as ebook