dysfunctional families

"There is a girl, and her name is Sam. She adores her father, though he isn't around much. Her mother, Courtney, struggles to make ends meet, and never fails to remind her daughter that her life should be different. Sam doesn't fit in at school, where the other girls have the right shade of blue jeans and don't question the rules. Sam doesn't care about jeans or rules. She just loves to climb--trees, fences, walls, the side of a building. When she's climbing, she discovers a place she belongs: she can turn off her brain, pain has a purpose, and it's okay if you want to win. As Sam grows into her teens, she grapples with self-doubt and insecurity for the first time. She yearns for her climbing coach to notice her, but his attention crosses boundaries she doesn't know how to resist. She wishes her father would leave for good, instead of always coming and going, but once he's gone, she realizes how much she's lost. She rages against her mother's constant pressure to plan for a more secure future, but also sees how hard she works and how much she sacrifices. Wrestling with who she wants to be in the face of what she's expected to do, Sam comes to understand that she alone can make her dreams come true"--Provided by publisher.

"After surviving a suicide attempt, Addison returns to school where her life intersects with four other students, each of whom are also struggling with their own personal struggles"--Provided by publisher.

"Wen Zhou is a first-generation daughter of Chinese migrant parents. She has high expectations from her parents to succeed in school, especially her father, whose strict rules leave her feeling trapped. She dreams of creating a future for herself more satisfying than the one her parents expect her to lead. Then she befriends a boy named Henry who is also a first generation immigrant. He is the smartest boy at school despite struggling with his English and understands her in a way nobody has lately. Both of them dream of escaping and together they come up with a plan to take an entrance exam for a selective school far from home. But when tragedy strikes, it will take all of Wen's resilience and tiger strength to get herself and Henry through the storm that follows"--Provided by publisher.

"Alex Blackwood is really good at getting the girl she wants, but coming from a broken home with an alcoholic mother she finds committment difficult, even when she thinks she is in love. Impossibly awkward Molly Parker has a crush on the cool Cora Myers, but she does not know how to even start a conversation, much less make a connection. Now they are all at college in Pittsburgh Alex decides to 'help' Molly get the girl, while proving to her own flame that she is not just totally selfish--but things do not work out as the two have planned"--OCLC.

"Winona has been starving for life in the seemingly perfect home that she shares with her seemingly perfect father, celebrity weatherman Stormy Olsen. No one knows that he locks the pantry door to control her eating and leaves bruises where no one can see them. Lucille has been suffocating beneath the needs of her mother and her drug-dealing brother, wondering if there's more out there for her than disappearing waitress tips and a lifetime of barely getting by. One harrowing night, Winona and Lucille realize they can't wait until graduation to start their new lives. They need out. Now. One hour later, they're armed with a plan that will take them from their small Michigan town to Chicago"--Provided by publisher.

"Rock and Trisha fall in love as kids in high school as Trisha recovers from a traumatic childhood and Rock tries to make it as a football star"--Provided by publisher.

Seventeen-year-old Gael, a trans boy, learns to let his walls down while finding community, discovering his sexuality, falling in love, and navigating difficult family situations.

"Online, MauveCat (a cool, confident, glittering pixie cat) has friends and a whole supportive furry community that appreciates her art. At home, Maeve Stephens has to tiptoe around her hoarder mother's mood and mess. When her life is at its hardest, Maeve can always slip into Mauve, her fursona, and be 'the happy one,' the bubbliest, friendliest artist in her community--it's even how she made her best friend, Jade. With graduation around the corner, Maeve is ready to put her lonely school days behind her and move on with her life. And while her father hasn't been home since the divorce, he does offer her a dream come true: an all-expenses paid trip to the regional furry convention. Furlympia will have everything Maeve's been missing--friends, art mentors, and other furries! So when her mother forbids her from going, Maeve decides to sneak out on her own"--Provided by publisher.

"Eleven-year-old Makeda dreams of meeting her African American mother, while coping with serious problems in her white adopted family, a cross-country move, and being homeschooled"--Provided by publisher.

"There's always been a hole in Gio's life. Not because he's into both guys and girls. Not because his father has some drinking issues. Not because his friends are always bringing him their drama. No, the hole in Gio's life takes the shape of his birth mom, who left Gio, his brother, and his father when Gio was nine years old. For eight years, he never heard a word from her . . . and now, just as he's started to get his life together, she's back"--Back cover.