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List: 2025 Staff Favorites: Teen Fiction
Audre & Bash Are Just Friends
In need of inspiration for her self-help book, sixteen-year-old straightlaced Audre hires seventeen-year-old easygoing Bash to be her fun consultant for a summer full of daring experiences and undeniable romance.
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The House Saphir
While attempting to banish the spirit of an infamous murderer from his ancestral home, Mallory, a witch with the ability to see ghosts, finds herself at the center of an investigation for a new murder.
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Kill Her Twice
In 1930s Los Angeles Chinatown, the Chow sisters, May, Gemma, and Peony, suspect foul play in the death of Chinatown star Lulu Wong and take it upon themselves to solve the murder, revealing a conspiracy that threatens their Chinatown neighborhood.
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The Meadowbrook Murders
For Amy and her best friend, Sarah, the first week of senior year at Meadowbrook Academy means late-night parties at the boathouse, bike rides through their sleepy Connecticut town, and the crisp beginning of a New England fall. But when Sarah and her boyfriend are brutally murdered one night, the week Amy has been dreaming about for years turns into a nightmare. Especially when everyone starts to think she's the culprit. She was Sarah’s roommate, the only person there when she died - or so Amy told the police to cover for her own boyfriend. And even though they were best friends, with every passing day, Amy begins to learn that Sarah lied about a lot of things. On the other side of campus, Liz, editor of the school newspaper and social outcast, is determined to uncover the truth about what happened in hopes her reportage will land her a prestigious scholarship for college. The more Liz dives into her investigation, the more secrets she unburies, and with a killer still on the loose, she can't afford to make any mistakes.
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Sisters in the Wind
Ever since Lucy Smith's father died five years ago, 'home' has been more of an idea than a place. She knows being on the run is better than anything waiting for her as a ward of the state. But when the sharp-eyed and kind Mr. Jameson, a man with an interest in her case, comes looking for her, Lucy wonders if hiding from her past will ever truly keep her safe. Five years in the foster system have taught her to be cautious and smart. But she wants to believe Mr. Jameson and his 'friend-not-friend,' a tall and fierce-looking woman, when they say they want to be a part of her life. They also tell Lucy the truth her father hid from her: She is Ojibwe; she has--had--a sister; and she has more siblings, a grandmother who'd look after her, and a home where she would be loved. But Lucy is being followed. As her secrets threaten to swallow her whole, Lucy must decide what she's willing to give to protect the only love she has left.
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Sunrise on the Reaping
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves. When Haymitch's name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He's torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who's nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he's been set up to fail. But there's something in him that wants to fight... and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.
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The Unexpected Consequence of Bleeding on a Tuesday
High school senior Delia Bridges has a bright future--until her debilitating, undiagnosed endometriosis and a desperate attempt to manage the pain with marijuana lead to her expulsion. With her dreams of becoming a compassionate doctor at risk, Delia must confront the limits of a system that ignores her suffering and redefine her identity beyond her illness.
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Up In Smoke
After Cooper King is pressured by big brother-figure Jason to go on a looting spree during a local march, the unthinkable happens: Gunshots ring in the air and someone ends up dead. After Cooper flees, the news shows four teens in ski masks near the scene of the murder--Cooper and his friends. Cooper fears the cops will come knocking at his door, and the pressure only mounts when a suspect is taken into custody: Jason. Monique, Jason's sister and Cooper's longtime crush, is willing to go any length to clear her brother's name. Even if it means venturing into the belly of the beast and confronting the killer herself. When she teams up with Cooper, they fall down the investigation rabbit hole, all while falling for each other. But little does Monique know that within this web of deception, Cooper is shrouding the truth that he was there when the shots went off. If the pair fail to uncover the real murderer, Jason will get locked up for a crime he didn't commit--and drag down Cooper with him.
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When We Ride
Diego Benevides works hard. His single mother encourages him to stay focused on school, on getting into college, on getting out of their crumbling neighborhood. That's why she gave him her car. Diego's best friend, Lawson, needs a ride--because Lawson is dealing. As long as Diego's not carrying, not selling, it's cool. It's just weed. But when Lawson starts carrying powder and pills and worse, their friendship is tested and their lives are threatened. As the lines between dealer and driver blur, everything Diego has worked for is jeopardized, and he faces a deadly reckoning with the choices he and his best friend have made. Award-winning memoirist and poet Rex Ogle's searing first novel-in-verse is an unforgettable story of the power and price of loyalty.
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