Literature & Fiction

Twelve short stories in verse by bestselling and award-winning authors explore the highs and lows of love–romantic, platonic, familial, and self-love. Love can be many things–all-consuming, fleeting, vengeful, selfless, toxic, uplifting, and always, a core part of the teen experience that leaves an indelible mark. This enchanting, genre-crossing anthology delivers something for every listener with unique characters, global settings, and a dazzling mixture of myth, historical, speculative, and contemporary fiction.

Grace Williams has her future all mapped out. A high school senior in her beloved state of Texas, Grace plans to move to New York City after graduation to study at Barnard College, and maybe, someday, win a Nobel Prize in biology. When she's asked to tutor Jack Nelson, the star baseball player who's flunking bio, she thinks it'll be just another activity to list on her college application. Studying turns to flirting, flirting becomes secret hookups, and despite her expertise in bio, Grace gets pregnant.

When Austin Keller's family moves across the country for his chance to play with the prestigious Frost Lake soccer team, he's ready to seize the opportunity. But on his first night out with the team, a dare to kiss the team captain's ex-girlfriend sets in motion a rivalry that threatens his future.

Sophie Gracewell’s only plans for the summer involve working at her family’s diner, hanging out with her best friend Millie, and generally keeping a low profile after the drama of her father’s arrest last year. But when five mysterious Italian brothers suddenly move into town, her life changes forever. Irresistibly drawn to bad boy Nic, Sophie finds herself falling into a dangerous criminal underworld governed by powerful families.

Plant witch Sage Bishop intends to run her family’s apothecary one day. The doors just have to stay open until she can take over from her nana. That’s why she spends all her time perfecting a tonic that’ll put Bishop Brews on the map. She certainly doesn’t need their latest hire—and her ex-best friend—Ximena Reyes causing any distractions. Alas, at the first sight of Ximena’s cheeky smile, Sage flees the shop, allowing someone to break into Bishop Brews and steal the tonic she’s been tinkering with.

Holden and Peyton don't expect much from senior year. He probably won't manage to date any guys. She'll still pine over Juliette, the beautiful and unattainable cheerleader. But when they step between class bullies and Oliver, a super-hot transfer student, their year starts to go off the rails. As a star football player, Oliver hadn't anticipated trouble. Turns out Pinedale High not only comes with bullies but with new friends, plus the ghost of a Civil War soldier and a shy naked guy in the library. Between the living and the dead, senior year is about to get interesting.

Sixteen-year-old Cameron Walsh dreads the haunted Victorian mansion across the street, where the ghost of the White Lady roams the halls. When he sees her through the bay window, his ghost-hunting friend Abby wants to investigate. But then the new owners pull up, and Cameron is captivated by the brooding, handsome boy moving in. He longs for a boyfriend, but years of bullying have shattered his self-esteem.

Rosalie’s family has already lost everything, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect them from further harm. Even if that means stopping ignorant newcomers from picking enchanted roses. Dimitri knows little about his new kingdom, and he can’t help being captivated by the fiery girl who holds the answers. But Rosalie seems horrified by both his presence and his handsome face, and it turns out she has good reason. In the kingdom of Glandore, it’s a dangerous thing to be a young man of royal blood living alone in a castle.

For some, the only way to possess magic is to steal it from others. Born without magic, Davis is an outcast in his own shapeshifter family. Yearning for his father’s approval, he sets down a path that intertwines with Iris, a girl whose own ambitions are hindered by a mysterious illness. Their quest leads to Yuras, one of California’s smallest towns, unremarkable until they discover a cave of magic-transferring stones. Now they have a chance to change their fates. But they’re not alone.

Ramona fell for Sam the moment she met him. It was like she had known him forever. He's one of the few constants in her life, and their friendship is just too important to risk for a kiss. Though she really wants to kiss him. Sam loves Ramona, but he would never expect her to feel the same way—she's too quirky and cool for someone like him. Still, they complement each other perfectly, both as best friends and as a band.

Patty Appleton is making history. As one of the Senate’s first female Congressional Pages, she’s not only paving the way for other politically minded girls, she has a front-row seat to debates dividing the nation, especially around women’s rights and roles. The battle between the old ways and the new polarizes the women in Patty’s life, and she finds herself torn between traditional expectations—to be an obedient daughter aspiring to become a perfect wife—and questions new friends like fiercely feminist Simone encourage her to ask. But the questions don’t stop at women’s rights.

Paris, 1572. Seventeen-year-old Jacqueline “Jac” d’Argenson-Aunis is lady-in-waiting to her best friend and former lover, the French Princess Marguerite “Margot” de Valois, but she dreams of more. If Jac plays her cards right, one day, she’ll become a full member of the Societas Solis, a secret society of spies. But it’s hard to think about her own ambitions while France is on the brink of war, and the only thing that might save the country is an alliance—a marriage between the Catholic Princess Margot and Henry, the awful son of the Huguenot queen.

