The Girls They Left Behind by Bernice Thurman Hunter
Summary: With most of her childhood male friends going off to fight in World War II, Natalie feels left behind as she waits for the war to end. When her beloved cousin Carmen enlists Natalie is left behind once more to her dismay. Determined to play her own part in supporting the war effort, she takes jobs at factories working diligently in munitions and then building mosquito airplanes. Though her job helps her gain self-confidence and some financial independence, Natalie is reminded of the reality of war when Carmen goes missing in action, presumed dead. When the war ends, Natalie must...
Read MoreGanked by Liam O’Donnell
Summary: Headed to Toronto for StrifeCon, the convention for Kingdom of Strife fans, Orin, his brother Baz and his friends Landon and Rasheen are expecting an awesome gaming weekend. Instead, a well-known game loot vendor is killed and Baz is framed for his death. As an insider in the gaming world, Orin feels it is up to him to follow up the clues missed by the police. Aided by his friends as well as Neya, a kick ass player herself, Orin pursues the killer’s trail through the real and virtual world, trying to balance competing in the PvP tournament with clearing Baz’s name....
Read MoreThe Game by Teresa Toten
Summary: To survive having an abusive father, Dani and her younger sister Kelly escape by playing a made-up fantasy game. One day Dani finds herself in Rosewood, a mental institution, after a suicide attempt and she has trouble remembering the previous year of her life. Forbidden to see her father, and at odds with her mother, Dani writes to Kelly to warn her to be careful at home and avoid drawing the abuse on herself, but receives no response. Instead she finds family in Alison and Kevin, fellow patients at Rosewood who also know hardship first hand. Together, they support each other...
Read MoreDeviants by Maureen McGowan
Summary: Living in a community under a dome after asteroids pulverize Earth’s surface, Glory is hiding her injured brother, Drake, from the authorities to save his life after her father kills her mother with his deviant powers. Life in the dome is highly regulated, and Compliance Officers are on the lookout for people who are considered Parasites and Deviants. With her ability crush people with her mind and her brother’s armour that appears when he feels threatened, both have targets on their backs. But when Glory finds out her dad is still alive after a guy named Burn comes to...
Read MoreCry of the Giraffe by Judie Oron
Summary: Wuditu lives in Ethiopia and is a part of the Beta Israel community with her family. Secure in her family’s love, things begin to change slowly at first when the government orders all adults to be educated, progressing to Wuditu’s family being exiled from Ethiopia. Driven from their homes, Wuditu and her family journey to live in the refugee camps in the Sudan in the hopes to catch an airplane to a new life in Israel. Instead her family gets separated and Wuditu finds herself having to leave her sister behind in the search to reunite with them. On her own, Wuditu goes...
Read MoreChanda’s Secrets by Allan Stratton
Summary: Sixteen year-old Chanda has a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. After the death of her youngest sibling, Sarah, her Mama is sick with grief and something else, and her step-father is drinking and sleeping around to forget. Chanda’s family lives in a community where gossip is rampant and reputation is everything, so when Chanda suspects her mother may actually have AIDS, she keeps it to herself. But the secrets in Chanda’s life are building up, and when her Mama goes away on a trip she doesn’t return from, Chanda must find the courage to break through the...
Read MoreAbout Amy
Amy Mathers has been passionate about reading from a very young age, and hopes others will share her enthusiasm for funding a teen book award. Read more Follow Amy
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