18 books like Burn baby burn
The serpent king
The son of a Pentecostal preacher faces his personal demons as he and his two outcast friends try to make it through their senior year of high school in rural Forrestville, Tennessee without letting the small-town culture destroy their creative spirits and sense of self.
Shares: Young Adult, Children's fiction
On The Come Up
Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn't always free.
Shares: People & Places, Young Adult, Children's fiction
Missing the Piano
When Mike's mother and sister go on tour with "Les Miserables," Mike's father and his new wife enroll Mike in St. Matthew's Military Academy where, facing brutality and ignorance, he learns to survive.
Shares: Family Problems, Coming-of-age, Children's fiction
What I saw and how I lied
In 1947, with her jovial stepfather Joe back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie, smitten by the handsome young ex-GI who seems to have a secret hold on Joe, finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies whose devastating outcome change her life and that of her family forever.
Shares: Family Problems, Family, Coming-of-age, History
Waves
Hal feels eerily connected to his comatose older sister as she hovers between life and death in a hospital. Hal believes his sister is trying to communicate with him as he tries to solve the mystery of her accident.
Shares: Family Problems, Family, Coming-of-age, Children's fiction
Camilla (Camilla #1)
Life had always been easy for fifteen-year-old Camilla Dickinson. But now her parents, whom she had always loved and trusted, are behaving like strangers to each other and vying for her allegiance. Camilla is torn between her love for them and her disapproval of their actions.Then she meets Frank, her best friend's brother, who helps her to feel that she is not alone. Can Camilla learn to accept…
Shares: Family Problems, New york, Coming-of-age, History
Midnight War of Mateo Martinez
Life is confusing for Mateo Martinez. He and Johnny Ramirez don't hang out anymore, even though they used to be best friends. He and his new friend Ashwin try to act like brave, old-time knights, but it only gets them in trouble. And last night, two skunks stole Mateo's old trike.
Wait—two skunks stole his trike?
Mateo is too big for that rusty kid toy. He has a cool, shiny new bike anyway. But…
Shares: People & Places, Children's fiction
Twisted
High school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background—average student, average looks, average dysfunctional family. But since he got busted for doing graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn't believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to…
Shares: Family Problems, Coming-of-age, Young Adult, Children's fiction
After Tupac and D Foster
D Foster showed up a few months before Tupac got shot that first time and left us the summer before he died.The day D Foster enters Neeka and her best friend's lives, the world opens up for them. D comes from a world vastly different from their safe Queens neighborhood, and through her, the girls see another side of life that includes loss, foster families and an amount of freedom that makes the…
Shares: New york, Coming-of-age, Young Adult, Children's fiction
Timber Creek Station
Danny Dawson lives on a cattle station in the Australian outback. Usually the annual cattle muster excites Danny, but everything is different now. Because Danny's beloved older brother died in an accident last year, and nobody will talk about it. Because his teenage sister is pregnant and won't tell anyone who the father is. Because his mother can't cope with any of it and has hired a wide-eyed…
Shares: Family Problems, Coming-of-age, Children's fiction
Crunch
Dewey Marriss is stuck in the middle of a crunch.He never guessed that the gas pumps would run dry the same week he promised to manage the family's bicycle-repair business. Suddenly everyone needs a bike. And nobody wants to wait.Meanwhile, the crunch has stranded Dewey's parents far up north with an empty fuel tank and no way home. It's up to Dewey and his older sister, Lil, to look after their…
Shares: Family Problems, Coming-of-age, Children's fiction
The Tricksters
While gathered together for the Christmas holiday, a large New Zealand family and their various guests and hangers-on find their lives suddenly invaded by three fascinating but rather sinister brothers and by New Year nothing is the same again.
Shares: Family Problems, Young Adult, Children's fiction
The earth, my butt, and other big, round things
Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.
Shares: Family Problems, New york, Children's fiction
Two Weeks With the Queen
A humorous but deeply moving story about Colin who refuses to believe that his younger brother is dying of cancer and decides to take things into his own hands. Colin decides to go to the top for help, none other than the Queen. Colin's efforts to penetrate the British establishment are hilarious, surprising and doomed to failure, but although Colin can't find a cure for cancer, he does find a…
Shares: Family Problems, Young Adult, Children's fiction
The Reappearance of Rachel Price
18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness. Rachel is gone, presumed dead.
The case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. But then Rachel Price reappears, and…
Shares: Young Adult, Children's fiction
Downsiders
When fourteen-year-old Lindsay meets Talon, who lives in the secret Downsider community that evolved in the subterranean passages of the subway built in New York in 1867, she and her new friend try to bridge the differences between their two cultures.
Shares: New york, Coming-of-age, Young Adult, Children's fiction
Flashback
Shannon Messenger's seventh book in her explosive series is one of her best yet. Her story about Sophie Foster, the girl who discovers she is an elf and has to go live in the Lost Cities has captured readers around the world. Don't miss this book, you will sorely regret it.
Shares: Family, Coming-of-age, Young Adult, Children's fiction
A Prisoner in Fairyland
In the train, even before St. John's was passed, a touch of inevitable reaction had set in, and Rogers asked himself why he was going. For a sentimental journey was hardly in his line, it seemed. But no satisfactory answer was forthcoming — none, at least, that a Board or a Shareholders' Meeting would have considered satisfactory. The old vicar spoke to him strangely. "We've not forgotten you as…
Shares: New york, Children's fiction