Showing titles in Loners & Outcasts

It's been more than 50 years since a tornado tore through a drive-in movie theater in tiny Mercer, Illinois, leaving dozens of teens - a whole generation of Mercerites - dead in its wake. So when another tornado touches down in the exact same spot on the anniversary of this small-town tragedy, the town is shaken. For Brenna Ortiz, Joshua Calloway, and Callie Keller, the apprehension is more than just a feeling. Though they seem to share nothing more than a struggle to belong, the teens' paths continue to intersect, bringing them together when they least expect it.

Teenage socialite Margo Manning leads a dangerous double life. By day, she dodges the paparazzi while soaking up California sunshine. By night, however, she dodges security cameras and armed guards, pulling off high-stakes cat burglaries with a team of flamboyant young men. In and out of disguise, she’s in all the headlines. But then Margo’s personal life takes a sudden, dark turn, and a job to end all jobs lands her crew in deadly peril. Overnight, everything she’s ever counted on is put at risk.

In an old, abandoned mill, a girl and her ma take shelter from their memories of life on the streets, and watch the busy world go by. The girl calls it the Castle because it's the biggest place they've ever stayed, a home of her own like no other. The windows are boarded up and the floorboards are falling in, but for her neither of those things matter. Then developers show up, and it's clear that their lives are about to change forever.

Cliff Hubbard is a huge loser. Literally. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he's so enormous - 6'6" and 250 pounds to be exact. Life in his trailer-park home has gone from bad to worse ever since his older brother's suicide. There's no one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback Aaron Zimmerman. Then Aaron returns after a near-death experience with a bizarre claim: while he was unconscious he saw God, who gave him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said there's only one person who can help: Neanderthal.

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.

Matt’s parents argue more often than not. His best friend Sammy has his own family circus of crazy. Together they create a safe space for their oddball group of friends. Navigating the woes of teenage life, they’re targeted by school jerk and lead jock Brandon. Maybe getting involved with Brandon’s girlfriend wasn’t Sammy’s brightest idea, but revenge fell on someone innocent. Guilt weighs heavy, and these powerless teens are looking for someone to make things right. When others’ troubles take center stage, Matt’s issues pale in comparison.

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?

Yasir has always felt he was meant for more…he has no idea how much. A native son of the Island Republic of Kindara, he is ripped from his homeland as a small boy, escaping an invasion that decimated his family. For the past decade, he has been living with his uncle in the small town of Oakwood Grove, Georgia, while dealing with life as an outsider—in more ways than one. All that would change over the course of a few weeks, thanks to a series of unfortunate incidents that brings Yasir into the spotlight.

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.

Since a deadly virus and the violence that followed wiped out his parents and most of his community, Finn has lived alone on the rugged coast with only his loyal dog, Rowdy, for company. He has stayed alive for two winters—hunting and fishing and trading food, and keeping out of sight of the Wilders, an armed and dangerous gang that controls the north, led by a ruthless man named Ramage. But Finn’s isolation is shattered when a girl runs onto the beach. Rose is a Siley—an asylum seeker—and she has escaped from Ramage, who had enslaved her and her younger sister, Kas.

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.

Cat lives in her high school. She never leaves, and for a long time her school has provided her with everything she needs. But now things are changing. The hallways contract and expand along with the school’s breathing, and the showers in the bathroom run a bloody red. Cat’s best friend is slowly turning into cardboard, and instead of a face, Cat has a cat mask made of her own hardened flesh.

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!

On the run from the king who banished her and the allies who betrayed her, Enebish travels with Serik and a band of rebels to find the deposed king of Verdenet, who is their only hope of uniting the Protected Territories and bringing peace to Ashkar. Meanwhile, the Sky King’s patience with Ghoa has run its course. Enemy forces are bearing down on the Sky Palace, and when Ghoa throws all her power into a last-ditch effort to prove herself, the Sky King and her fellow warriors abandon her. Captured by enemy Zemyans, Ghoa is imprisoned and tortured by the merciless Kartok.