Anderson, Jodi Lynn – Peaches
Three teenaged girls from very different backgrounds, thrown together to pick peaches in a Georgia orchard, spend a summer in pursuit of the right boy, the truest of friends, and the perfect peach.

Bauer, Joan. Rules of the Road (and sequel Best Foot Forward)
Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of successful shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who is trying to force her to retire, and along the way Jenna hones her talents as a saleswoman and finds the strength to face her alcoholic father.

Bauer, Joan. Hope Was Here
When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.

Brashares, Ann – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (and sequels)
Four best girlfriends spend the biggest summer of their lives enchanted by a magical pair of pants.

Caletti, Deb. Honey Baby Sweetheart
In the summer of her junior year, sixteen-year-old Ruby McQueen and her mother, both nursing broken hearts, set out on a journey to reunite an elderly woman with her long-lost love and in the process learn many things about "the real ties that bind" people to one another.

Cohn, Rachel – Gingerbread
After being expelled from a fancy boarding school, Cyd Charisse's problems with her mother escalate after Cyd falls in love with a sensitive surfer and is subsequently sent from San Francisco to New York City to spend time with her biological father.

Johnson, Maureen. 13 Little Blue Envelopes
When seventeen-year-old Ginny receives a packet of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt, she leaves New Jersey to criss-cross Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt that transforms her life.

Lockhart, E. The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors Plus Techniques
A high school junior continues her quest for relevant data on the male species, while enjoying her freedom as a newly licensed driver and examining her friendship with a clean-living vegetarian classmate.

Mackler,Carolyn. The Earth My Butt and Other Big Round Things
Feeling like she doesn't fit in with other members of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.

Myracle, Lauren. TTYL
Chronicles, in "instant message" format, the day-to-day experiences, feelings, and plans of three friends, Zoe, Maddie, and Angela, as they begin tenth grade.

Rennison, Louise. Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging: confessions of Georgia Nicolson
Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.

Roberts, Laura Peyton. Queen B
school sophomore Cassie struggles with her insecurities and learns some lessons about friendship and dating, while also trying to direct the school talent show

Sheldon, Dyan. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
In her first year at a suburban New Jersy high school, Mary Elizabeth Cep, who now calls herself "Lola," sets her sights on the lead in the annual drama production, and finds herself in conflict with the most popular girl in school.

Shulman, Polly. Enthusiasm
Julie and Ashleigh, high school sophomores and Jane Austen fans, seem to fall for the same Mr. Darcy-like boy and struggle to hide their true feelings from one another while rehearsing for a school musical.

Whytock, Cherry. My Cup Runneth Over: The Life of Angelica Cookson Potts
Believing she is too big, fourteen-year-old Angel tries dieting and kick-boxing to lose weight, but thanks to her friends and the school fashion show, she discovers that her size is just right. Includes recipes.

Wilson, Jacqueline. Girls in Love
Starting ninth grade puts Ellie under enough pressure, but when her two best friends, goth Nadine and glam Magda get boyfriends, Ellie is desperate, so she makes one up. Funny little lists of nine things: nine wishes; nine dreams; and nine most embarrassing moments are sprinkled throughout. Another British import along the lines of Angus Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging. First in a series of four.

Fantasy

Barnes, Jennifer. Golden
When her family moves to Oklahoma from California, high school sophomore Lissy uses her ability to see other people's auras to try to uncover and stop the sinister activities of a teacher at her new school.

Black, Holly (Urban Fantasy) Thithe: A Modern Faerie Tale
Sixteen-year-old Kaye, who has been visited by faeries since childhood, discovers that she herself is a magical faerie creature with a special destiny.

Bray, Libba. A Great and Terrible Beauty
After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world.

Jablonski, Carla. Thicker Than Water
Coping with her mother's cancer makes seventeen-year-old Kia feel out of place everywhere until she is drawn into the goth-vampire club scene, where she finds acceptance and one gorgeous, popular guy who might offer escape.

Kindle, Patrice. Owl in Love
A fourteen-year-old girl, who can transform herself into an owl, has a crush on her science teacher which leads her into interesting new relationships with both humans and owls.

Mayer, Stephanie – Twilight
When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

Mlynowski, Sarah. Frogs and Kisses
Love spells run amok in New York City when high school freshman Rachel asks her younger sister, who is a witch, for magical help in winning the affection of heartthrob Raf Kosravi.

