bildungsromans

"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.

When a young girl named Nell is sold to the ringmaster of Jasper Jupiter's Circus of Wonders as a "leopard girl" because of the birthmarks that cover her body, she feels embarrassed and betrayed. But she soon finds a family in the other performers, and her role as the Queen of the Moon and Stars brings fame to the circus. Jasper sees it as a chance to make a name for himself and hopes to attract the attention of the Queen herself. But Jasper soon becomes jealous of Nell's popularity, and one night threatens to end everything they've built.

A young American writer meets his neighbors, Jewish Nathan and Polish Sophie who reveals a very painful secret from her Holocaust past and an encounter with terrible evil.

The less he eats, the more Matt seems to have powers, the ability to see things others cannot and to tune into the thoughts in people's heads, maybe even the ability to bend time and space. He goes on a hunger strike in order to stalk Tariq and his band of bullies and find out what they did to make his sister, Maya, run away in the middle of the night.

A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.

"Set in the early 2000s, Mall Goth is a coming-of-age story about Goth Liv Holme, who has to navigate growing up amidst moving, starting at a new school, and the dissolution of her parents' marriage"--Provided by publisher.

"Aim?e, a non-binary Anishinaabe middle-schooler, is on a class trip to offer gifts to Paayehnsag, the water spirits known to protect the land. While stories are told about the water spirits and the threat of the land being taken over for development, Aim?e zones out, distracting themselves from the bullying and isolation they've experienced since expressing their non-binary identity. When Aim?e accidentally wanders off, they are transported to an alternate dimension populated by traditional Anishinaabe figures in a story inspired by "Alice in Wonderland." To gain the way back home, Aim?e is called on to help Trickster by hunting down dark water spirits with guidance from Paayehnsag. On their journey, Aim?e faces off with the land-grabbing Queen and her robotic guards and fights the dark water spirits against increasingly stacked odds"--Provided by publisher.

"Tuva is starting seventh grade, and her checklist of goals includes: writing out a diary, getting a trendy look, building the best fort in the woods with her BFFs, and much more. But when she starts school, nothing is how she hoped it would be. Seventh grade has split her friends into rival factions: TEAM LINNEA and the girls who fall in love and TEAM BAO and the girls who NEVER fall in love. Linnea has a BOYFRIEND, Bao hates everything related to love. Worst of all, Linnea and Bao expect Tuva to choose a side! In this . . . hand-lettered coming-of-age graphic diary, Tuva gets caught between feeling like a kid and wanting to know HOW to become a teenager. Then Miriam shows up and suddenly Tuva feels as if she's met her soulmate. Can you fall in love with a girl, keep it from your friends, and survive? For Tuva, it may be possible, but it's defintely not easy"--Provided by publisher.

Sixteen-year-old Christine keeps a journal of an eventful year of her life in mid-90s Asheville, North Carolina, which she records through prose and illustration.

"Sunny is starting to understand the ins and outs of middle school... but she still feels more out than in. Most kids have a thing they do outside of class, like football or track or cheerleading. Sunny isn't quarterback material, and her cheer attempts are... not the best. So what can she do? When Sunny's friend Arun says he wants to start a debate club, she's not really sure what he means. Isn't debate just... arguing? Sunny's never had a problem with arguing. Some of the debates are fun ones: which is the best candy? Is peanut butter a force for evil or a force for good? But when the debate club starts to be a success and the topics get harder, Sunny realizes she won't just be able to talk her way into winning... she'll have to make her case!"--Provided by publisher.