Look Both Ways in the Barrio Blanco
by Judith Robbins Rose

Jacinta is an American preteen girl who was born in Colorado to illegal immigrant Mexican parents. Her mother went back to Mexico to care for Jacinta’s dying grandmother, leaving Jacinta and her older sister Rosa to care for their toddler sister Suelita while her father works two jobs to make ends meet.  Jacinta meets a local TV personality, “Miss,” at the Maplewood Youth Rescue Center. Jacinta’s best friend Angelica has an “Amiga” (akin to a Kinship mentor like we have in Park Rapids); Jacinta has a green monster, aka jealousy, regarding Angelica’s special mentor relationship that Jacinta lacks, so she asks Miss to become her Amiga. Miss apprehensively agrees to this commitment. While Miss teaches Jacinta many things and broadens her small horizons, Miss becomes entangled in Jacinta’s life while trying to help Jacinta reunite her family.

Girl Online
by Zoe Sugg

This author is famous YouTuber Zoella, whose beauty/lifestyle channel has millions of subscribers.  The main character, Penny, is a teenage girl who has an anonymous blog that has started going viral.  Penny has been having panic attacks ever since she was in a car accident. She gets to go to New York City with her family and best friend, Elliot, over Christmas where her mom will plan a wedding. The thought of getting on a plane gives Penny lots of anxiety, but getting away from home means that she will escape an embarrassing incident that happened at school. Penny meets Noah while in New York and a budding romance ensues. Penny’s relationship with Noah begins to ruin her friendship with Elliot and Noah’s secret could ruin her secret online cover.

Save Me, Kurt Cobain
by Jenny Manzer   

Nicola (Nico) was abandoned by her mother at a young age and this desertion still haunts her.  Nico and Obe, her best friend, are obsessed with nineties culture and music. When Nico discovers a box of her mother’s music in the attic and a photo of her mother at an early Nirvana show, she becomes convinced that Kurt Cobain is her father.  Furthermore, there are some people who believe he is not really dead. Nico visits her aunt in Seattle during Christmas break and on her return home meets a man on the ferry who bears a striking resemblance to Cobain. Nico follows him and stows away in his vehicle, believing he is Cobain.  This pseudo father figure helps Nico track down her mother’s best friend from high school in the hopes that this meeting will help Nico track down her mother. Eventually she returns home and the truth about her mother’s disappearance is revealed.

Firstlife
by Gena Showalter   

Ten is imprisoned in Prynne Asylum where she is tortured with the intention of making her choose which realm she will live in after she dies. The two realms are Myriad and Troika, which have opposite values and are at war. Myriad has promised Ten’s parents that if she signs with them, her family will get unimaginable wealth and prestige. Each realm has sent a laborer to try to convince Ten to sign.  Ten escapes and must survive the harsh wilderness with the help of her laborers. The longer Ten takes to decide, the more impatient the realms become, because having her could mean winning the war.