Showing results by publisher "Bloomsbury Publishing Plc" in Difficult Situations

Meet Luis. He's out, he's proud and, although he doesn't know it yet, he's about to travel back in time to save a closeted student called Chaz from a tragic end. All Luis Gonzalez really wants is to go to prom with his boyfriend. But when a hit on the head knocks him back in time to 1985, he finds himself in high school with his own parents and a whole lot of homophobia. It turns out a Christian school in the 1980s probably isn’t the safest place to be a gay kid.

Jasmine and Chelsea are best friends on a mission - they’re sick of the way women are treated even at their progressive NYC high school, so they decide to start a Women's Rights Club. They post their work online - poems, essays, videos of Chelsea performing her poetry, and Jasmine's response to the racial microaggressions she experiences - and soon go viral. But with such positive support, the club is also targeted by trolls. When things escalate, the principal shuts the club down. Not willing to be silenced, Jasmine and Chelsea will risk everything for their voices to be heard.

Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She was even supposed to be meeting a boy to talk about marriage. Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors. She knows that she should be thinking about leaving, but who will help the people of her beloved country if she doesn't? With her heart so conflicted, her mind has conjured a vision to spur her to action.

In the moving and compelling debut novel from Benjamin Zephaniah, a young man's life is completely changed when his face is badly scarred in a car accident. Martin seems to have it all. He's cool, funny and he's the undisputed leader of the Gang of Three, who roam their East London estate during the holidays looking for fun. But one night after the Gang leave a late-night rap club, Martin accepts a ride from Pete, a Raider's Posse gang member. Too late, he realises that the car is stolen and that the police are after them.

Grey has been revealed as the rightful prince of Emberfall. But the kingdom is crumbling fast, torn between his claim and that of the reigning Prince Rhen and Princess Harper. Newly crowned as queen of the enemy kingdom Syhl Shallow, Lia Mara struggles to rule with a gentler hand than her mother. But as Grey moves closer to claiming the crown of Emberfall, both Harper and Lia Mara are forced to question where they stand - and how far they can follow the dictates of their hearts.

The embers of revolution continue to simmer in Kandala. The country is still plagued by disease, and the only cure is a scarce moonflower elixir only the rich can afford. Tessa Cade has gone from masked outlaw to palace advisor—and she's determined to help the people of Kandala. With supplies of the moonflower running out, Tessa embarks with Prince Corrick on an uncertain journey to the mysterious neighbouring kingdom of Ostriary. The journey could be their only chance to save the people of Kandala—but it will hold untold danger for both Tessa and Prince Corrick.

Ever since she can remember, Briseis has had power over plants. Flowers bloom in her footsteps and leaves turn to face her as though she were the sun. It’s a power she and her adoptive mothers have spent her whole life trying to hide. And then Briseis inherits an old house from her birth mother and suddenly finds herself with the space and privacy to test her powers for the first time.

Acclaimed performance poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah's honest, wry and poignant story of a young refugee left in London is of even more power and pertinence today than when it was first published. Life is not safe for Alem. His father is Ethopian, his mother Eritrean. Their countries are at war, and Alem is welcome in neither place. So Alem is excited to spend a holiday in London with his father - until he wakes up to find him gone. What seems like a betrayal is in fact an act of love, but now Alem is alone in a strange country and he must forge his own path....

When his dad is caught embezzling funds from half the town, Rob goes from popular lacrosse player to social pariah. Even worse, his father’s failed suicide attempt leaves Rob and his mother responsible for his care. Everyone thinks of Maegan as a typical overachiever, but she has a secret of her own after the pressure got to her last year. And when her sister comes home from college pregnant, keeping it from her parents might be more than she can handle.

Tycho of Rillisk has been a lot of things: son and brother, stablehand, prisoner, soldier and friend to the king. Now, four years after Grey took the throne of Emberfall, Tycho has taken on a new role: courier and spy. As the only person the king can trust, Tycho carries secret messages back and forth between the kingdoms of Emberfall and Syhl Shallow. But even though the war is over, peace still seems far away.

When Nala Robertson reluctantly agrees to attend an open mic night for her cousin-sister-friend Imani’s birthday, she finds herself falling in instant love with Tye Brown, the MC. He’s perfect, except Tye is an activist and is spending the summer putting on events for the community when Nala would rather watch movies and try out the new seasonal flavors at the local creamery. In order to impress Tye, Nala tells a few tiny lies to have enough in common with him.

New York City. June, 1982. When eighteen-year-old Beth arrives in Manhattan for a prestigious journalism internship, everything feels brand new—and not always in a good way. A cockroach-infested sublet and a disaffected roommate are the least of her worries, and she soon finds herself caught up with her fellow interns—preppy Oliver, ruthless Dan and ridiculously cool, beautiful, wild Edie. Soon, Beth and Edie are best friends—the sort of heady, all-consuming best-friendship that’s impossible to resist.

Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top-ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends - Krystal, Akil and Alexander - are the prime suspects, thanks to 'the Proctor', someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app. They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow the Proctor knows them, too.

Danny's mam has a new boyfriend. Initially, all is good – Callum seems nice enough, and Danny can't deny he's got a cool set up; big house, fast car, massive TV, and Mam seems to really like him. But cracks begin to show, and they're not the sort that can be easily repaired. As Danny witnesses Mam suffer and Callum spiral out of control he goes in search of his dad. The Dad he's never met. Set in Newcastle and Edinburgh, this supremely enjoyable coming-of-age drama tackles domestic violence head on, but finds humour and hope in the most unlikely of­ places.

Fat girls and boys and nonbinary teens are: friends who lift each other up, heroes who rescue themselves, big bodies in space, intellects taking up space and bodies looking and feeling beautiful. They express themselves through fashion, sports and other physical pursuits, through food, and music, and art. They are flirting and falling in love. They are loving to themselves and one another.

In Samsboro, Kentucky, Kalyn Spence’s name is inseparable from the brutal murder her father committed when he was a teenager. Forced to return to town, Kalyn must attend school under a pseudonym...or face the lingering anger of Samsboro’s citizens, who refuse to forget the crime. Gus Peake has never had the luxury of redefining himself. A Samsboro native, he’s known either as the 'disabled kid' because of his cerebral palsy or as the kid whose dad was murdered. Gus just wants to be known as himself.

Emilia Romero is living a double life. By day, she’s a field hockey star with a flawless report card. But by night, she’s kicking virtual ass as the only female member of a highly competitive eSports team. Emilia has mastered the art of keeping her two worlds thriving, which hinges on them staying completely separate. That's in part to keep her real-life persona, but also for her own safety, since girl gamers are often threatened and harassed.

Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch. When Briseis’ aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined - it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world.

Chase Arthur is a budding animator and hopeless romantic obsessed with Disney films and finding his true love, but he’s plagued with the belief that he’s not enough for anyone: he’s recovering from an eating disorder and suffers from body dysmorphia fuelled by his father and can’t quite figure out his gender identity. When Chase starts his freshman year of college, he has to navigate being away from home and missing his sister, finding his squad and contending with his ex-best friend, Leila, who is gunning for the same exclusive mentorship.

Sy placed all his bets for happiness on his boyfriend, Farouk...who then left him to try and 'fix the world'. Now, the timid seventeen-year-old Indian Muslim boy is stuck in a dead-end coffee shop job and all he can do is wish for one more chance. Sy never expects his wish to be granted. But when a mysterious girl offers him three wishes in exchange for his help and proves she can grant at least one wish with an instant million-dollar deposit into Sy's struggling bank account, a whole new world of possibility opens up. Is she magic? Or just rich?