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THE HOME FOR WAYWARD GIRLS

One of our recommended books is The Home for Wayward Girls by Marcia Bradley

Growing up in the 1990s, a young girl escapes her abusive parents–and the “ranch” they ran for “bad” girls—and becomes an advocate for teen runaways in this harrowing and heartfelt novel for fans of Joanna Goodman and Lisa Wingate.

While other adolescent girls are listening to grunge rock or swooning over boy bands and movie stars, Loretta knows little of life beyond the Home for Wayward Girls, the secluded ranch where her parents run a program designed to “correct” teen girls’ “bad behavior.” Some new residents arrive with their moms and dads, while other are accompanied by transporters—people paid to forcibly deliver these “problem” teens—girls caught swearing,

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HOW IT FEELS TO FLOAT

One of our recommended novel is How it Feels to Float by Helena Fox

Biz knows how to float, right there on the surface—normal okay regular fine. She has her friends, her mom, the twins. She has Grace. And she has her dad, who shouldn’t be here but is. So Biz doesn’t tell anyone anything—not about her dark, runaway thoughts, not about kissing Grace or noticing Jasper, the new boy. And not about seeing her dad. Because her dad died when she was seven.

But after what happens on the beach, the tethers that hold Biz steady come undone. Her dad disappears and, with him, all comfort. It might be easier, better,

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THE QUIET AND THE LOUD

One of our recommended books is The Quiet and the Loud by Helena Fox

A heartbreaking, hopeful, and timely novel about holding too tight to family secrets, healing from trauma, and falling in love, from the award-winning author of How It Feels to Float

George’s life is loud. On the water, though, with everything hushed above and below, she is steady, silent. Then her estranged dad says he needs to talk, and George’s past begins to wake up, looping around her ankles, trying to drag her under.

But there’s no time to sink. George’s best friend, Tess, is about to become, officially, a teen mom, her friend Laz is in despair about the climate crisis,

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LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY

One of our recommended books is Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six.

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LAST TO EAT, LAST TO LEARN

One of our recommended books is Last to Eat, Last to Learn by Pashtana Durrani

The harrowing yet ultimately inspiring memoir of the young educator and activist who has become the face of women’s rights in Afghanistan.

From growing up in a refugee camp to becoming an Amnesty International Global Youth Ambassador and Malala Fund Education Champion who’s ruthlessly targeted by the Taliban, Pashtana Durrani shares the deeply inspiring true story of her unyielding fight to provide educational materials to the disappearing girls of rural Afghanistan.

Since childhood, Pashtana Durrani has recognized her calling: to educate Afghanistan’s girls and young women. In a country devastated by war and violence,

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WALK THROUGH FIRE

One of our recommended books is Walk Through Fire by Yasmine S. Ali

The first book to examine the rarely-acknowledged Waverly Train Disaster of 1978 – the catastrophic accident that changed America forever and led to the formation of FEMA. Coinciding with the 45th anniversary of the event, WALK THROUGH FIRE is a tribute to the first responders, as well as an examination of the strengths and vulnerabilities in rural America.

On the night of February 22, 1978, a devastating freight train derailment drastically altered Waverly, Tennessee, and its place in history. This was one of the worst train explosions of the twentieth century, killing 16 people, injuring hundreds more,

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