Rafael Fannen is indeed young (14 years old), gifted (recipient of a minority scholarship to an all-male Catholic preparatory school), and black. He is also caught in a world where everything he relied upon is changing as he himself is changing. Rafe must confront the strange culture of his new school while contending with a… read more

Using factual data and her own age-acquired wisdom, Hoffert provides a full-bodied view of a region and its socio-historical development…… read more

Thirteen-year old Kevin wants to be a zero fade: the guy with a haircut done with clippers set to zero to insure an extremely close cut on the sides, with longer hair on the top; someone with sex appeal. The right haircut will correct so much of what is wrong in his life. He’ll be… read more

When you send your “love” and thoughts out to the riders of an airplane flying above your head, can the passengers feel it? Does it make a difference to them? Does unconditional love exist? Can you love a girl and not be a lesbian? If she loves you back, are you then a lesbian? So… read more

“Keeping secrets isn’t my specialty,” declares 16-year-old Chelsea Knot. Talking about everyone and everything is her specialty—the key to her social status. After all, gossip is how she became best friends with Kristen, one of the most popular girls in school who is about to attend the best New Year’s Eve party ever. When Chelsea… read more

High school student Shai (pronounced Shy) doesn’t mind that the love of her life, Marlena, is closeted. They have shared a love neither of them can imagine being without, despite the intrusion of Rick, whom Marlena’s Puerto Rican family thinks is her perfect match. On Shai and Marlena’s second anniversary—which falls on the last day… read more

Only after reading this first novel by Griffin does the elegant and beautiful cover art become meaningful, summarizing an entire story in one picture. Within the pages of this intricately constructed story of a pivotal summer in one sixteen year-old girl’s life in the late 1920s, the reader will be encouraged to mull over conflicts, contradictions, and life issues which seem to still exist in the twenty-first century…. read more

Christopher Hesse appears to be a typical 16-year-old: restoring classic cars, a member of the swim team, a good sibling to his brother(or is it sister)  a perfect child to his mother, and has a “sort of” girlfriend, Claire, who dresses like a Goth and makes flippant references to being a bisexual or lesbian to… read more

in·del·i·ble/inˈdeləbəl/ Adjective:  1. Making marks that cannot be removed. 2. Not able to be forgotten or removed. The Indelible Heart (Bywater Books)  is described as re-introducing the four characters from Love in the Balance: Sage and Deanne, Kasey, and Connie; however an appropriate subtitle would be “Sharon’s Fight.” The novel revolves around the character of Sharon,… read more

In this current novel, Sanchez deals with the issue of friendship: between straight/gay/lesbian/bisexual teens, and the interplay of friendship and/or sexual definitions when romance, self-esteem, and culture enter the picture. … read more