Showing titles in Coming of Age

In the gritty shadows of Ironwood Correctional Facility, nineteen-year-old Jasper Kane fights to survive a year-long sentence for a crime he didn’t commit, orchestrated by his powerful family to bury their shame. Framed for arson and betrayed by his senator father, Jasper navigates a brutal men’s prison, where every glance hides a threat and every alliance a risk.

Closing the portal to hell was just the beginning. Now Jackson must choose if he will follow orders or find a way into hell to save his long lost father. Will he risk everything to get him back?

In a city ruled by silence and emotional suppression, Alina Marr is a model citizen—composed, compliant, and invisible. Her every heartbeat is monitored by the AER implant behind her ear, designed to eradicate feeling in favor of order. Love, grief, and joy are crimes. Even a smile can be suspect. But everything changes when she finds a letter—handwritten, forbidden, and deeply personal. Don’t get on the 7: 40 train tomorrow. The message saves her life and ignites a revolution within.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

Everyone at Ridgemont Academy knows what to expect from Emma Caroline Blake. Perfect grades. Perfect record. Perfect life. Then she stands up in class and commits an act so shocking her reputation will never recover. And that’s exactly what Emma wants. In a world where the path forward is uncertain, expectation is the enemy.

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.

Told through the eyes of a Korean girl adopted into a wealthy white family, this darkly funny debut explores casual racism, privilege, and the complexities of friendship. Derrymore Academy circa 2007 is home to teenagers who have their eyebrows shaped and their sweet sixteens tented. Their first kisses arrive around the same time as their boating licenses and they celebrate getting their braces off with Mediterranean vacations. It is here that Emery Hooper, adopted at birth into the country club set, thrives.

Songwriter turned lawyer and author, Andrew Banks Townsend, recounts the events of his youth that led him to important lessons about race, acceptance and overcoming adversity. Much of his journey involved learning from the experiences of his grandparents and others of his grandparents' generation. Andrew's life reminds how seemingly unrelated historical events continue to ripple through ensuing generations in unexpected and sometimes mysterious ways.

I'll be the first to admit that I live at extremes. After going 10 years locked in what felt like a dysfunctional marriage, I'm now decidedly boy-free. In nearly three years I've had no boyfriends, no flings, no dates, and no sex. For the sake of my dream career, the sacrifice has been easy. At least it was. Until he came along. Lukas Hendricks. He's rude, gorgeous, arrogant - a stone-carved wall of muscle and distraction. He's everything I know to avoid but there's no avoiding your next-door neighbor.

It’s move-in day at Tiffin Academy and amidst the happy chaos of friends reuniting, selfies uploading, and cars unloading, shocking news arrives: America Today just ranked Tiffin the number two boarding school in the country. It’s a seventeen-spot jump—was there a typo? The dorms need to be renovated, their sports teams always come in last place, and let’s just say Tiffin students are known for being more social than academic. On the other hand, the campus is exquisite, class sizes are small, and the dining hall is run by an acclaimed New York chef.

Knowledge is power. That would be the motto of Lander University, had it not been snatched up and used to death by others long before the school was founded. For while Lander offers a full range of courses to nearly all students, it also offers a small number of specialty classes to a very select few. Lander is home to the Hero Certification Program, a curriculum designed to develop students with superhuman capabilities, commonly known as Supers, into official Heroes.

Good things happen at the lake. That’s what Alice’s grandmother says, and it’s true. Alice spent just one summer there at a cottage with Nan when she was seventeen—it’s where she took that photo, the one of three grinning teenagers in a yellow speedboat, the image that changed her life. Now Alice lives behind a lens. As a photographer, she’s most comfortable on the sidelines, letting other people shine. Lately though, she’s been itching for something more, and when Nan falls and breaks her hip, Alice comes up with a plan for them both: another summer in that magical place, Barry’s Bay.

Raised and trained in seclusion at a secret fortress on the edge of the northern wilds of the Kingdom of Ashai, a young warrior called Rezkin is unexpectedly thrust into the outworld when a terrible battle destroys all that he knows. With no understanding of his life’s purpose and armed with masterful weapons mysteriously bestowed upon him by a dead king, Rezkin must travel across Ashai to find the one man who may hold the clues to his very existence.

Alexis Spencer will use any inspirational quote to rationalize her failures and shortcomings. Her closest friends are a distant memory, and her college debt is still as high as the day she left. But that’s all fine and dandy, because “whatever will be, will be.” However, when Alexis loses her job and her relationship on the same day, there’s no quote strong enough to get her through that. In typical fashion, she blames the world for her problems, including her younger self, who should have tried harder.

Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real. They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made 28 years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children.

Have you ever stood next to a fire and felt the heat of it on your skin? Stared into the flames and thought how amazing it would be to be that free? It changes direction with the wind, destroying everything in its wake. That's what she felt like. Alexa was a wildfire that torched everything she touched, and I couldn't wait to be consumed by her.

In a quiet Oregon town, James Harper grows up haunted by his father’s broken promise to return, waiting each Sunday on the porch for a man he barely remembers. When his mother, Clara, dies, he uncovers a hidden box of letters revealing his father’s relentless attempts to reconnect, shattering the lies that shaped his childhood.

With the annexation of Yamato and Yoshika crowned as the empress of Jiaguo, their abilities as rulers are put to the test. At home, Jia and Yue must contend with suitors from Qin, including a familiar face and a truly unexpected offer from on high. Abroad, Eui once more returns to Goryeo to solidify alliances and support Eunae's upcoming ascension. Meanwhile, the children are growing up fast and looking to prove themselves as worthy successors to their superlative "big sisters." It's all too much for one person, but with her friends—and her selves—for support, Yoshika rises to the challenge.

They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart. Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.

One Last Summer is a bittersweet coming-of-age tale about friendship, unspoken love, and the quiet heartbreak of letting go. Adam, Chris, and Julia – best friends since college – embark on one final road trip before life takes them in different directions. Chris is getting married, Julia is leaving for graduate school in Europe, and Adam carries a secret: he has loved Julia for years. As they travel across states, laughter and old memories resurface alongside buried tensions and unspoken truths. The summer is warm and golden, but time is slipping away.