Showing titles in Loners & Outcasts

Magpie Lewis started writing in her yellow notebook the day her family self-destructed. That was the night Eryn, Magpie's sister, skipped town and left her to fend for herself. That was the night of Brandon Phipp's party. Now, Magpie is called a slut whenever she walks down the hallways of her high school, her former best friend won't speak to her, and she spends her lunch period with a group of misfits who've all been socially exiled like she has. And so, feeling trapped and forgotten, Magpie retreats to her notebook, dreaming up a place called Near.

Among the students of Pimlico Academy, Red, Leo, Rose, and Naomi are misfits - outsiders who have found a safe haven in music and their band, Mirror, Mirror. For these 16-year-olds, fitting in at school is nearly as difficult as navigating their complicated home lives. Red has an alcoholic mother and a father who's never around. Leo's brother is in prison. Rose uses sex and alcohol to numb the pain of a brutal attack. Naomi's punk rock princess persona gives her the freedom to be her true self.

Fourteen-year-old Jamie, aka “Punkzilla,” is on a mission: to see his older brother, Peter (“P”), before P dies of cancer. Hopping a bus while still buzzing from his last hit of meth, Jamie embarks on a days-long bus trip from Portland, Oregon, to Memphis, Tennessee, writing letters to his family and friends - letters so honest he may never send them.

Dove "Birdie" Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow the path her parents have laid out for her: She quit playing her beloved soccer, she keeps her nose buried in textbooks, and she's on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then Birdie falls hard for Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past...whom she knows her parents will never approve of. When her estranged aunt, Carlene, returns to Chicago and moves into the family's apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home.

Self-styled "beautiful boy" Toby Ryerson dreams in stardust but lives in the dirt. Haunted by his mom's overdose, he itches for a life of fun and fabulosity far from the MAGA hats of his backwoods Adirondack town. The only problem: his older brother Jimmy's plans to polish him into a spotless "Disney gay" with college, career, and husband. Toby knows that Jimmy didn't sacrifice everything to raise him just so he can waste his life on men and partying like Mom did. But why can't Jimmy see that he is their mother's son?

It's every influencer's biggest nightmare when a follower decides to kidnap her TikTok hero in order to become her BFF and a big star herself. Like Stephen King's Misery...for the TikTok generation.

From a remote hilltop haven, far from the city of Fantome, Seraphine Marchant and her Order of Flames plot to eradicate shade magic with lightfire. But as Sera struggles to control her blooming powers, destiny calls her back to Fantome—and to the assassin who haunts her dreams. Ransom Hale can’t get Sera out of his head. As their rivalry grows and he grapples with the responsibility of leading the Order of Daggers, he feels himself slipping further from who he wants to be. Is he doomed to a life in the shadows? Or can he forge another path?

Gloria Forman and Xia Harper go to the same high school in a small South Carolina town, but they couldn’t be more different. While Gloria is part of the popular, Christian crowd, Xia sleeps through class, antagonizes anyone who dares talk to her, and buries herself in books that help her pretend she’s somewhere else—anywhere that being lesbian wouldn’t be a waking nightmare. When the two form an accidental friendship, they begin noticing each other in ways they promised themselves they'd avoid.

What if a magical gift could help you discover who you truly are? Thirteen-year-old Leo Hernandez's life takes an unexpected turn when he receives a mysterious guitar from his Uncle Javier. This isn't just any instrument—it connects him with legendary musicians who offer wisdom and guidance. With their help, Leo confronts school bullies, navigates a budding friendship, and copes with missing his dad. As the school talent show approaches, Leo realizes that the real magic isn't in the guitar—it's been within him all along. Can he find the courage to step into the spotlight?

For fans of Alechia Dow and Pittacus Lore comes Leeta Simtar: A Life on Two Planets— the latest book from young adult author Annie Fox about an interspecies hybrid looking to find herself on a new planet. A coming-of-age story that explores the meaning of birth family and found family, Leeta Simtar shows listeners how breaking out of the past can help us figure out where we’re going next.