Tru has been hiding all her life. Her parents taught her to conceal her bastion Talent: indestructible skin, muscles, and bones. In a world where Talents are common and varied, no one trusts a bastion—they’re too powerful. Hiding failed to keep Tru’s parents alive, but moments before their murder, Tru’s mom pointed her to Logan Dire, a famed recluse assassin who adopted and trained orphaned Tru. At seventeen, she’s still hiding. Not even her closest friends know her true name or Talent, or that she’s balancing high school with knife and stealth training.

Taiwanese American Catie Carlson has never fit in with her white family. As much as she loves her stepmom and stepsister, she yearns to understand more about her culture and find her biological mother. So Catie is shocked when an opportunity comes knocking on her door: Her summer spa coworker, Toby, says he’ll teach her Mandarin. In exchange, she needs to teach him how to date so he can finally work up the courage to ask out his crush. The only problem is that Catie doesn’t actually have any dating experience. But she can fake it.

"O Bunny, du bist sooo genial!" Margaret Atwood Sie flechten sich Zöpfe, sind nur als Gruppe unterwegs und nennen sich gegenseitig Bunny: An Samanthas College für Erzählende Künste ist die Clique der Bunnys, bestehend aus unerträglich reichen und hübschen jungen Frauen, sehr begehrt. Samantha hingegen ist eine Außenseiterin, ihre einzige Freundin Ava hat für die Bunnys nur Verachtung übrig. Doch eines Tages erhält sie eine Einladung zum sagenumwobenen Schundsalon, einer Mischung aus Party und künstlerischer Performance, bei der die Bunnys Erstaunliches hervorbringen.

You know, the way teenage guys talk about sex, you’d think all of us were having it all the time, non-stop. Friendship, masculinity, sex – is it different for boys who like boys? Ant Stevenson has a lot of questions but doesn’t know where to even begin to look for answers. But he is determined to figure it out, all while balancing his ever-changing friendships with three very different boys.

El encuentro entre Julia, Shui, Olivier y Elio parece cosa del destino, pero el futuro de la amistad y las relaciones que surgen entre los cuatro solo depende de ellos. En un tren con destino Venecia, los jóvenes Julia y Shui comparten vagón sin saber que ese encuentro cambiará sus vidas para siempre. Ella se muda a la ciudad de los canales para estudiar arte en la prestigiosa Academia. Él regresa a casa después de años viviendo en Shanghái. Olivier Salgari es el heredero de la familia más importante y rica de Venecia, pero se siente atrapado en una jaula de oro.

Marian is a 13yr old girl who longs to have control over her own destiny, to be free. But she lives in a small village in Northumbria, England. And the year is... 1377. Freedom is nowhere to be seen. Until, one day she finds a strange creature down the village well, and everything changes...

Weary of the ravages of World War II, seventeen-year-old Nada is no stranger to loss. Her father was killed by the Ustaše – a fascist, Croatian regime working to cleanse Yugoslavia of Serbs – and the boy she secretly loves, Henrik, abandoned her to join the Partizan resistance. It’s why Nada holds tighter to those she cares about. So when she discovers her mother and sisters were ripped from their home by the Ustaše, Nada has to do something.

Leo Martino’s hunt for love has been a total flop. Over the years, every single crush has ghosted him, leaving him miserable and alone. By senior year, Leo concludes he must be unlovable. It’s time to stop trying. But when he finds himself obsessing over the irresistible Lincoln Chan, Leo decides to give love one last shot—and this time, he has a plan. He’s going to change everything about himself to become the “perfect boyfriend.” And the plan actually works. . .but will he take it too far?

Jiddy Vardy is a survivor. Rescued at birth, she grows up in Robin Hood's Bay, a community which harbours a dangerous secret that could get you killed. Always the outsider, with her dark skin and hair, at sixteen Jiddy is clever, brave and headstrong, soon risking her life and freedom to play her part in the Bay's clandestine activities. Then, just as romance blossoms and Jiddy finally feels like she belongs, figures from the past threaten to tear her world apart, and she has to decide where her loyalties truly lie.

Londres, 1923. Los dragones surcan los cielos y las protestas estallan en las calles, pero Vivien Featherswallow no está preocupada. Ella se ha propuesto seguir acatando las reglas, conseguir una beca de prácticas para estudiar los idiomas de los dragones durante el verano y asegurarse de que su hermana pequeña no crezca como miembro de la tercera clase. A medianoche, Viv ha desatado una guerra civil.

It’s Germany, 1938: A nation on fire with rampant nationalism and virulent antisemitism. Forced to follow a mandatory decree, 15 year old orphan Kat Mueller must leave the remote farm where she was raised and report to the local Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) camp, the female version of the Hitlerjugen Hitler Youth.

Angelo ama la musica e i videogame, ha una passione per la street art e, soprattutto, detesta la scuola. Le vacanze estive vorrebbe passarle in città; con gli amici, ma i suoi genitori lo obbligano a seguirli sul monte Grappa, in una baita sperduta senza internet. Lassù il tempo scorre placido e si incontrano solo caprioli e malgari che collezionano cimeli della Prima guerra mondiale. Finché Angelo non si imbatte nel diario di un soldato del 1918: apparteneva ad Antonio, diciannove anni, spedito sul Grappa dalla Sardegna profonda.

A week on Pearl Island is exactly the R&R that perpetual planner Andie Alcott needs.