Penelope Ross has always felt like a passenger in her mother's fairytale - until the night of her 17th birthday, when she is forced to enter her own.

After a text from her estranged mother rips her away from a night with friends, Penny is forced into a kaleidoscope of memories locked inside the dark labyrinth of her childhood home. As Penny wanders between present and past--prose and verse--she must confront her mother's opioid addiction to mend her fractured past. But the house is tricky. The house is impossible. It wants her to dig up the dead to escape. And as Penny walks through herself to find herself, she is not sure she has the courage to free the light she trapped inside.

Diego Benevides works hard. His single mother encourages him to stay focused on school, on getting into college, on getting out of their crumbling neighborhood. That's why she gave him her car.

Diego's best friend, Lawson, needs a ride--because Lawson is dealing. As long as Diego's not carrying, not selling, it's cool. It's just weed.

But when Lawson starts carrying powder and pills and worse, their friendship is tested and their lives are threatened. As the lines between dealer and driver blur, everything Diego has worked for is jeopardized, and he faces a deadly reckoning with the choices he and his best friend have made.

Award-winning memoirist and poet Rex Ogle's searing first novel-in-verse is an unforgettable story of the power and price of loyalty.

From Abdi Nazemian, the award-winning author of Like a Love Story and Only This Beautiful Moment, comes a suspenseful contemporary YA novel about loss and love.

Fifteen-year-old Kam is head over heels for Ash, the boy who swept him off his feet. But his family and best friend, Bodie, are worried. Something seems off about Ash. He also has a habit of disappearing, at times for days. When Ash asks Kam to join him on a trip to Joshua Tree, the two of them walk off into the sunset . . . but only Kam returns.

Two years later, Kam is still left with a hole in his heart and too many unanswered questions. So it feels like fate when a school trip takes him back to Joshua Tree. On the trip, Kam wants to find closure about what happened to Ash but instead finds himself in danger of facing a similar fate. In the desert, Kam must reckon with the truth of his past relationship--and the possibility of opening himself up to love once again.

Desert Echoes is a propulsive, moving story about human resilience and connection.

A Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee
A Junior Library Guild Selection

From Jas Hammonds, the award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments, comes an electric, heart-wrenching novel about a teen whose desperation to fit in leads to a dizzying relationship with alcohol--and a poignant journey of self-discovery.

Sensitively wrought and gorgeously written. --Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie and I'm the Girl

It's the summer before college and Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ella's acceptance is a sure thing--she's the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove.

As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ella's pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, she's bold, funny, and unstoppable--and the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blake's drinking, until it's seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that she's fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut . . .

But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she's willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success--and how much of herself she's willing to lose in the process.

A powerful exploration of the lengths we go to feel seen, and the devastating consequences of an unquenchable thirst.

So, stuff has, like, a beginning and an end.

And you don't really realize that until the end, or right before.

Before that, you're just thinking that you and your homies are chillin' and getting high, and it's all gonna work out. You know?

Truth is, the way life works is that you were born in the eye of a hurricane, and you think that's just the way life is, calm-like.

Until...it isn't.

So, yeah, Elijah is only sixteen, and already he would change a lot of stuff if he could go back in time.

But you can't ever do that.

And when you can't, that's when you find out who you really are.

January 24th
After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs...

It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth--and ultimately her life.

Read her diary.
Enter her world.
You will never forget her.

For thirty-five years, the acclaimed, bestselling first-person account of a teenage girl's harrowing decent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. As powerful--and as timely--today as ever, Go Ask Alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction.

When Kaye saves the life of a strange, injured young man in the woods near her New Jersey home, she has no way of knowing that her life is forever changed. For she will soon become an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms--a struggle that might very well mean her death. Elsewhere, Valerie is a runaway who has taken up with a gang of squatters in New York City. When one of them talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature, she finds herself torn between her affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

As Kaye and Valerie delve deeper into the realm of faerie, can they save themselves from the dark magic of the fey courts--and protect their hearts?

This boxed set includes:
Tithe
Valiant
Ironside

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she drifts from place to place with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces them back to Kaye's childhood home. But Kaye's life takes another turn when she stumbles upon an injured faerie knight in the woods. Kaye has always been able to see faeries where others could not, and she chooses to save the strange young man instead of leaving him to die.

