Dreamland
Dessen, Sarah.
After her older sister runs away, sixteen-year-old Caitlin decides that she needs to make a major change in her own life and begins an abusive relationship with a boy who is mysterious, brilliant, and dangerous.
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The Things You Kiss Goodbye
Connor, Leslie
Bettina Vasilis can hardly believe it when basketball star Brady Cullen asks her out, and she just about faints when her strict father actually approves of him. Over the course of the summer, Bettina falls in love with Brady . . . and with the new freedom that comes along with him. But when school starts up again, Brady changes. What happened to the sweet boy she fell in love with? Then she meets a smoldering guy in his twenties, and this “cowboy” is everything Brady is not-gentle, caring, and interested in getting to know the real Bettina, or “Beta,” as he nicknames her. Bettina knows that breaking up with Brady would mean losing her freedom-and that it would be inappropriate for anything to happen between her and Cowboy. Still, she can’t help that her breath catches when he smiles, or that she longs for the scent of his auto shop whenever she’s anywhere else. When tragedy strikes, Bettina must tell her family the truth-and kiss goodbye the things she thought she knew about herself and the men in her life. Leslie Connor has written a lyrical, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about family, romance, and the immense power of love.
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Bad Romance
Demetrios, Heather
When Grace and Gavin fall in love, Grace is sure it’s too good to be true. She has no idea their relationship will become a prison she’s unable to escape”–
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What Kind Of Girl
Sheinmel, Alyssa B
Told in multiple voices, when popular Mike Parker’s girlfriend informs North Bay Academy’s principal that he has been hitting her, students react differently, revealing their own insecurities and problems.
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Always Forever Maybe
Anica Mrose Rissi
A powerful YA debut, told with astonishing insight and wit, about the depths and boundaries of true friendship and obsessive teenage love — perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, E. Lockhart, and Sara Zarr. When Betts meets Aiden at the candy store where she works, their connection is like a sugar rush to the heart. Betts already knows the two of them are infinite. Inevitable. Destined to become an us. Betts has only ever kept one secret from her best friend, Jo, but suddenly there’s a long list of things she won’t tell her, things Jo wouldn’t understand. Because Jo doesn’t see how good Aiden is for Betts. She finds him needy. Possessive. Controlling. She’s wrong. With a love like this, nothing else matters.
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Asking For It
Shannon Kennedy
Be careful what you wish for ~ you may get it!Sarah Flynn’s fondest desires come true when she makes the varsity cheer squad at Stewart Falls Academy. And wonder of wonders, her dream guy, Jason Phillips, the football captain, finally has time for her. He claims to “love” her as much as she adores him. However, things aren’t as perfect as they seem.No matter how hard she tries, she can’t make him happy. As the days go by it grows harder and harder to explain her constant injuries. She knows she shouldn’t be battered by someone who supposedly cares about her, but how can she change Jason? And more importantly, can she get out of this relationship alive?
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Breaking Beautiful
Jennifer Shaw Wolf
Fans of dark contemporary stories will feel right at home in Jennifer Shaw Wolf’s debut as she takes them on an emotional ride through the murky waters of love, shame, and ultimately, forgiveness. Allie lost everything the night her boyfriend, Trip, died in a horrible car accident—including her memory of the event. She doesn’t remember driving on the cliff road. She doesn’t recall jumping from the truck just before Trip lost control. As their small town mourns his death, Allie is afraid to remember because doing so means delving into what she’s kept hidden for so long, the horrible reality of their abusive relationship. When the police reopen the investigation, it quickly turns on Allie and her best friend, Blake, especially as their budding romance raises eyebrows around town. As the threats begin and the survivor’s guilt takes over, Allie knows she must tell the truth. Can she reach deep enough to remember that night so she can finally break free?
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But I Love Him
Amanda Grace
Sometimes at night, I wake up and stare at the heart for hours. I think of how I collected each piece from the beach, how I glued it all together into one big sculpture. I wonder if Connor realizes what it means, that he’ll always have a piece of me no matter what happens. Each piece of glass is another piece of myself that I gave to him. It’s too bad I didn’t keep any pieces for myself. At the beginning of senior year, Ann was a smiling, straight-A student and track star with friends and a future. Then she met a haunted young man named Connor. Only she can heal his emotional scars; only he could make her feel so loved – and needed. Ann can’t recall the pivotal moment it all changed, when she surrendered everything to be with him, but by graduation, her life has become a dangerous high wire act. Just one mistake could trigger Connor’s rage, a senseless storm of cruel words and violence damaging everything – and everyone – in its path. This evocative slideshow of flashbacks reveals a heartbreaking story of love gone terribly wrong.
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Shattered
Sarah N. Harvey
March has a perfect life: beauty, popularity, a great job, a loving family and a hot boyfriend. So when she discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her, she is hurt and enraged. When she lashes out at him, he falls and is badly injured. March panics, flees the scene and then watches her perfect life spiral out of control. In a misguided attempt to atone for her crime, March changes her appearance, quits her job and tries to become invisible until an unlikely friendship and a new job force her to re-engage with life.
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So Much It Hurts
Monique Polak
Iris is an aspiring actress, so when Mick, a well-known visiting Aussie director, takes an interest in her, she’s flattered. He’s fourteen years older, attractive, smart, charming, and sexy-in other words, nothing like her hapless ex-boyfriend, Tommy. But when Iris and Mick start a secret relationship, she soon witnesses Mick’s darker side, and his temper frightens her. Before long, she becomes the target of his rage, but she makes endless excuses for him. Isolated and often in pain, Iris struggles to continue going to school, where she is preparing for her role as Ophelia. When her family and friends begin to realize that something is terribly wrong, Iris defends her man, but she also takes the first tentative steps toward self-preservation.