Lonely Girls & Girls in Pain

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect of Melinda's freshman year in high school.

Castallucci, Cecil. Beige
Katy, a quiet French Canadian teenager, reluctantly leaves Montréal to spend time with her estranged father, an aging Los Angeles punk rock legend.

Dessen, Sarah. Just Listen
Isolated from friends who believe the worst because she has not been truthful with them, sixteen-year-old Annabel finds an ally in classmate Owen, whose honesty and passion for music help her to face and share what really happened at the end-of-the-year party that changed her life

Dowd, Siobhan. A Swift Pure Cry
Coolbar, Ireland, is a village of secrets and Shell, caretaker to her younger brother and sister after the death of their mother and with the absence of their father, is not about to reveal hers until suspicion falls on the wrong person.

Flake, Sharon. The Skin I'm In
Thirteen-year-old Maleeka, uncomfortable because her skin is extremely dark, meets a new teacher with a birthmark on her face and makes some discoveries about how to love who she is and what she looks like.

Friend, Natasha. Perfect
Following the death of her father, a thirteen-year-old uses bulimia as a way to avoid her mother's and ten-year-old sister's grief, as well as her own.

Grimes, Nikki. Jazmin's Notebook
Jazmin, a fourteen-year-old Afro-American girl who lives with her sister in a Harlem apartment, finds strength in writing poetry and keeping a diary.

McCormick, Patricia. Cut
While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.

Woods, Brenda. Emako Blue
Monterey, Savannah, Jamal, and Eddie have never had much to do with each other until Emako Blue shows up at chorus practice, but just as the lives of the five Los Angeles high school students become intertwined, tragedy tears them apart.

Woodson, Jacqueline. If You Come Softly
After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions.

Lives of the Rich and Famous

De la Cruz, Melissa. The Au Pairs
Three teenage girls from different backgrounds work for a summer in the Hamptons as au pairs for a wealthy family, and in spite of many ups and downs, all three end up changing for the better. First in a series

Dean, Zoey. The A List
Seventeen-year-old blueblood Anna Percy leaves Manhattan to spend the second half of her senior year with her father in Los Angeles and quickly becomes involved in the lives of the rich and famous at Beverly Hills High School. First in a series

Harrison, Lisle. The Clique
Wealthy Massie is determined to exclude middle class Claire, the daughter of her father's old friend, from her seventh-grade clique at a very exclusive private school in Westchester, New York, but after Massie steals her only friend, Claire strikes back. First in a series

O'Connell, Tyne. Dumping Princes
When Prince Freddy breaks up with her, Calypso--with the help of her entire school--tries to win him back in order to perform a "counter dump."

Von Ziegesar, Cecily. Gossip Girl
Presents a world of jealousy and betrayal at an exclusive private school in Manhattan. First in a series

Rocked by Romance

Castallucci, Cecil. Boy Proof
Feeling alienated from everyone around her, Los Angeles high school senior and movie fanatic Victoria Denton hides behind the identity of a favorite movie character until an interesting new boy shows up at school and helps her realize that there is more to life than just the movies.

Flake, Sharon. Who Am I Without Him: Short Stories About Girls and the Boys In Their Lives

McCafferty, Meg. Sloppy Firsts
Devastated when her best friend moves away, sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling feels isolated at school and at home, as she struggles to deal with her father's obsession with her track meets, her boy-crazy peers, and her own nonexistent love life.

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Alice on the Outside
Eighth-grader Alice has lots of questions about sex, relationships, prejudice, and change. (11th in the Alice series and the 1st for teens)

Snadowsky, Daria. Anatomy of a boyfriend
In her last semester at a private school in Fort Myers, Florida, seventeen-year-old Dom finds her life transformed by her first boyfriend, Wes, a track star at the public school her best friend attends.

Sones, Sonya. What My Mother Doesn't Know
Sophie describes her relationships with a series of boys as she searches for Mr. Right.

Wittlinger, Ellen. Heart on My Sleeve
From the end of high school to the beginning of college, Chloe and Julian deal with major changes in their families and friendships and explore their feelings for each other through emails, letters, and a visit.

Questions or Comments? Contact Cathy Lichtman, Teen Librarian