bildungsromans

"In the start of a . . . series, the . . . author . . . introduces you to a school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death--until one girl begins to unlock its many secrets. Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered: There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won't allow its students to leave until they graduate--or die. The rules are deceptively simple: Don't walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere. El is uniquely prepared for the school's dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students. So El is trying her hardest not to use her power--at least not until she has no other option"--Provided by publisher.

"Little River, New York, 1994: April Sawicki is living in a run-down motorhome, flunking out of school, and picking up shifts at the local diner. But when April realizes she's finally had enough--enough of her selfish, absent father and barely surviving in an unfeeling town--she decides to make a break for it. Stealing a car and with only her music to keep her company, April hits the road, determined to live life on her own terms. She manages to scrape together a meaningful existence as she travels, encountering people and places she's never dreamed of, and could never imagine deserving. From lifelong friendships to tragic heartbreaks, April chronicles her journey in the beautiful music she creates as she discovers that home is with the people you choose to keep"--Provided by publisher.

"Dorothea is bright, beautiful and rebellious. Lydgate is the ambitious new doctor in town. Both of them long to make a positive difference in the world. But their stories do not proceed as expected and both they, and the other inhabitants of Middlemarch, must struggle to reconcile themselves to their fates and find their places in the world. This novel contains all of life, the rich and the poor, the conventional and the radical, literature and science, politics and romance, but above all it gives us a vision of what lies within the human heart"--Provided by publisher.

"Aristotle and Dante . . . must learn what it means to stay in love-and to build their relationship in a world that doesn't seem to want them to exist. In their senior year at two different schools, the boys find ways to spend time together, like a camping road trip they take in the desert. Ari is haunted by his incarcerated older brother and by the images he sees on the nightly news of gay men dying from AIDS. Tragedy feels like his destiny, but can he forge his own path and create a life where he can not only survive, but thrive?"--Adapted from publisher description.

"On a field trip to SeaPlanet, seventeen-year-old Arab-American high school swimmer River McIntyre has a chance encounter with Indy, a happy, healthy queer person, which sets off a wrenching journey of self-discovery, from internalized homophobia and gender dysphoria, through layers of coming out, affirmation surgery, and true love"--OCLC.

"It is the winter of 1705, and the tenth Guru of the Sikhs is under attack by the armies of the mighty Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb. Under siege and isolated, Guru Gobind Singh Ji's men are exhausted beyond measure, and forty soldiers decide to head home. Back in the villages of Punjab, these forty men are met by a fiery Sikh woman-a warrior who has been preparing all her life for this very moment-who leads the deserters back to the Guru. This is the story of that warrior, the fierce Mai Bhago, who chose the sword to symbolize her unwavering loyalty and devotion to her people and her faith"--Provided by publisher.

In 1980 life is hard on the Tuscarora Reservation in upstate New York, and most of the teenagers feel like they are going nowhere: Carson Mastick dreams of forming a rock band, and Maggi Bokoni longs to create her own conceptual artwork instead of the traditional beadwork that her family sells to tourists--but tensions are rising between the reservation and the surrounding communities, and somehow in the confusion of politics and growing up Carson and Maggi have to make a place for themselves.

Teenaged Isobel "Belly" Conklin, whose life revolves around spending the summer at her mother's best friend's beach house, reflects on the tragic events of the past year that changed her life forever.

Kit Biddle is a rising prep school senior who finds himself tangled in a web of spiritual quandaries and intellectual absurdities. Kit's angst is compounded by a unique psychological burden he is forced to carry: his intelligent but unstable Uncle Nat has committed an unspeakable act on what, according to the Uncle's deranged account, were direct orders from God.

It is impossible not to root for Ceti, almost fifteen, who tells her story of growing up in shelters, learning soccer from her Gramps, and sleeping in her Mom's red truck where they listened over and over to Rolling Stones discs someone left behind. Following in the steps of her hero, Lionel Messi, Ceti is a shooting star on the field. A U.S. scout is coming to watch her play in the State Championship; she has Ruby, her best friend since kindergarten rooting for her, and a crush on a boy who lives in her building, Will. But at home, she'll find a spoon in the sink, a ball of tin foil and a needle in the trash. Her Mom, who used to be beautiful with her long honey hair and green eyes is now wasted and track-marked. And she is pregnant. Ceti's life goes up and down with a mother who wants only the next high. Her Mom's menacing and goofy boyfriend Foxface is always hounding Ceti; their junky friends start a fire in Ceti's apartment; and on the day of the semifinals, Ceti finds her Mom bleeding profusely. She steals a new iPhone for her Mom but is caught and disqualified from playing in the Championship game. Then Ruby decides on private school for next year, and Will stops hanging out with Ceti. When her Mom promises they can start over in New Hampshire, Ceti is hopeful. Instead, she finds her Mom has overdosed. Ceti, too, would be one more dream slipping away if she didn't have the courage to hold on to what she loves the most.