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

An empowering and emotional debut about a genderqueer teen who finds the courage to stand up and speak out for equality when they are discriminated against by their high school administration. Carey Parker dreams of being a diva and bringing the house down with song. They can hit every note of all the top pop and Broadway hits. But despite their talent, emotional scars from an incident with a homophobic classmate and their grandmother’s spiraling dementia make it harder and harder for Carey to find their voice.

Tessa Cade has gone from masked outlaw to palace advisor, but even with her newfound power, she can’t stop the sickness still raging and the kingdom’s supply of Moonflower elixir is dwindling. Prince Corrick is trying to find a new way to lead, but it isn’t easy to repair the rift between the royals and the people—or the one growing between himself and Tessa. When an emissary from the a neighboring kingdom of Ostriary arrives with an intriguing offer, Tessa and Corrick set out on an risky uncertain journey to find a new source of the lifesaving elixir.

Emberfall is crumbling fast, torn between those who believe Rhen is the rightful prince and those who are eager to begin a new era under Grey, the true heir. Grey has agreed to wait two months before attacking Emberfall, and in that time, Rhen has turned away from everyone - even Harper, as she desperately tries to help him find a path to peace.

Seventeen-year-old Phoenix has spent much of her life drifting from town to town with her mom Nina, using their charms to swindle and steal to get by. Now they’ve made it to their ultimate destination, Mom’s hometown of Jasper Hollow. The plan: bring down Ellis Bowman, the man who ruined Nina’s life. When Phoenix gets caught spying on Ellis, she spins a convincing story that inadvertently gives her full access to the Bowman family.

It's been five years since a hurricane ravaged Eliza Marino's life and home in her quiet town on the Jersey shore. Now a senior in high school, Eliza is passionate about fighting climate change—starting with saving Clam Cove Reserve, an area of marshland that is scheduled to be turned into buildable lots. Protecting the island helps Eliza deal with her lingering trauma from the storm, but she still can’t shake the fear that something will come along and wash out her life once again.

Magic has been banished in the land of Syhl Shallow for as long as best friends Jax and Callyn can remember. They once loved the stories of the powerful magesmiths and mythical scravers who could conjure fire or control ice, but now they’ve learned that magic only leads to danger: magic is what killed Callyn’s parents, leaving her alone to raise her younger sister. Magic never helped Jax, whose leg was crushed in an accident that his father has been punishing him for ever since.

All Luis Gonzalez wants is to go to prom with his boyfriend, something his 'progressive' school still doesn’t allow. Not after what happened with Chaz Wilson. But that was ages ago, when Luis’ parents were in high school; it would never happen today, right? He’s determined to find a way to give his LGBTQ friends the respect they deserve (while also not risking his chance to be prom king, just saying). When a hit on the head knocks him back in time to 1985 and he meets the doomed young Chaz himself, Luis concocts a new plan - he’s going to give this guy his first real kiss.

From William C. Morris and Edgar Award finalist Leah Thomas comes an ethereal, thought-provoking YA tale about a teen who can see ghosts...and helps them avenge their deaths. Dani’s best friend, Sarah, is a ghost. But maybe that’s normal when you’ve spent your childhood running from an abusive parent. Dani and Sarah might be more than friends, though Dani dares not say so. Dani is afraid that if he tells Sarah he’s trans, she won’t bother haunting him anymore. Sarah’s got good reason to distrust boys, having been strangled by one.

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. As they spend more time together, sharing more of themselves, some of those lies get harder to keep up.

Sophia Hepworth arrives in Montana with the promise of a normal American high school experience. But after a turbulent few years abroad with her diplomat parents, forgetting the past is easier said than done. After all, 'normal' high school students aren’t fluent in multiple languages or trained in several forms of combat. Then Sophia meets a group of friends she can really trust and finds herself drawn more and more to mysterious Aksel - who she maybe shouldn’t trust but can’t stop thinking about.

Eden, Eli, Marwan and Ilanka barely know each other beyond having a class or two together. But when they are all summoned via messaging app to an empty classroom after school, they find a small cube sitting on a desk. Its sides light up with rules for them: do not tell anyone about the device. Never leave the device unattended. And then, take me with you...or else.

Small-town Wisconsin high school senior Allison Smith loves her life the way it is - spending quality time with her widowed father and her tight-knit circle of friends, including best friend Marian and maybe-more-than-friends Neil. Sure she is stressed out about college applications...who wouldn’t be? In a few short months, everything’s going to change, big time. But when Ally files her applications, they send up a red flag...because she’s not Allison Smith. And Ally’s - make that Amanda’s - ordinary life is suddenly blown apart.

Shy foster kid Jonas and self-assured vlogger Shani met online, and so far, that's where their relationship has stayed, sharing memes and baring their souls from behind their screens. Shani is eager to finally meet up, but Jonas isn't so sure - he's not confident Shani will like the real him...if he's even sure who that is. Jonas knows he's trapped himself in a lie with Shani - and wants to dig himself out. But Shani, who’s been burned before, may not give him a chance: she talks her best friend Ash into playing spy and finding out the truth.

When their father went to prison last year for embezzlement, twins Alex and Olly Brucke lost everything: their house, their college funds, most of their friends, and even their mother, who’s so focused on making ends meet that she’s never around anymore. The only thing they can count on lately is each other. But after their father dies unexpectedly in prison, the twins start to fracture. Alex is spiraling, skipping classes to spend all of her time drunk or high. And Olly is struggling with a secret his dad ordered him to keep: they have a secret half-brother named Tyler.