But this fateful choice will have more dire consequences than she could ever predict, as Kaye soon finds herself the unwilling pawn in an ancient and violent power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms--a struggle that could very well mean her death.

As the darkest day of the year approaches, the time has come for Roiben's coronation. Uneasy in the midst of the malevolent Unseelie Court, pixie Kaye is sure of only one thing--her love for Roiben. But love in the realm of faerie is no simple matter, and when Kaye declares herself to Roiben during the celebration, he sends her on a seemingly impossible quest to find a faerie who can tell a lie.

Unable to see Roiben until she has fulfilled his quest, Kaye calls upon her friends to help her. Their adventure will take them on a dangerous path, where Kaye finds herself at the center of the battle of wits and weapons being waged over Roiben's throne.

January 24th
After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs...

It started when she was served a drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth--and ultimately her life.

Read her diary.
Enter her world.
You will never forget her.

Return to New York Times bestselling author Holly Black's enthralling realm of faerie in the second Modern Faerie Tales novel, where danger and magic come hand-in-hand in the dark underground of New York City.

When seventeen-year-old Valerie runs away to New York, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system. But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends that sets her on edge.

When Val is talked into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature, she must strike a bargain to make it out with her life intact. Now drawn into a world she never knew existed, Val finds herself torn between her affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

A captivating and powerful exploration of the opioid crisis--the deadliest drug epidemic in American history--through the eyes of a college-bound softball star. Edgar Award-winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a visceral and necessary novel about addiction, family, friendship, and hope.

When a car crash sidelines Mickey just before softball season, she has to find a way to hold on to her spot as the catcher for a team expected to make a historic tournament run. Behind the plate is the only place she's ever felt comfortable, and the painkillers she's been prescribed can help her get there.

The pills do more than take away pain; they make her feel good.

With a new circle of friends--fellow injured athletes, others with just time to kill--Mickey finds peaceful acceptance, and people with whom words come easily, even if it is just the pills loosening her tongue.

But as the pressure to be Mickey Catalan heightens, her need increases, and it becomes less about pain and more about want, something that could send her spiraling out of control.

A powerful National Book Award Finalist from the acclaimed, bestselling author of Monster. This novel is like photorealism; it paints a vivid and genuine portrait of life that will have a palpable effect on its readers. (School Library Journal starred review)

With Harlem as its backdrop, Autobiography of My Dead Brother follows the diverging paths of best friends Rise and Jesse. When Rise becomes engulfed in gang activity and starts dealing drugs, Jesse, a budding artist, tries to make sense of the complexities of friendship, loyalty, and loss in a neighborhood plagued by drive-by shootings, vicious gangs, and an indifferent juvenile justice system.

The innovative first-person storytelling, along with cartoons and photos, pulls in readers and makes Autobiography of My Dead Brother a strong and thought-provoking choice for sharing in a classroom or at home.

Though the story is starkly realistic, there is always hope in the gifts of Jesse the artist and C. J. the musician, of schools and churches and of caring parents. (Kirkus)

Touching and impactful, Autobiography cannot fail to intrigue, and hopefully influence youngsters with its poignant statement of two roads taken. (Judges' Citation, National Book Award)

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she drifts from place to place with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces them back to Kaye's childhood home. But Kaye's life takes another turn when she stumbles upon an injured faerie knight in the woods. Kaye has always been able to see faeries where others could not, and she chooses to save the strange young man instead of leaving him to die.

But this fateful choice will have more dire consequences than she could ever predict, as Kaye soon finds herself the unwilling pawn in an ancient and violent power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms--a struggle that could very well mean her death.

Outta Here is the story of a lively and imaginative small-town teen living with a mom whose pain medication has led to addiction, leaving little money for basics--like food.

Elise's best friend and her sympathetic teachers offer what help they can, but there's only so much they can do. Elise's situation suddenly turns dangerous when her mother invites a fellow addict into their lives. Elise has to find a better path for herself--to get to college, pay for her education, and deal with her mother's lifestyle.

