bildungsromans

"An unexpected teenage pregnancy pulls together two families from different social classes, and exposes the private hopes, disappointments, and longings that can bind or divide us from each other . . . As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer: Melody's mother, for her own ceremony-- a celebration that ultimately never took place"--Provided by publisher.

Ali is a lonely teenager living with her grandmother on Long Island and becomes drawn to Justine, a seductive but troubled cashier who takes Ali under wing, but as Ali's fixation with her grows, her inability to connect with her newfound idol leads to a series of events that will forever change their lives.

After seeing a girl raped and becoming obsessed with her, sixteen-year-old Thulani finds motivation to move beyond his interest in his birds and his grief over his mother's death.

"When Ever Wong's parents sent her away for the summer, she's expecting Chien Tan: a strict, educational immersion program in Taiwan. Instead, she finds the infamous 'Loveboat.' There, Ever is surrounded by prodigies, like Rick Woo, Chinese American wonder boy and longtime bane of her existence; Ever's roommate, the confident and clever Sophia Ha, as glamorous as she is sharp; and the intimidatingly cool Xavier Yeh, heir to an international tech empire. But her classmates are more interested in the nonstop Taipei nightlife than anything to do with the curriculum. Hookups abound, snake-blood sake flows, and adult supervision is nonexistent. For the first time ever, Ever is discovering what freedom tastes like and it's exhilerating. But summer will end and Ever will be back to her parents and the future they've planned for her. Will she let this glimpse of freedom go--or will Loveboat give her the courage to pursue the future she dreams of, and the Ever Wong she wants to be?"--OCLC.

Poppy's family has been running and hiding their identity for as long as she can remember and she's not sure why. Then a move to California prompts Poppy to take a chance and mail in a home DNA test. She settles in and even begins liking a boy in her math class when the results come back with the shocking truth, undoing decades of work to keep her family safe. Now Poppy is torn between running again and striking out alone to create her own life.

"A coming-of-age novel told from the perspective of an eleven-year-old over the course of a single summer, as she tries to make sense of her new life with her estranged grandfather and sister after the death of her father and disappearance of her mother"--Provided by publisher.

Since her divorced parents could not agree on who gets her for summer vacation this year, Waverly Lyons finds her plans of exploring beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska, being replaced by a trip to muggy, too-hot Holden, Florida, to stay with her aunt. Her inability to swim makes the ocean unappealing, until she meets the super-hot boy-next-door Blake, whose friend-group welcomes her in. For the first time in her life, Waverly has friends and a love interest, but the days of summer are counting down.

Fifteen-year-old Miriam Horton, the daughter of a famous Baptist minister, joins her family on the road every year for a series of revival meetings that her father holds where he heals desperate people. One season Miriam sees an act of violence. When the family returns home, Miriam discovers she can heal as well--even though her father and the church say a woman isn't able to heal. Now Miriam must decide between her family, her religion, and her power that could save others but destroy her.

"Sylvie and her mother and grandmother are beloved, trusted healers in their medieval French village, though some whisper that fifteen-year-old Sylvie and her grand-mere deal in more than herbs and medicines. After her grandmother dies, and an attempt to use magic to heal her mother's grief brooks tragic consequences, Sylvie leaves her village in search of a teacher"--Provided by publisher.

"One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them are a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured veteran returning from Afghanistan, a business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. Halfway across the country, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor. Edward's story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a part of himself has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery--one that will lead him to the answers of some of life's most profound questions: When you've lost everything, how do you find the strength to put one foot in front of the other? How do you learn to feel safe again? How do you find meaning in your life?"--Amazon.