SJPL Picks: YA Realistic fictionLike this list

50 items

• Stronger at the Seams

  Stocker, Shannon,

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  When Twyla begins struggling with health issues the doctors dismiss as minor, she finds herself searching for answers on her own, while also dealing with friendship fallouts and the lingering effects of her mother's death as she navigates…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Just Until

  Moldover, Joseph,

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  Seventeen-year-old Hannah must choose the impossible--put her nephews into foster care so she can stay true to her dream, or take them on and lose everything she has worked so hard to achieve.

• Here Goes Nothing

  Ohland, Emma K.,

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  When eighteen-year-old Beatrice comes in frequent contact with neighbor Bennie, she starts to question her asexual identity, her place in her friend group, and her plans for the future.

• Thanks for Listening

  Horan, Molly

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  Perfect for fans of Loveless and You Should See Me in a Crown, this wry and insightful novel from the author of Epically Earnest features a sweet ace romance and a secret social media advice account that goes wonderfully, terribly astray.

• Shadowed

  Deuker, Carl,

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  Nate plays soccer, but he doesn’t love it. He plays because it’s what his family expects. Then Lucas Cawley moves in across the street. Lucas isn’t like any of Nate’s sports friends—he’s poor, his parents are mostly absent, and he’s…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Kween

  a Novel

  Chum, Vichet,

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  Soma Kear’s verses have gone viral. Trouble is, she didn’t exactly think her slam poetry video through. All she knew was that her rhymes an expression of where she was, and that place…was a hot mess. Following her Ba’s deportation to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom

  Rogers, Shannon C. F.,

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  Left with nothing but burning anger after her mother dies suddenly, Filipina-American teen Marisol is determined to stay angry until a new friendship begins to develop, making her see there's something more to who she is, and who she could…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Where You See Yourself

  Forrest, Claire (Young adult author),

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  Effie Galanos' goals for her senior year include her navigating her way through her high school that is not really wheelchair-friendly, getting into the perfect college, and getting her crush Wilder to accompany her to the prom--but by…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Next New Syrian Girl

  Shukairy, Ream,

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  The unlikely friendship between Syrian American boxer Khadija and Syrian refugee Leene reveals the pressures and expectations of the perfect Syrian daughter and the repercussions of the Syrian Revolution both at home and abroad.

• Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim

  Park, Patricia (Fiction writer),

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  When a microaggression at her wealthy Manhattan high school thrusts her into the spotlight, half-Latinx/half-Korean Alejandra Kim, who feels like an outcast, must carve out a place for herself while dealing with the loss of her father.

• 6 Times We Almost Kissed (and One Time We Did)

  Sharpe, Tess,

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  Penny and Tate have often clashed, despite their mothers' epic friendship; but now that they are living in the same house, beset by medical crises and Penny's problems dealing with the trauma of her father's death, they have to come to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• I Miss You, I Hate This

  Saedi, Sara,

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  Best friends Parisa Naficy and Gabriela Gonzales grapple with the complexities of their relationship even while they spend their senior year apart due to a pandemic that disproportionately affects young people.

• A Scatter of Light

  Lo, Malinda,

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  The summer of 2013 in the Bay is a momentous one for eighteen-year-old Aria Tang West, for the working-class queer community she finds herself in, and for her artist grandmother.

• Suck It in and Smile

  Beaudoin-Masse, Laurence, 1989-

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  A funny, touching look at the life of a social media influencer who starts to question the #goals life she has created for herself.

• Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe

  Zrull, Lindsay S.,

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  In a scheme to reunite with her estranged biological mother, foster kid Jess joins a cosplay team working toward a competition in New York, but along the way she learns the value of the family you choose for yourself.

• Beating Heart Baby

  Min, Lio,

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  After Santi’s mother died, Santi found solace in his online friendship with someone he knew only as Memo. When he accidentally betrayed Memo’s trust and their friendship abruptly ended, part of Santi’s world died, too. When Aya, his…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Silence That Binds Us

  Ho, Joanna,

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  In the year following their son's death, May Chen's parents face racist accusations of putting too much pressure on their son and causing his death by suicide, and May attempts to challenge the racism and ugly stereotypes through her…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Breathe and Count Back From Ten

  Sylvester, Natalia,

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  Verónica, a Peruvian‑American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Heartbreak Symphony

  Kemp, Laekan Zea,

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  When two musically gifted teens, Mia and Aaron, cross paths, they must work together to face their fears but soon discover something more terrifying than performing in front of an audience--falling in love.

• All My Rage

  Tahir, Sabaa,

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  [F]riends Salahudin and Noor...are finding their way back to each other—or not—in the wake of Salahudin’s mother’s death. While Salahudin is confronted with the possibility of the loss of the family motel and Noor with the loss of the…Read moreRead more of this annotation