Showing titles in Physical & Emotional Abuse

Kane will do everything he can to save his mother and little brother Sam from the violence of his father, even if it means becoming a monster himself. Mrs Aslan will protect the boys no matter what – even though her own family is in pieces. Ada wants a family she can count on, while she faces new questions about herself. Mr Bailey is afraid of the refugees next door, but his worst fear will take another form. And Gugulethu is just trying to make a life away from terror.

Ruth, Magda, and Isabel are different from everyone else. They can see beneath the seemingly perfect, cookie-cutter exterior of their small town of Highbone, Long Island. They know that below the surface, each house is filled with secrets, indifference, and violence. These girls refuse to become willing participants of these fake lives. Instead they are determined to fight every condescending comment, every unwelcome touch, and every lie they've been told.

June's life at home with her stepmother and stepsister is a dark one - and a secret one. Not even her father knows about it. She's trapped like a butterfly in a net. But then she meets Blister, a boy in the woods. And in him June recognises the tiniest glimmer of hope that perhaps she can find a way to fly far, far away from home and be free. Because every creature in this world deserves their freedom...but at what price?

Gardner Dickinson is almost 15, and his life is a mess. His bedroom is littered with library books he never reads. He daydreams about building muscles, but never gets around to it. Worst of all, his recently laid-off dad is more interested in playing golf than finding a new job. But one day life starts to click for Gardner. He finishes a few of those library books, begins running after school and starts earning some spare cash - and those muscles he’s craved - by splitting wood for the neighbors.

Nia would do anything to win the approval of her boyfriend Scott and his friends, especially mean girl Olivia. Olivia dares Nia to explore an abandoned prison. Facing dark tunnels, distant noises and creepy mementoes left behind by incarcerated criminals will surely all be worth it to finally become part of the group. But it isn't long before Nia and her little sister, Kayla, find themselves trapped inside. And then Kayla vanishes. Suddenly, this feels like more than a game gone wrong.

Seventeen-year-old Luka isn’t looking for love. She’s trying to piece her life back together after a heartbreaking loss. But when she meets the gorgeous and charismatic Cosmo under a meteor shower at the Greenwich Observatory, it feels like destiny has played a hand. Surely theirs is a love written in the stars. But Cosmo isn’t what he seems, using Luka's love for him to slowly take control of her life.

At all costs. Whatever it takes. Coping is hard. Some find better ways than others. Getting from one day to the next isn’t easy. But what lengths will the island residents go to? And what if they find there are no limits? What is Ferdinan willing to do to get rid of the voice haunting him? How far will Jon go to protect his ally? And exactly what is Oya willing to do to eliminate Zephyr as a threat to her friend? Ferdinan, Jon, and Oya will soon discover these answers, though they may not like what they learn about themselves.

High School freshman, Anita Cordell's dream has always been to leave Eden's Fall. She hates the town, she hates the people, she hates her family, she hates everything. Then, Josh Towers and his three brothers move to the town, and for the first time in her life, Anita has a friend, and something more. The bullying stops, everyone wants to be her friend, life is picture-perfect. Then a series of bizarre events begin to happen, and she comes to realize that she may have given her trust too soon, and to the wrong person. And it might be a fatal mistake!

When her sister runs away from home, Caitlin is left to deal with the emotional fallout. A powerful book looking at teenage dating from the perspective of young women. Unable to live up to the idealised view of her missing sister, Caitlin withdraws into herself, keeping her life - and her flourishing relationship with Rogerson - a secret even from her best friend. So when Rogerson starts hitting her, she keeps it all inside, her only outlet for her pain a diary, addressed to her missing sister...

An ambitious and complex novel with a multi-faceted and vivid depiction of a group of young people in the grip of drug addiction, told in many different voices, from the addicts themselves to the friends watching from the outside who try to prevent tragedy. It was a love story. Me, Gemma and junk. I thought it was going to last forever. It was the biggest adventure of my life. Tar loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn’t want to be tied down - not to anyone or anything. Gemma wants to fly. But no one can fly forever. One day, somehow, finally, you have to come down.

