Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, author of The Nest

The Plumb family is spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of tensions finally reach a breaking point as Melody, Beatrice and Jack Plumb gather to confront their older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got in a car accident that has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving.

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Unbecoming by Jenny Downham

March 2016

Katie's life is falling apart: her best friend thinks she's a freak; her mother, Caroline, controls every aspect of her life; and her estranged grandmother, Mary, appears as if out of nowhere. Mary has dementia and needs lots of care, and when Katie starts putting together Mary's life story, secrets and lies are uncovered. As the relationship between Mary and Caroline is explored, Katie begins to understand her own mother's behavior, and from that insight, the terrors about her sexuality, her future and her younger brother are all put into perspective.

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Character, Driven by David Lubar

March 2016

With only one year left of high school, 17-year-old Cliff Sparks is desperate to “come of age” --- a.k.a., lose his virginity. But he’s never had much luck with girls. So when he falls for Jillian, a new classmate, at first sight, all he can do is worship her from afar. At the same time, Cliff has to figure out what to do with the rest of his life, since he's pretty sure his unemployed father plans to kick him out of the house the minute he turns 18. Time is running out. Cliff is at the edge, on the verge, dangling --- and holding on for dear life.

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Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach

March 2016

Parker Santé hasn’t spoken a word in five years. While his classmates plan for bright futures, he skips school to hang out in hotels, killing time by watching the guests. But when he meets a silver-haired girl named Zelda Toth, a girl who claims to be quite a bit older than she looks, he’ll discover there just might be a few things left worth living for.

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All Better Now: A Memoir by Emily Wing Smith

March 2016

All her life, Emily has felt different from other kids. Between therapist visits, sudden uncontrollable bursts of anger, and unexplained episodes of dizziness and loss of coordination, things have always felt not right. For years, her only escape was through the stories she’d craft about herself and the world around her. But it isn’t until a near-fatal accident when she’s 12 years old that Emily and her family discover the truth: a grapefruit sized benign brain tumor at the base of her skull.

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