Teen High Interest Titles

Sixteen-year-old Connor tries to help his severely depressed father, who learned upon his mother's death that Nonno was not his biological father, by doing research that reveals Dad's father was probably a Tuskegee Airman.

3.7 stars

Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.

"When the police come knocking at her door, Maybeth is worried her mother is caught up in their small town's drug scene again. Instead, the police are there to question Maybeth about her beloved and long-absent father. He has become the lead suspect in a string of unsolved murders across the country--and Maybeth may be the key to convicting him. Trapped between her scientific mind and her love for her father, Maybeth is forced to confront the reality...

"Kiki is a teen artist living with her Greek-American family in Queens. After a man with mental illness is killed by the police, protests fill the streets. Kiki's into art, not activism, and would rather observe from the sidelines than participate, but she reluctantly joins her friends on a march. She is shocked when a protester lifts up a photograph of her brother, Stavros, and one word--#Murderer. Stavros, a police rookie, says he was just defending...

3.5 stars

Written in blank verse, the story of Mildred Loving, an African American girl, and Richard Loving, a Caucasian boy, who challenge the Virginia law forbidding interracial marriages in the 1950s.

"Yuriel's poor neighborhood in Monterrey, Mexico, isn't a place where fairy tales happen. Yuriel and his cousin Azul work each day doing laundry to help their family make a living. So when Azul, a trans teen, decides she wants to mark her transition to womanhood with a quinceañera, Yuriel is sure it's an impossible dream. They don't have the money, and besides, Azul's father would never support her transition. But as an openly gay artist in a traditional...

"Edgar wants nothing more than to live his life out loud. But telling the truth about his sexuality isn't so easy in his traditional Mexican-American family, and his Amá has made it clear she won't accept who he is. Things get even harder when Edgar's macho father returns home after months away, and the house erupts into fighting and simmering tension. Edgar worries what would happen if he told his father the truth about who he is, and feels he'll...

4.7 stars

In the summer of 1988, twelve-year-old Chuck Bell is sent to stay with his grandparents, where he discovers jazz and basketball and learns more about his family's past.

4 stars

"It's a hot, dry summer in Harper's hometown in Southern California. Things are heating up at home, too. Harper lives full-time with her firefighter father. But he's expecting a new baby with his new wife, and Harper feels like the odd person out. The only time Harper feels okay is when she's on stage pretending to be anyone but herself. When a wildfire breaks out nearby, everything shuts down. Now Harper's stuck with her stepmom at home, waiting...