An authentic, hard-hitting novel that captures a reality faced by many teens whose families experience the epidemic of opioid addiction. Elise's story highlights life choices a teen can face, and the overwhelming feelings that can come if those choices have to be made with little support from family or community.

January 24th
After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs...

It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth--and ultimately her life.

Read her diary.
Enter her world.
You will never forget her.

For thirty-five years, the acclaimed, bestselling first-person account of a teenage girl's harrowing decent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. As powerful--and as timely--today as ever, Go Ask Alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction.

Lockdown is the powerful tale of fourteen-year-old Reese Anderson, who has spent 22 months in a tiny cell at a progress center. Living in fear and isolation, Reese begins looking within himself to find a way out of the prison system.

Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers offers an honest story about finding a way to make it without getting lost in the shuffle. Told with compassion and truth, Lockdown is also a compelling first-person read that could resonate with teens on a dangerous path.*

When I first got to Progress, it freaked me out to be locked in a room and unable to get out. But after a while, when you got to thinking about it, you knew nobody could get in, either.

It seems as if the only progress that's going on at Progress juvenile facility is moving from juvy jail to real jail. Reese wants out early, but is he supposed to just sit back and let his friend Toon get jumped? Then Reese gets a second chance when he's picked for the work program at a senior citizens' home. He doesn't mean to keep messing up, but it's not so easy, at Progress or in life. One of the residents, Mr. Hooft, gives him a particularly hard time. If he can convince Mr. Hooft that he's a decent person, not a criminal, maybe he'll be able to convince himself.

Walter Dean Myers was a New York Times bestselling author, Printz Award winner, five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, two-time Newbery Honor recipient, and the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Maria Russo, writing in the New York Times, called Myers one of the greats and a champion of diversity in children's books well before the cause got mainstream attention.

*Kirkus

This story from the acclaimed author of The Closest I've Come unflinchingly examines steroid abuse and male body dysmorphia. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Matt de la Peña.

David Espinoza is tired of being messed with. When a video of him getting knocked down by a bully's slap goes viral at the end of junior year, David vows to use the summer to bulk up-- do what it takes to become a man--and wow everyone when school starts again the fall.

Soon David is spending all his time and money at Iron Life, a nearby gym that's full of bodybuilders. Frustrated with his slow progress, his life eventually becomes all about his muscle gains. As it says on the Iron Life wall, What does not kill me makes me stronger.

As David falls into the dark side of the bodybuilding world, pursuing his ideal body at all costs, he'll have to grapple with the fact that it could actually cost him everything.

A Chicago Public Library Best Teen Fiction Selection

A Banks Street Best Children's Book of the Year

As the darkest day of the year approaches, the time has come for Roiben's coronation. Uneasy in the midst of the malevolent Unseelie Court, pixie Kaye is sure of only one thing--her love for Roiben. But love in the realm of faerie is no simple matter, and when Kaye declares herself to Roiben during the celebration, he sends her on a seemingly impossible quest to find a faerie who can tell a lie.

Unable to see Roiben until she has fulfilled his quest, Kaye calls upon her friends to help her. Their adventure will take them on a dangerous path, where Kaye finds herself at the center of the battle of wits and weapons being waged over Roiben's throne.

A powerful novel of drugs, violence--and second chances. Dope Sick, from two-time Newbery Honor winner and five-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Walter Dean Myers, belongs on reading lists beside Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds and Dear Martin by Nic Stone.

A drug deal goes south and a cop has been shot. Lil J's on the run. And he's starting to get dope sick. He'd do anything to change the last twenty-four hours, and when he stumbles into an abandoned building, it actually might be possible. . . .

Elements of magical realism intensify this harrowing story about drug use, violence, perceptions of reality, and second chances.

This ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers earned multiple starred reviews and was described as vivid, nuanced, and intriguing. Booklist said: Myers' narrative strategy is so inherently dramatic that it captures his readers' attentions and imaginations, inviting not only empathy but also thoughtful discussion.

Walter Dean Myers was a New York Times bestselling author, Printz Award winner, five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, two-time Newbery Honor recipient, and the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Maria Russo, writing in the New York Times, called Myers one of the greats and a champion of diversity in children's books well before the cause got mainstream attention.