child abuse

A boy with an abusive father grows up and fears that he has the same potential for violence as his father has.

"'Wake up. Wake up, Boy. I'm bored. Time passes slowly in here, just you and me. It must be lunchtime. He will let us out soon.' A tale of two very different worlds, both shattered by the loss of loved ones. Tragic, comic and full of hope, thanks to a dog called Boy. The kennel has been JC's home ever since JC's new foster father locked them inside. As the hours and days pass, JC tells Boy about how he came to his country: his family, the orphanage and the Haitian earthquake that swept everything away. How, after, his foster mother Melanie brought a new light into his life and brought him to her home country. He started to feel normal again. Until JC did something bad, so bad that he and Boy were banished to the kennel. Now their foster father is getting sicker, Melody still isn't home, and JC and Boy realize that they have to try to escape."--OCLC.

The Fact of a Body is a book not only about how the story of one crime was constructed, but about how we understand our past, the nature of forgiveness, and whether a single narrative can ever really contain something as definitive as the truth.

"At the age of 8, Reyna Grande made the dangerous and illegal trek across the border from Mexico to the United States, and discovered that the American Dream is much more complicated that it seemed"--Provided by publisher.

Seventeen-year-old Charlotte has escaped her abusive parents and finally changed her name and identity. So when she begins receiving messages addressed to Piper, her old name, her carefully constructed world begins falling apart. If she cannot find out who the messenger is and stop him, she and her last remaining loved ones may die.

When a punctured bike tire strands them in the woods, Phoenix and her younger sister, Sasha, are happy to be rescued by the handsome Mr. Smith, Phoenix's English teacher. It seems like a dream come true when Mr. Smith starts dating their mother, but Phoenix is wary. She thinks she sees another side to Mr. Smith, a dark and controlling side, and she has to decide whether or not to voice her fears for the sake of her mother and sister.

"Jack, 12, tells the gripping story of Joseph, 14, who joins his family as a foster child. Damaged in prison, Joseph wants nothing more than to find his baby daughter, Jupiter, whom he has never seen. When Joseph has begun to believe he'll have a future, he is confronted by demons from his past that force a tragic sacrifice"--Provided by publisher.

In graphic novel format looks at the life of Katie Green who recovered form a eating disorder and child abuse.

"Having fled to a family friend's hillside trailer after his mother's boyfriend tried to throw his baby sister against a wall, nine-year-old Jamie finds himself living an existence full of uncertainty and fear"--Provided by publisher.

Thirteen-year-old Dellie is overcome with guilt and grief when her brother dies, but when she finds herself at odds with her best friend, Dellie reaches out to a neglected boy who lives in her building in the projects and learns how to have faith in herself from a new neighbor.