Good Reads

For as long as Josephine Alibrandi can remember, it's just been her, her mom, and her grandmother. Now it's her final year at a wealthy Catholic high school. The nuns couldn't be any stricter--but that doesn't seem to stop all kinds of men from coming into her life.

Caught between the old-world values of her Italian grandmother, the nononsense wisdom of her mom, and the boys who continue to mystify her, Josephine is on the ride of her life. This will be the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family's past--and the year she sets herself free.

Told with unmatched depth and humor, this novel--which swept the pool of Australian literary awards and became a major motion picture--is one to laugh through and cry with, to cherish and remember. ...More

Tayshas Reading List 2008-2009
From the author of "Boy Proof" and "The Queen of Cool" comes an edgy new L.A. novel full of humor and heart. Katy figures she'll try and ignore the fact that she's spending two weeks with her father--a recovered addict and drummer for an infamous punk band. She doesn't want to be there, but Katy won't complain. After all, she is a nice girl--a girl who is, well, beige. Or is she? ...More

The Queen of Cool
By Castellucci, Cecil
2006/02 - Candlewick Press (MA)
0763627208 Check Our Catalog

The author of "Boy Proof" returns with a funny, incisive look at a teenage girl who becomes bored with her popularity and dares to take off her tiara and do something really cool with her life. ...More

What happens when an aloof and antisocial cinephile meets a new boy savvy enough to see through her cool, impenetrable disguise? Castellucci's smart and vulnerable heroine will please teen readers struggling with identity, choices, and relationships. Young Adult. ...More

If Naomi had picked tails, she would have won the coin toss. She wouldn’t have had to go back for the yearbook camera, and she wouldn’t have hit her head on the steps. She wouldn’t have woken up in an ambulance with amnesia. She certainly would have remembered her boyfriend, Ace. She might even have remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place. But Naomi picked heads. ...More

Mena's year is starting off in the worst way possible. Her best friend hates her and no one will talk to her except for Casey, her supersmart lab partner. When their science class begins studying evolution, school becomes more dramatic that Mena could ever imagine. ...More

Steph Landry may just be the most unpopular girl in her high school until she discovers the book that will change her life, How to Be Popular. It turns out the book works! That is, unless you break its cardinal rule, not to lose your old friends, even when you have new ones!

Another high-concept stand alone from #1 Natinal Best-Selling author of the Princess Diaries and All-American Girl, Meg Cabot's How to be Popular is a surefire hit. ...More

From the author of the bestselling Princess Diaries books comes a brand-new tale of teenage mayhem. Samantha Madison is just your average gal when she's appointed teen ambassador to the United Nations. "All-American Girl" has been optioned for a feature film..

Now available in paperback--the long-awaited sequel to Cabot's "New York Times" bestseller "All-American Girl," which continues the story of Samantha Madison, who's just as awkward, funny, and reluctantly heroic as ever. ...More

Teen Idol
By Cabot, Meg
2004/08 - HarperCollins Publishers
0060096160 Check Our Catalog
2005 ALA Young Adult Top Ten Selection

Another blockbuster from the #1 "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Princess Diaries." Jenny Greenley is a high school junior who turns out to be much better at fixing other people's problems than her own, which leads to her becoming front-page news. ...More

From the fist day at her new Southern California high school, Pasquala Rumalda Quintana de Archuleta ("Paski") learns that the popular students may be diverse in ethnicity but are alike in their cruelty. While Paski tries to concentrate on mountain biking and not thinking too much about ultra-hot Chris Cabrera, she is troubled by the beautiful and wicked Jessica Nguyen. Here at Aliso Niguel High, money is everything and the Haters rule. ...More

Sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full- time and everyone has a reaction, from her parents and friends to strangers on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her Muslim faith and all that it is in this stunning debut novel. ...More

MILLY KAUFMAN IS an ordinary American teenager living in Vermont--until she meets Pablo, a new student at her high school. His exotic accent, strange fashion sense, and intense interest in Milly force her to confront her identity as an adopted child from Pablo's native country. As their relationship grows, Milly decides to undertake a courageous journey to her homeland and along the way discovers the story of her birth is intertwined with the story of a country recovering from a brutal history.

Beautifully written by reknowned author Julia Alvarez, "Finding Miracles examines the emotional complexity of familial relationships and the miracles of everyday life.

"From the Hardcover edition. ...More

Simone's starting her junior year in high school. Her mom's a lawyer for the ACLU, her dad's a political cartoonist, so she's grown up standing outside the organic food coop asking people to sign petitions for worthy causes. She's got a terrific younger brother and amazing friends. And she's got a secret crush on a really smart and funny guy-who spends all of his time with another girl.

Then her birth mother contacts her. Simone's always known she was adopted, but she never wanted to know anything about it. She's happy with her family just as it is, thank you.

She learns who her birth mother was-a 16-year-old girl named Rivka. Who is Rivka? Why has she contacted Simone? Why now? The answers lead Simone to deeper feelings of anguish and love than she has ever known, and to question everything she once took for granted about faith, ...More

Dear Peaches, America is perfect! Okay, so Vicenza isn't being totally honest with Peaches, her best friend back in Manila. But what fun is it being the new girl at snooty Grosvernor High? Or rooting through the Salvation Army for unholey cashmere sweaters? Or having culture-shocked, embarrassingly clueless parents? Maybe being Claude Caligari's ignored geometry partner is sort of fun, but Vicenza would rather be his girlfriend ... or at least his date to the annual fancy-schmancy Soiré e d'Hiver. Instead, she's stuck going with scrawny family friend Freddie in an outlet-purchased, coupon-reduced dress that is nothing short of disaster!

But Vicenza won't be friendless, fashionless, or "fresh off the boat" for long -- it's only a matter of time before she sees what's right before her eyes, and her luck begins to change. ...More