Gr.  8-12  Before John, her step-father-to-be, came into her life, 15-year-old Lexi felt loved and in control. Now she has trouble managing her anger, referred to as her “furious thing,” which manifests as screaming and throwing things, usually as a means to stop John’s belittling of her mother. John is a master bully and manipulator who smiles when he calls Lexi an idiot, often tells her she’s an inconvenience, and threatens to take Lexi to a psychiatrist because of her […]

Categories: Appeared in Booklist/ALA, Book Reviews, Young Adult Readers

Gr. 9-12  Just because you’ve grown up together doesn’t mean you have to like each other. Such is the case with Amalia Yaabez and Ezra Holtz. She’s convinced he’s a total nerd (he is), and he believes she’s wild (she is). The one thing they have in common besides attending the same temple is that they’re smart. When paired for a lengthy AP Psych project, they dig up an old study, update it, and set out to prove that dissimilar […]

Categories: Appeared in Booklist/ALA, Book Reviews, Young Adult Readers