friendship

"Eleventh-grader Jacob Wasserman is just trying to get by. Under the radar, he spends his weekends at home by himself, leaning on TV and video games to distract himself from the weight-- these days we would call it depression--inside him. But he' s secretly got a quirky sense of humor, and, when he starts letting it show, he finally gets noticed. In fact, before he knows it, Jacob' s ability to keep people entertained has drawn him into a full-time social life, complete with a circle of friends, parties, and even a girlfriend. But is this newfound acceptance enough to unlock meaningful well-being? Is this entertainer even the real Jacob?"--Back cover.

For high school senior Nell and her friends, a vacation house on a private Florida island sounds like the makings of a dream spring break. But Nell brings secrets with her?secrets that fuse with the island's tragic history, trapping them all with a curse that surrounds the island in a toxic, vengeful mist and the surrounding waters with an unseen, devouring beast. Getting out alive means risking her friendships, her sanity, and even her own life. In order to save herself and her friends, Nell will have to face memories she'd rather leave behind, reveal the horrific truth behind the encounter that changed her life one year ago, and face the shadow that's haunted her since childhood. Easier said than done. But when Nell's friends reveal that they each brought secrets of their own, a solution even more dangerous than the curse begins to take shape.

"Marco should be at university, studying biomedicine. Instead, he's been sent to live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean with his estranged uncle, all because of a 'blip' everyone else is convinced was a panic attack. . . . Even though Marco's trip is supposed to provide answers--about himself, about his family--all he finds on board the Ocean Melody are more and more questions. But then his best friend CeCe proposes a new plan: for someone who has always done the right thing, in every possible way, it's time for Marco to get a few things wrong. And hooking up with a hot dancer from the ship is only the beginning"--OCLC.

"Big Jim and the White Boy is a radical retelling of this American classic, centering the experiences of Jim, an enslaved Black man in search of his kidnapped wife and children, along with his cheeky sidekick, Huckleberry Finn. Jim and Huck's high-stakes adventures take them on an epic voyage across the antebellum South and Midwest, through Confederate war camps and runaway safe houses, into Old West standoffs, and on the road as covert Underground Railroad agents. Intertwined into the story of Jim and Huck are the stories of Jim's descendants in the 1930s, 1980s, and 2020s, making this a multigenerational family epic as well as an adventure story. Big Jim and the White Boy takes readers on a journey through Jim and Huck's past, present, and future, delving into their incredible friendship and years of adventures--a bond that transcends the gruesome racism of the Civil War era"--Provided by publisher.

"Salem Amani is a world-weary sixteen-year-old living with his mother and older sister in a haunted house. But all Sal really wants is to be ordinary, which is hard to do when you live in a house full of ghosts. And when a strange boy arrives on his doorstep asking more questions than he's at all comfortable with, Sal's efforts to be ordinary are put under even greater strain. Until Pax makes his offer: 'I could help you with the hauntings. . .I'm good with ghosts.' But despite his initial dislike of Pax, Sal can't help but find himself unexpectedly drawn to the boy. And as the two grow closer, and Pax offers to help Sal scare away his ghosts for good, Sal finds himself sinking deeper into a lie concealing the truth about his family. When the true nature of the "hauntings" is revealed, Sal must confront reality--or risk losing Pax for good"--Provided by publisher.

Sixteen-year-old Nate Campbell, haunted by the curse of Murder Road, relocates with his family to escape the vengeful spirit of the Hiding Boy, but when he joins his new friends' urban legend club, old ghost stories collide with new and Nate must face the curse of the Hiding Boy.

Fifteen-year-old Evia Birtwhistle can?t seem to catch a break. At home, she must deal with her free-spirited mom, and at school she?s the target of ridicule for stating basic truths: like that girls have body hair! When her BFF Frankie?who has facial hair due to her PCOS?becomes the target of school bullies, Evia decides that enough is enough and creates the ?Hairy Girls? Club.? Leading a feminist movement at school is not easy. Boys often look at Evia like she?s a total weirdo, and the self-proclaimed ?smoothalicious? girls start their own campaign in retaliation. As Evia struggles with feeling strong enough to lead, and questions how to be a good friend to Frankie, she falls back on the best thing she has?hope. Her message is simple: We CAN make this world a more accepting, less judgmental place for girls to live in?one hairy leg at a time!.

Sixteen-year-old Niarah's perspective on life changes when she joins a hiking/camping club and befriends Mac Torres and his wanderlust-driven friends, but as summer draws to a close and her new friends leave, existential dread challenges her new outlook.

Golden boy Caplan and bookish Mina have been unlikely soulmates since third grade. Bound by growing up in single-mother households on the same cul-de-sac in Two Docks, Michigan, their friendship exists miraculously outside their high school's social order. Mina is class valedictorian, expected by her late father's parents to attend his Ivy alma mater; Caplan is laughing off prom-king predictions and the fear that he's peaking too soon. When Cap's skateboard-toting, detention-dodging best friend confesses his feelings for Mina, she is whisked into a social life she never imagined, bumping shoulders with the likes of Caplan's queen-bee girlfriend. Caplan is determined that things stay just as they've always been, while Mina faces the perils and privileges of opening her heart just in time to say goodbye. As the sun sets on senior year, everything glows. What will Cap and Mina discover in the last-chance light?.

"After her sister's murder acquittal, Amanda Pruitt visits Colorado to reunite with childhood friends and Aunt Amy, where she is drawn into an old murder case, When her friend is killed, Amanda must unravel the connection between the two murders to clear her name"--Provided by publisher.