BOOKS
Pretty IN PUNXSUTAWNEY
Blink/HarperCollins ISBN #978-0310762164
A Groundhog Day meets Pretty in Pink mashup from author Laurie Boyle Crompton, Pretty in Punxsutawney tells the tale of a girl willing to look beneath the surface to see people for who they really are.
Andie is the type of girl who always comes up with the perfect thing to say…after it’s too late to say it. She’s addicted to romance movies—okay, all movies—but has yet to experience her first kiss. After a move to Punxsutawney, PA, for her senior year, she gets caught in an endless loop of her first day at her new school, reliving those 24 hours again and again.
Convinced the curse will be broken when she meets her true love, Andie embarks on a mission: infiltrating the various cliques to find the one boy who can break the spell. What she discovers along the way is that people who seem completely different can often share the very same hopes, dreams, and hang-ups. And that even a day that has been lived over and over can be filled with unexpected connections and plenty of happy endings.
THE DENIM DIARIES:
a memoir
With poignant verse, young adult author Laurie Boyle Crompton recounts her coming of age in rural Pennsylvania and her early twenties in New York City. Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, Laurie struggles with sexual relationships, playing the role of happy family at church despite her parents’ fights at home, her father’s alcoholism, her own self-image, and squeezing into painful designer jeans. Crompton’s heartwarming and heartbreaking memoir follows her journey through disordered eating and sexual assault to recovery and acceptance.
Praise for Denim Diaries:
Relatable, visceral, and memorable.
Kirkus [starred review]
freaky in fresno
Blink/HarperCollins
Ricki has one goal: save the Starlight Drive-in movie theater from going dark forever. Okay, make that two goals … she may also want a first kiss from her cinema-rescuing partner and major crush, Jake. Lana definitely has only one goal: grow her online makeup channel to keep her momager off her back, even if the posts attract ugly internet trolls.
The two cousins couldn’t be more different, but their opposite personalities come crashing to a head when their aunt gifts the girls a vintage cotton-candy-pink convertible. To share. Ricki wants the convertible for the drive-in’s grand reopening, but it’s the same day as Digifest, a huge event where Lana needs to shine. After a major fight and a minor electric shock while wrestling over the wheel, Ricki wakes up as Lana, and Lana wakes up as Ricki.
Ricki and Lana have only a day to un-Freaky Friday themselves, a task made even more difficult as they try to keep up appearances on Lana’s channel and with Ricki’s hopefully-soon-to-be-kissed crush. But it turns out experiencing a day as each other—filled with rampant Chihuahua wrangling, guerrilla makeovers, and a mini road trip in the Skylark—may be the one thing that helps the cousins see each other and themselves more clearly.
The Real Prom Queens of Westfield High
Sourcebooks Fire ISBN #9781402273469
Reality television is heading to high school: Watch the drama unfold as the three biggest nobodies in Westfield High’s senior class have their lives changed forever! You’ll cheer as the girls receive head-to-toe makeovers during their six week adventure at Prom Queen Camp. Then we’ll secretly follow the transformed wannabes back to school to watch their classmates’ stunned reactions. And the entertainment doesn’t stop there: Our hidden cameras will catch all the action as the three of them vie for the ultimate badge of acceptance and popularity – the title Prom Queen! And that tiara comes with a huge cash prize! Watch the Prom Queen Wannabes battle for the crown and see who will come out on top and who is about to lose her cool on national television. The most unique reality show ever conceived promises to serve up drama at any cost and the live prom finale will shock everyone’s corsages off!
"Smart satire and a rollicking good read!"―Jean Kilbourne, Ed. D, creator of "Killing Us Softly: Advertising's Image of Women" film series.
Love And vandalism
Sourcebooks Fire ISBN #978-1492636052
Rory has a secret: she’s the vandal who paints graffiti lions all over her small town. If her policeman dad knew, he’d probably disown her. So when Hayes, a former screw-up on the path to recovery, catches her in the act, Rory’s sure she’s busted. Instead, he makes her a deal. If Rory shows him around town, he won’t turn her in. It might be coercion, but at least the boy is hot. As they spend more time together, Rory worries she made the wrong choice. Hayes has a way of making her want things she shouldn't want and feel emotions she's tried to bury. Rory's going to have to distance herself from Hayes or confront a secret she' can't bring herself to face...
"An expression of a torture soul that stretches the limits of art, of relationships, and of love... You'll want to read this book again and again." ―Patty Blount, author of SOME BOYS
"Rory is a strong character with fierce convictions... This book will resonate with artists and art lovers alike." ―School Library Journal
BLAZE
(or Love in the Time of Supervillains)
ISBN #9781402273438
Blaze is tired of spending her life on the sidelines. All she wants is for Mark the Soccer Stud to notice her. Not as Josh’s weird sister who drives a turd-brown minivan. And not as that nerdy girl who draws comics,. But when an unexpected carpool situation makes Blaze’s fantasies about Mark come true she quickly discovers that in real life it can be tough to tell the heroes from the supervillains!
"A blend of snark and heart that will keep you turning the pages."―Mandy Hubbard, author of PRADA AND PREJUDICE
Adrenaline Crush
Macmillan ISBN #978-0374300616
Seventeen-year-old Dyna comes from a long line of risk-takers and is an avid thrill-seeker in her own right, until she takes a terrible fall and shatters her leg. Her life used to be about bike racing and rock climbing; now it's about staying home, except for attending physical and group therapy sessions at the bizarre alternative healing center her mom has chosen. Dyna's boyfriend saw her accident and supports her newfound desire for safety, but a young Iraq war veteran she meets at rehab challenges her to think about what she's really avoiding in her old life and to take chances again―even with her heart.
“Dyna has a lot to learn about risk, reward, and responsibility, but she is a refreshingly active character whose passion for nature, adventure, and life's pleasures sets her apart from the average teen protagonist.” ―The Horn Book
“A quick and enjoyable read.” ―VOYA