Teen Book Lists

"Eighteen-year-old Salama Kassab, a pharmacy student volunteering at the hospital in Homs, is desperate to find passage on a refugee boat for herself and her pregnant best friend, but first she must learn to see the events around her for what they are--nota war, but a revolution." (description from catalog)

"Ayesha is a world away from home when she meets the boy of her dreams. They are inseparable... until a twist of fate takes Suresh back to India right when Ayesha discovers she's pregnant. Suddenly she's on her own, navigating the biggest decision she'll ever make. Seventeen years later, Ayesha's daughter Mira finds an old box with letters addressed to her from her birth mother. In one letter, Ayesha writes that if Mira can forgive her for what she had to do, she should find a way to travel to India for her eighteenth birthday and meet her. Mira knows she'll always regret it if she doesn't go. But is she actually ready for what she will learn?" (description from publisher.)

"It's a hot summer, and life's going all right for Jackson and his family on the Mish. It's almost Christmas, school's out, and he's hanging with his mates, teasing the visiting tourists, avoiding the racist boys in town. Just like every year, Jackson's Aunty and annoying little cousins visit from the city--but this time a mysterious boy with a troubled past comes with them. As their friendship evolves, Jackson must confront the changing shapes of his relationships with his friends, family, and community.And he must face his darkest secret--a secret he thought he'd locked away for good" (description from publisher)

Reeling from the death of her mother, fourteen-year-old Mati's family leaves England to visit their native Zimbabwe, where Mati finds comfort in Meticais, a gender-neutral spirit or ghost who only she can see, and who helps her navigate her mercurial interpersonal relationships and feelings of grief.

"Sisters Cheta and Zam's paths to break free of their oppressive home diverge wildly--one moves into an aunt's luxurious home and the other struggles to survive on her wits alone--and when they finally reunite, Zam realizes how far Cheta has fallen, leaving Cheta's fate in Zam's hands." (description from catalog)

Told in separate voices, Kat and Robin leave Boston on a church mission to help combat human trafficking in India while Kat recovers from a sexual assault and Robin seeks his birth mother. (description from Novelist)