Noah York is a closeted gay teenager with a foul mouth, a critical disposition, and plenty of material for his tirades. After his father's death, Noah's mother, a temperamental poet, takes a teaching job in a small New Hampshire town, far from Chicago and the only world Noah has known.
While Noah gets along reasonably with his mother, the crumbling house they try to renovate quickly reveals dark secrets, via dusty Mason jars they discover interred between walls. The jars contain scraps of letters, poems, and journal entries, and eventually reconstruct a history of pain and violence that drives a sudden wedge between Noah and his mother.
Fortunately, Noah finds an unexpected ally in J.D., a teenager down the street who has family troubles of his own. It is J.D. who begins to quietly anchor Noah to his new life, a relationship that sends shockwaves throughout the town.
Part Portnoy, part Holden Caulfield, never less than truthful, and always fully human, Noah York is a touching and unforgettable character. His story is one of hope and heartbreak, love and redemption, of holding on to old wounds when new skin is what's needed, and of the power of growing up whole once every secret has been set free.
From the New Adult sensation and New York Times bestselling author of Until You, comes the gripping story of Madoc and Fallon.
Two estranged teenagers playing games that push the boundaries between love and war…
She’s back.
For the two years she’s been away at boarding school, there was no word from her. Back when we lived in the same house, she used to cut me down during the day and then leave her door open for me at night.
I was stupid then, but now I’m ready to beat her at her own game…
I’m back.
Two years and I can tell he still wants me, even if he acts like he’s better than me. But I won’t be scared away. Or pushed down. I’ll call his bluff and fight back. That’s what he wants, right? As long as I keep my guard up, he’ll never know how much he affects me….
Palo Alto is a fiercely vivid collection of stories about troubled California teenagers and misfits. These tales are violent and harrowing, showcasing the astonishing talent of actor and artist James Franco.
This debut introduces a surprising and powerful new literary voice. Written with an immediate sense of place—claustrophobic and ominous—Franco's collection traces the lives of an extended group of teenagers experimenting with vices, struggling with their families and one another, and often succumbing to self-destructive, heartless nihilism.
In "Lockheed," a young woman's summer is abruptly changed by a spectacular act of violence at a house party. "American History" follows a high school freshman who tries to impress a girl with a realistic portrayal of a slave owner, only to face retribution for his feigned bigotry. "I Could Kill Someone" explores the mind of a lonely teenager who buys a gun to confront his high school tormentor but ends up contemplating his bully's inner life.
These linked stories are stark, vivid, and disturbing, offering a compelling portrait of lives on the rough fringes of youth.
When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?
Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her counselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.
Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth. Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.
Joe Hill’s Horns meets Donna Tartt’s The Secret History in this bold new thriller from Justin Evans, author of the critically acclaimed A Good and Happy Child.
When seventeen-year-old Andrew Taylor is transplanted from his American high school to a British boarding school—a high-profile academy for the sons of England’s finest—his father hopes that the boy’s dark past will not follow him from across the Atlantic. But blood, suspense, and intrigue quickly surround Andrew once again as he finds himself struggling with a deadly mystery left unsolved by a student from Harrow School’s past—the enigmatic poet Lord Byron.
Andrew senses a malevolent presence, and when a classmate dies, the haunting becomes all too real. As another classmate falls ill, Andrew discovers old letters hidden in a bricked-up basement, and he must uncover a secret history—before it’s too late.
John ("My father named me after a toilet!") wrestles with the certainty that no one really knows him—not in his miserable home, and certainly not at school. It's true that no one can guess his hidden thoughts, which are hilarious, razor-sharp observations about lust, love, tubas, algebra, everything.
And then there's his home: his father ran off years ago, so he's being raised by his mother, who works long hours, and by her boyfriend, whom John calls "the man who is not and never will be my father." This man is his enemy, an abusive disciplinarian who seems to want to kill John and, in a horrible final confrontation, nearly succeeds.
Moving, wholly involving, original, and emotionally true, You Don't Know Me is a multilayered novel that presents a winning portrait of an understandably angst-ridden adolescent.
The Last Picture Show is one of Larry McMurtry's most memorable novels, serving as the basis for the film of the same name. Set in a small, dusty Texas town, it introduces the characters of Jacy, Duane, and Sonny: teenagers stumbling toward adulthood. They navigate the beguiling mysteries of sex and the even more baffling mysteries of love.
Populated by a wonderful cast of eccentrics and animated by McMurtry's wry and raucous humor, this novel is a wild, heartbreaking, and poignant story that resonates with the magical passion of youth. The Last Picture Show captures the ecstasy and heartbreak of adolescence, making it a classic in American literature.