Check out what is new in realistic fiction:
The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle
Quinn Roberts is a sixteen-year-old smart aleck and Hollywood hopeful whose only worry used to be writing convincing dialogue for the movies he made with his sister Annabeth. Of course, that was all before–before Quinn stopped going to school, before his mom started sleeping on the sofa…and before the car accident that changed everything. Enter: Geoff, Quinn’s best friend who insists it’s time that Quinn came out–at least from hibernation. One haircut later, Geoff drags Quinn to his first college party, where instead of nursing his pain, he meets a guy–okay, a hot guy–and falls, hard. What follows is an upside-down week in which Quinn begins imagining his future as a screenplay that might actually have a happily-ever-after ending–if, that is, he can finally step back into the starring role of his own life story.
The Leaving Season by Cat Jordan
Middie Daniels calls it the leaving season: the time of year when everyone graduates high school, packs up their brand-new suitcases, and leaves home for the first time. This year Middie’s boyfriend, Nate, is the one leaving, heading to Central America for a year of volunteering after graduation. And once he returns, it’ll be time for Middie to leave, too. With him. But when tragedy strikes, Middie’s whole world is set spinning. No one seems to understand just how lost she is . . . except for Nate’s slacker best friend, Lee. Middie and Lee have never gotten along. But with the ground ripped out from under her, Middie is finding that up is down–and that Lee Ryan might be just what she needs to find her footing once more.
Rebel Bully Geek Pariah by Erin Jade Lange
The Breakfast Club gets a modern, high-stakes reboot in this story of four very different teens and a night that changes them forever. When Andi, York, Boston, and Sam find themselves hiding in the woods after a party gets busted by the cops, they decide to hop into the nearest car they see and take off. Normally these four would never be caught dead together, but when their getaway takes a dangerous turn, sticking together will be the only way to avoid ending up dead.
The Word for Yes by Claire Needall
At once honest and touching, Claire Needell’s debut novel is a moving look at date rape and its aftermath, at the love and conflicts among sisters and friends, and how these relationships can hold us together–and tear us apart. The gap between the Russell sisters–Jan, Erika, and Melanie–widens as each day passes. Then, at a party full of blurred lines and blurred memories, everything changes. Starting that night, where there should be words, there is only angry, scared silence. And in the aftermath, Jan, Erika, and Melanie will have to work hard to reconnect and help one another heal.
The Secret Language of Sisters by Luanne Rice
When Ruth Ann McCabe (Roo) responds to a text message while she’s driving, her life as she knows it ends. The car flips, and Roo winds up in a hospital bed, paralyzed. Silent. Everyone thinks she’s in a coma, but Roo has locked-in syndrome — she can see and hear and understand everything around her, but no one knows it. She’s trapped inside her own body, screaming to be heard. Mathilda (Tilly) is Roo’s sister and best friend. She was the one who texted Roo and inadvertently caused the accident. Now, Tilly must grapple with her overwhelming guilt and her growing feelings for Roo’s boyfriend, Newton — the only other person who seems to get what Tilly is going through.