Realistic Fiction

Instructions for a Secondhand Heart by Tamsyn Murray Jonny and Neve, both fifteen, bond after her twin brother, in whose shadow she has been living, becomes Jonny’s just-in-time heart donor.

R.I.P. Eliza Hart by Alyssa Sheinmel Ellie Sokoloff is attending Ventana Ranch School in Big Sur, because she hopes that the wide-open setting will cure her claustrophobia and she was delighted to find Eliza Hart, her childhood friend, also in attendance; but Eliza has changed and for no apparent reason starts spreading rumors about Ellie, until one day she is […]

Ready to Fall by Marcella Pixley Seventeen-year-old Max, struggling to come to terms with his mother’s death, is cast as the ghost in Hamlet and finds strength in his new theater friends.

Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody Ryn, eighteen, trapped by a massive blizzard in the Denver airport, meets some unique characters who help her cope with survivor’s guilt on the first anniversary of her best friend’s death.

Being Fishkill by Ruth Lehrer Born in the backseat of a moving car, Carmel Fishkill was unceremoniously pushed into a world that refuses to offer her security, stability, love. At age thirteen, she begins to fight back. Carmel Fishkill becomes Fishkill Carmel, who deflects her tormentors with a strong left hook and conceals her secrets from teachers and social workers. […]

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills Claudia agrees to coach actors in her high school’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” leading to new friendships–and maybe even new love.

Good and Gone by Megan Frazer Blakemore While on a road trip with her depressed older brother and gay friend, to find a missing musician, fifteen-year-old Lexi grapples with painful memories of sexual assault by her ex-boyfriend.

Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga While her mother is out of town, sixteen-year-old Taliah accompanies her estranged father–a famous rock star who one day appears on her doorstep–to Oak Falls, Indiana, to meet his dying father and the rest of his family, and on the way, Taliah learns about how her parents met and separated, her mother’s experience […]

Kids Like Us by Hilary Reyl Martin is an American teen on the autism spectrum living in France with his movie-director mother and sister for the summer. He falls for a French girl who he thinks is a real-life incarnation of a character in his favorite book. Over time Martin comes to realize she is a real person and not […]

Kat and Meg Conquer the World by Anna Priemaza When they are thrown together for a year-long science project, Kat, who has a social anxiety disorder, and Meg, who has ADHD, bond over their common obsession with a swoon-worthy online gaming star.