Back to School - Young Adult

After discovering the body of fourteen-year-old Jawad Ali in Jackson Park, seventeen-year-old journalism student Safiya Mirza begins investigating his murder and ends up confronting white supremacy in her own high school.

"A timeless and triumphant story of courage in the face of opposition." -Foreword Reviews (starred review) It's 1974. Title IX has passed two years ago, but Louisa's high school still refuses to fund an all girls' basketball team. After hearing Gloria Steinem speak, Louisa learns an important lesson: "The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." Now what can she do but stand up and fight back? When Louisa asks her principal to...

After Philly teenager Alexis Duncan is injured in a gang shooting, her dreams of a college scholarship and pro basketball career vanish in an instant. To avoid becoming another Black teen trapped in her poverty-stricken neighborhood, she shifts her focus to the school's STEM team, a group of self-professed nerds seeking their own college scholarships. Academics have never been her thing, but Alexis is freshly motivated by Aamani Chakrabarti, the...

At Foxham Prep, a posh private school for Washington, D.C.'s elite, a rumor gains momentum as it collects followers on social media, pulling three girls into its path--Bryn, who wants to erase all memories of the mistake she made last summer; cheer captain Cora, who desperately wants to believe in her boyfriend's faithfulness; and shy Georgie, newly hot after a summer at fat camp and ready to reinvent herself--but who can stop a dangerous rumor once...

With Florie's best friend Kacey set to head off to college, they decide to take a road trip to San Francisco, but when Florie's forever crush Sam volunteers to drive them, she will have to deal with her feelings and the romantic signals Sam is starting to send.

"A life-long speech competitor, Leela loves nothing more than crushing the competition, all while wearing a smile. But when she meets the incorrigible Firoze Darcy, a debater from an elitist private school, Leela can't stand him. Unfortunately, he'll be competing in the state league, so their paths are set to collide. But why attempt to tolerate Firoze when Leela can one-up him? The situation is more complicated than Leela anticipated, though, and...

Ellis and Easton have been inseparable since childhood. But when a rash decision throws Ellis's life--and her relationship with Easton-- into chaos she's forced to move halfway across the country, far from everything she's ever known. Now Ellis hasn't spoken to Easton in a year, and maybe it's better that way; maybe eventually the Easton shaped hole in her heart will heal. But when Easton's mother invites her home for a celebration, Ellis finds herself...

"After a childhood in foster care, Bitter is thrilled to have been chosen to attend Eucalyptus, a special school where she can focus on her painting surrounded by other creative teens. But outside this haven, the streets are filled with protests against the deep injustices that grip the city of Lucille. Bitter's instinct is to stay safe within the walls of Eucalyptus but her friends aren't willing to settle for a world that's so far away from what...

Alice Ogilvie's disappearance last summer is the biggest scandal at Castle Cove High School--until her ex-boyfriend is accused of murdering his new girlfriend, and Alice must pair up with her tutor Iris Adams to clear his name by relying on the wisdom of Agatha Christie.

In the year following their son's death, May Chen's parents face racist accusations of putting too much pressure on their son and causing his death by suicide, and May attempts to challenge the racism and ugly stereotypes through her writing, only to realize that she still has a lot to learn and that her actions have consequences for her family as well as herself.