Final Bastion Online is a state of the art virtual online game that has been around for a couple of years. As Daniel starts his first year of high school, his parents follow through with their promise and allow him to finally start playing FBO. Seeking an escape from the constant bullying and abuse he suffers from his classmates, Daniel dives head first into this new world of excitement and adventure.

Once, Catriona Macgregor led a charmed life. Daughter of a wealthy rancher, pretty and educated, she looked forward to all the world had to offer—until fate took a turn. Now family, home, and even her name have been stripped away. As “Black Cat Whitfield,” adopted daughter of an outlaw, she’s wanted by the authorities. It certainly wasn’t the destiny she imagined—especially as one of the Blessed.

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Chang is at her fourth school in seven years. Her self-imposed solitude is lonely but safe. At Plainstown High, however, Olivia’s usual plan of anonymity fails when infamous it-girl Mitzi Clarke makes a pointed racist comment in class. Tired of ignoring things just to survive, Olivia defends herself. And that is the end of her invisible life. Soon, Olivia joins forces with the Nerd Net: a secret society that's been thwarting Mitzi’s reign of terror for months. Together, they plan to unite the masses and create true change at school.

Born with a rare neurological condition, seventeen-year-old Quinn can't feel physical pain. It's a surprise he's still alive—a fact that has caused him to be left to his own devices for most of his life. No school, no friends, no rules. At the mercy of his older sister Caitlin, who has spent the past few years caring for their dying father, he spends his days drinking at a nearby bar, testing his limits, and working on a graphic novel about a mysterious vigilante called Shadow Man. Lately, even his art has taken a turn for the worse, and now he can't decide how his book should end.

I’d do anything for Bianca...except introduce her to my family. I know she wants to meet them, but I can’t predict what my dad might do. How can I tell her that? Our ugly family secret stays locked within our house, just the way Mum wants it to be. I won’t expose Bianca to it. But she’s starting to pull away from me. I can feel the wedge growing between us, and I don’t know how to stop it. Maybe she’s hiding something from me too. The light in her eyes doesn’t shine so bright these days. I wish I could figure out what is eating at her.

Between her dad’s pest-control company, her mom’s pond-cleaning service, and her side gig at Caddysnack (Santa Barbara’s premier small plates and minigolf destination), Hallie Mayhew puts the “work” in working class. But Hal has qualms about gassing gophers, she’s tired of ditching friends to skim dead fish from fountains, and she’s freaking weary of divorced-parent politics. So she has a plan: win the prestigious Verhaag Scholarship, go to an east-coast school, never come back.

Four high-school friends suffer daily humiliation at the hands of three bullies. When the friends accidentally open a portal to another dimension, they unintentionally allow terrifying, other-worldly creatures to invade their small Arkansas town. Discovering that they are now endowed with strange superpowers, the four teens dub themselves “Freaks”, the very name their tormentors used to ridicule them. The Freaks must fight to save the lives of family and friends now in mortal peril and thwart a secret government task force that appears to be hunting them.

From author SC Alban comes a tender and humorous, coming-of-age novel that follows the journey of a girl who must give up her heart in order to find love. For the past five years, 17-year-old Megan Cooper has built a wall around her heart with little room to experience true feelings. However, her entire world shifts the moment she hits Cupid with her car driving home from finals. With his shooting arm significantly injured, she has no choice but to take his place. This YA debut is a touching and heartwarming shot through the heart for all listeners - a perfect holiday listen!

Eighteen-year-old Brenna Whit is entering college as a freshman and starting to meet new people, but she hides a dark secret. Because of an accident that happened three years ago, her spirit wanders the Fade whenever she falls asleep. It's something she wants to keep hidden from the world, but when she sees someone watching her in spirit form, she fears the secret's out.

When Megan Van Helsburg gets kicked off the USA climbing team, she has no choice but to return home and leave her climbing career behind. With no coach, no money, and no prospects, she joins the corps de ballet determined to improve her strength and agility. But the ballet theater is in dire straits. Not only do a series of murders break loose, but the ballerinas are becoming deathly thin and brain-dead. Megan must find a way to not only save her climbing career, but balance her feelings for Bellamy, and stop the murders and dying girls before she, too, is numbered among the dead.