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I CRAWL THROUGH IT

Four teenagers are on the verge of exploding. The anxieties they face at every turn have nearly pushed them to the point of surrender: senseless high-stakes testing, the lingering damage of past trauma, the buried grief and guilt of tragic loss. They are desperate to cope, but no one is listening.

So they will lie. They will split in two. They will turn inside out. They will even build an invisible helicopter to fly themselves far away…but nothing releases the pressure. Because, as they discover, the only way to truly escape their world is to fly right into it.

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CRENSHAW

One of our recommended books is Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal, Katherine Applegate delivers an unforgettable and magical story about family, friendship, and resilience.

Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There’s no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again. Crenshaw is a cat. He’s large, he’s outspoken, and he’s imaginary. He has come back into Jackson’s life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?

Crenshaw proves in unexpected ways that friends matter,

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THE HIRED GIRL

One of our recommended books for 2017 is The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz

Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz brings her sharp wit and keen eye to early twentieth-century America in a comedic tour de force destined to become a modern classic.

Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs yearns for real life and true love—like the heroines in her beloved novels experience. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a new, better life for herself—because maybe, just maybe, a hired girl cleaning and cooking for six dollars a week can become what a farm girl could only dream of—a woman with a future.

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INK AND ASHES

Claire Takata has never known much about her

father, who passed away ten years ago. But on the

anniversary of his death, she finds a letter from

her deceased father to her stepfather. Before now,

Claire never had a reason to believe they even

knew each other.

Struggling to understand why her parents kept this

surprising history hidden, Claire combs through

anything that might give her information about her father . . . until she

discovers that he was a member of the yakuza,

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NINE OPEN ARMS

Nine Open Arms, a vivid historical novel, is compellingly mysterious as well as dramatic, humorous, and entertaining. A ghost story, a fantasy, and a family saga all wrapped into one, the novel begins with the Boon family’s move to an isolated, dilapidated house that seems to have turned its back on the world.

It is 1937, and nine people set out for the middle of nowhere: a house at the end of a long, dusty road. Is it the site of a haunting tragedy, as one daughter believes, or an end to all their worries,

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NOT IF I SEE YOU FIRST

Parker Grant doesn’t need 20/20 vision to see right

through you. That’s why she created the Rules:

Don’t treat her any differently just because she’s

blind, and never take advantage. There will be no

second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy

who broke her heart.

When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after

being gone for years, Parker knows there’s only

one way to react—shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind

already, like trying out for the track team (that’s right,

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