Lexi's angry. And it's getting worse. If only she could stop losing her temper and behave herself, her step-father would accept her, her mum would love her like she used to and her step-brother would declare his crushing desire to spend the rest of his life with her. She wants these things so badly she determines to swallow her anger and make her family proud. But pushing fury down doesn't make it disappear. Instead, it simmers below the surface waiting to erupt. There'll be fireworks when it does.

Sometimes heroes can be found in the most unlikely places. Fourteen-year-old Clarence Feather knows no world beyond desolate Mayfair Heights. Three years ago, his mother was killed before his eyes by a stray bullet. When his father becomes unable to keep the family afloat, Clarence is manipulated into running drugs. But he longs to be a good person, in spite of the seemingly impossible odds. Wandering through his neighborhood, Clarence meets Mona, a huge albino Great Dane. The two develop a deep bond.

In the backwoods of Upstate New York, the six remaining Creswell children live under the strict rule of their father. Castley, Caspar, Jerusalem, Mortimer, Delvive and Hannan. Someone needs to save the Creswell children. Castley Creswell, a girl equal parts humour and longing, loves her extraordinary family but knows something is missing from her closeted life. Forced into a real school, Castley feels more like a freak than ever.

1962, Anchor Bend, Oregon. The sea calls to Eleanor. Like the turn of the waves it beckons her from the heart of the town she’s always known, from her husband Hob and their young daughter, Agnes, to the unfathomable depths of the ocean. 1985. Agnes’s daughter Eleanor is six years old. She shares her name with the grandmother she never knew and everything else with her identical twin, Esmerelda. But to Agnes, only Eleanor is a constant reminder of the past.

Jennifer was born in 1997, when the consumer society had reached a golden age. She was born in a city that was being built on top of a valley that was a beautiful example of the gifts that Mother Nature presented to us. Jennifer's father had become addicted to heroin, while Jennifer's mother was struggling to make enough money to survive since she worked a retail job that only paid minimum wage.

Jessie 'Mouse' Swift needs to get the hell out of Seattle. A few days ago she admitted to wanting her abusive stepfather dead, only to come home and find his murdered body. So when a girl from school offers Jessie a ride in her vintage red Mustang, they embark on an unexpected road trip across America.

Una joven de 17 años siente que la vida no es fácil vivirla. Su padre la golpea, descarga su ira en ella, producto del alcohol. Su madre no la defiende, solo ve cómo la golpea y llora. Su amiga la manipula y la confunde. Anhela ser mayor de edad para poder irse de su pueblo y comenzar sus estudios universitarios en la ciudad. Lucila recorre el camino de la vida en búsqueda de la felicidad a través del amor. Pero cuando cree encontrar la felicidad plena, se topa nuevamente con una grieta en el camino que parece tener una sola dirección: una vida dura y cruel.

I was drowning when I met him, hoping he could be my life raft. Little did I know that he was already at the bottom of the sea, adrift in pain. But then he offered me a hand, and you know what they say: "Shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased." So, I took it and gladly let myself get pulled to the bottom of the ocean, but what I found there is more shocking than I could ever imagine.

Danny's mam has a new boyfriend. Initially, all is good – Callum seems nice enough, and Danny can't deny he's got a cool set up; big house, fast car, massive TV, and Mam seems to really like him. But cracks begin to show, and they're not the sort that can be easily repaired. As Danny witnesses Mam suffer and Callum spiral out of control he goes in search of his dad. The Dad he's never met. Set in Newcastle and Edinburgh, this supremely enjoyable coming-of-age drama tackles domestic violence head on, but finds humour and hope in the most unlikely of­ places.

Keely planned to keep her head down at her new school - she isn't there to make friends or memories, she just wants to be left alone. In order to get into college, she is roped into a programme that involves camping in the Welsh wilderness with five over-keen try-hards. Her plan is to keep her head down, keep her mouth shut and get through the next few days. But Keely is running from something. Something that drove her family out of their home and to this quiet town.