Poor, Miserable April :(

April Sinclair would like to blame someone for her mostly miserable life, and since her parents won't take responsibility, she blames the stork. Her teenage years kick off with a humiliating 13th birthday party, where one of her younger sisters reveals April's crush and the other puts on a show of peeing behind a tree like a boy.

April can't wait to disown her loony family for a few weeks of summer camp 

with her two best friends.

 Meanwhile, she gets her first two kisses--from two different boys--and isn't sure how she feels about either one. But she's sure how she feels (horrified) when her parents cancel her camp plans in lieu of a family RV trip. Is there any silver lining to her summer?


Call #  YA FRIEDMAN, LAURIE

Starting middle school brings all the usual challenges - until the unthinkable happens, and Fern and her family must find a way to heal.

Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible. It seems as though everyone in her family has better things to do than pay attention to her: Mom (when she's not meditating) helps Dad run the family restaurant; Sarah is taking a gap year after high school; and Holden pretends that Mom and Dad and everyone else doesn't know he's gay, even as he fends off bullies at school. Then there's Charlie: three years old, a "surprise" baby, the center of everyone's world. He's devoted to Fern, but he's annoying, too, always getting his way, always dirty, always commanding attention. If it wasn't for Ran, Fern's calm and positive best friend, there'd be nowhere to turn. Ran's mantra, "All will be well," is soothing in a way that nothing else seems to be. And when Ran says it, Fern can almost believe it's true. But then tragedy strikes- and Fern feels not only more alone than ever, but also responsible for the accident that has wrenched her family apart. All will not be well. Or at least all will never be the same.