The team at Leiston Library share some of their favourite YA books about facing the challenge! Browse our staff picks and pick up a copy from your local library.
Want more suggested books?. Take a look at our recommendations or explore more of the National Year of Reading campaign.
The King of Nothing
Nathaneal Lessore
Anton and his friends are the kings of Year 9. They’re used to ruling the school and Anton wears the crown. The other kids run away when he’s about but that’s the way he wants it – he’s got a reputation to live up to after all.
So when he gets into serious trouble at school, he doesn’t really care, but his mum most definitely does. She decides it’s time for Anton to make some new friends and join the Happy Campers, a local activity group. Anton would quite literally rather do anything else, especially when he finds out Matthew, the biggest loser in school, is also a member.
But after Matthew unexpectedly saves Anton’s life, Anton figures maybe this kid is worth a shot. Teaching him some game is the least Anton can do to repay the debt. As the boys strike up an unlikely friendship, Anton finds himself questioning everything he thought was important.
Crossing the Line
Tia Fisher
Erik’s life has been falling apart ever since his dad died. Homework and being good at school stop feeling important when you’re the new man of the house.
When Erik’s bad behaviour attracts the wrong crowd, he’s sucked into a terrifying new world of drug dealing, trap houses and violence. Making money feels good but Erik soon learns that a small favour can become a huge debt.
And when his sisters’ lives are threatened, Erik will have to cross one more line to save them.
গ্লাসগো বয়েজ
মার্গারেট ম্যাকডোনাল্ড
This coming-of-age story is an incisive look at young masculinity and the way even the most fraught childhood is not without hope. Neither Finlay or Banjo can remember the last time they had a hug.
Against all odds, 18-year-old Finlay has begun his nursing degree at Glasgow University. But coming straight from the care system means he has no support network. How can he write essays, focus on his nursing placement and stop himself from falling in love when he’s struggling to even feed himself?
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Banjo is trying to settle into his new foster family and finish high school, desperate to hold down his job and the people it contains. But his anger and fear keep boiling over, threatening his already uncertain future. Underpinning everything is what happened three years ago in their group care home, when Finlay and Banjo were as close as brothers until they stopped speaking.
Little Bang
Kelly McCaughrain
Beneath the New Year’s Eve fireworks, shy science-nerd Mel and slacker songwriter Sid get pregnant on their first date. Any sixteen-year-olds would expect trouble – but this is Northern Ireland 2018, where abortion is still illegal.
Mel’s religious parents insist she must keep the baby, whilst Sid’s feminist mum pushes for a termination. Mel and Sid are determined to do this together, but they soon discover that pregnancy is totally different for boys and girls.
When their relationship starts to fall apart under all the pressure, Mel finds herself feeling alone with the impossible dilemma of the Little Bang growing inside her.
Boy Like Me
সাইমন জেমস গ্রিন
In the margins of a book’s pages, sparks fly as a teenage romance begins. But in this time and place, sparks like these can only ignite trouble.
It’s 1994 and thanks to Section 28, there can be no mention of gay relationships in UK schools. When a kind librarian leads Jamie to a disguised novel in the library that reflects his own confused feelings towards boys, Jamie sees that he’s not the only one who has checked the book out.
Will Jamie and this mystery boy have the courage to meet – and if they do, what will it take to hold on to each other?
Not Going to Plan
Tia Fisher
Marnie has just been excluded from her posh private school, which is how she ends up at the local state school and sitting next to Zed, the loner in the class.
But Marnie (good at most things, especially Art but definitely not Physics) and Zed (good at most things, especially Maths but definitely not Spanish) soon find they can help each other out – and become good friends.
Then Marnie finds out she is pregnant. How could she be? They were using a condom. But Marnie comes to the horrible realisation that the boy she was with (not Zed) wasn’t telling the truth.
Marnie now has the most terrible and unfair decision to make. And to do that she will need the help of her friends and family – if she can bear to tell them.
আর তারাগুলো জ্বলছিল উজ্জ্বলভাবে
অনুসরণ
When 15-year-old Nathan discovers that his older brother Al, has taken his own life, his whole world is torn apart. Al was special. Al was talented. Al was full of passion and light – so why did he do it?
Convinced that his brother was in trouble, Nathan decides to retrace Al’s footsteps. As he does, he meets Megan, Al’s former classmate, who is as determined as Nathan to keep Al’s memory alive.
Together they start seeking answers, but will either of them be able to handle the truth about Al’s death when they eventually discover what happened?
Wild East
Ashley Hickson-Lovence
When 14-year-old music-lover Ronny’s life gets messy, his mum decides they’re moving out of London.
In Norwich, as a Black teenager in a mostly white school, Ronny feels like a complete outsider. He tries his best to balance keeping his head down, and his goal of becoming a rapper alive.
But when a local poet comes into class, he opens Ronny’s world to something new. Rap is like spoken word, lyrics equal poetry – and maybe the combination of both could be the key to Ronny’s dreams?
One
সারাহ ক্রসান
Grace and Tippi are twins – conjoined twins. And their lives are about to change. No longer able to afford homeschooling, they must venture into the world – a world of stares, sneers and cruelty.
But can they find more than that at school? Can they find real friends? And what about love?
Just as Tippi and Grace have begun to live like normal teenagers, Grace gets sick, so sick separation might be the only option left open to them.
But separation could mean spending the rest of their lives in wheelchairs. Separation could mean death. And whatever happens, it means being torn apart.
Dear Martin
Nic Stone
Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League – but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighbourhood behind, he can’t escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates.
Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr King to find out. Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up – way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty police officer beside them.
Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it’s Justyce who is under attack.
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