The Waiting Tree by Lindsay Moynihan
Summary: After being outed in his small and highly religious community not long after the death of his parents, Simon is trying to cope with his boyfriend Stephen being sent off to be reprogramed, and becoming the main caregiver of Jude, his twin brother who is mute. It’s a lot to handle for a seventeen year-old, and with only partial support from his brothers, Simon is forced to drop out of high school and get a job to pay for the necessities of life. Tensions run high at home because Simon’s oldest brother Paul thinks he should automatically be in charge, but Simon finds Paul...
Read MoreTo Dance at the Palais Royale by Janet McNaughton
Summary: Moving across the ocean from Scotland to Toronto, Ontario, Aggie Maxwell is joining her sister Emma in a new country to work as a domestic and raise money to fund the rest of her family’s immigration to Canada. At seventeen, Aggie finds herself the recipient of more than one young man’s affections, but love takes its time finding her. Her job and life as an independent young woman change her and give her confidence, so when she does fall in love with a man named Will, she is ready to make her own decisions about her life. Now she just has to figure out if she can stand...
Read MoreVirginia by Susan Hughes
Summary: During the summer before starting high school, Ivy receives an odd phone call from her former friend Virginia. Convinced she has been visited by an angel and is going to have God’s baby, Virginia wants Ivy to bear witness to these miraculous events, but Ivy is skeptical. In her own home life, Ivy is dealing with an alcoholic mother who defies any interventions, and a sister who is getting married, much to her mother’s dismay. Still Ivy finds the time to follow up on her concern for Virginia, picking up on the strange vibes from Virginia’s family and investigating...
Read MoreThe Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
Summary: In group therapy for teens dealing with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Adam falls for Robyn, a fellow group member. Adam’s life isn’t easy, he’s trying to figure out how to best manage his illness but finds himself taking care of everyone else before himself. Determined to rescue Robyn too, Adam builds a friendship with her that turns into a relationship, and as she works through her issues Robyn is able to let go of her obsessive compulsive behaviours. For Adam though, OCD is something he will probably deal with for the rest of his life. Inspired by his...
Read MoreThe Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan
Summary: Every working day in Bombay, India, people pack up hot lunches for their loved ones to be delivered in tiffins to their work places. Kunal’s life is changed before he is even born when his mother, Anahita, slips an important note into the tiffin she’s sending out, and it never reaches its destination. Years later Kunal believes he is an orphan, and he works in a restaurant owned by the people he lives with. Exploited and in physical danger, Kunal takes Vinayak, a tiffin deliverer, up on his offer to provide a home. When he finds out he’s not an orphan after all,...
Read MoreThis One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki
Summary: Up at her family’s cottage for the summer, Rose and her friend Windy are inseparable, watching horror movies, checking out the local guy at the corner store, spying on the older teens in town and talking about growing up. Often overlooked, Rose is an observer, watching her parents struggle with their marriage in the face of her mother’s depression, and witnessing local girl Jenny try to make her boyfriend take responsibility for the fact that she’s pregnant. Being a woman is more complicated than Rose and Windy originally thought, and this one summer will show them...
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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