Synopses & Reviews
Renée and Flo are the most unlikely of friends. Introspective and studious Flo and outspoken, wild, and sexually curious Renée have barely spoken in their years of going to school together in Guernsey, a small British island off the coast of France. And yet, when tragedy strikes, it is only wild child Renée, who lost her mother at a young age, who is able to comfort a grieving Flo. The girls form an intense bond that sees them through a host of deeply relatable, wince-inducing experiences—drunken snogging; a séance in which clueless friends offer to summon Renée’s mother; dating a guy for free fish and chips. But toxic mean girls and personal betrayals threaten to tear the girls’ delicate new friendship apart.
In this gripping debut, Dawn O’Porter shines an unflinchingly honest, humorous light on female friendship, lost innocence, and that moment when you are teetering on the threshold of adult life.
Praise for Paper Airplanes
"Dawn O'Porter was a teenager in her past life. Well, duh! How else could she have gotten this bitch-perfect, debut novel so right! Paper Aeroplanes is spot on! This teen friendship, is
brutal and beautiful, flawed and forgiving. The angst and anguish of adolescence are made safer by her talented hand. Wish she had written this when I was 15!"
--Jamie Lee Curtis
"Poignant and edgy, this exploration of lively female friendships rises high."
--Kirkus Reviews
Review
"In the flagrantly funny I Love You, Beth Cooper...Larry Doyle gives the coming-of-age novel a swirly." Vanity Fair
Review
"Larry Doyle gives a 21st-century gloss to this familiar tale....[W]ickedly funny." New York Times Book Review
Review
"Fresh, sweet, seriously funny." Newsweek
Review
"[A] quick, funny book with a protagonist readers can root for even as they groan at his geekiness." School Library Journal
Review
"[T]his side-splitting novel of adolescence is a classic teen movie waiting to be made." Entertainment Weekly
Synopsis
Denis Cooverman wanted to say something really important in his high school graduation speech. So, in front of his 512 classmates and their 3,000 relatives, he announced: "I love you, Beth Cooper."
It would have been such a sweet, romantic moment. Except that Beth, the head cheerleader, has only the vaguest idea who Denis is. And Denis, the captain of the debate team, is so far out of her league he is barely even the same species. And then there's Kevin, Beth's remarkably large boyfriend, who's in town on furlough from the United States Army. Complications ensue.
Synopsis
Instead of a typical graduation speech, Denis Cooverman stands up in front of his classmates and professes his love for the most popular girl in school. Complications ensue, and Denis comes of age overnight.
Synopsis
The story of a high school heroine--funny, wise, and reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi--negotiating a trying spring semester at her southern California prep school
Tina M., sophomore, is a wry and endearing observer of the cliques and mores of Yarborough Academy ("The name makes it sound fancier than all the public schools in the area. You'd really think the Prince of Wales attended"). And of the foibles of her intellectual Indian family ("Just so you know, my parents have never tried to lock me into a child marriage"). She's on a first-name basis with Jean-Paul Sartre, the result of an English honors class assignment to keep an "existential diary."
The plot thickens as Tina is dumped by her best friend and smart-girl ally, forcing her to embark on a life of eating school lunch (existentially) alone during the week, and of weekends being dragged to family parties at various new-money chalets in LA's Indian enclaves. Until the lead in the school play goes to Tina, among other astonishing events.
Is a kiss on the mouth--Tina's mouth, but not technically her first kiss--from cute skateboarder Neil Strumminger be the meaning of existence? Can an English honors assignment be one fifteen-year-old girl's path to enlightenment?
Synopsis
In the tradition of
Persepolis and
American Born Chinese, a wise and funny high school heroine comes of age.
Tina M., sophomore, is a wry observer of the cliques and mores of Yarborough Academy, and of the foibles of her Southern California intellectual Indian family. She's on a first-name basis with Jean-Paul Sartre, the result of an English honors class assignment to keep an and#8220;existential diary.and#8221;
Keshni Kashyapand#8217;s compulsively readable graphic novel packs in existential high school dramaand#8212;from Tina getting dumped by her smart-girl ally to a kiss on the mouth (Tinaand#8217;s mouth, but not technically her first kiss) from a cute skateboarder, Neil Strumminger. And it memorably answers the pressing question: Can an English honors assignment be one fifteen-year-old girland#8217;s path to enlightenment?
Synopsis
The sweet and subversive debut novel by award-winning memoirist and screenwriter Ariel Schrag. Sometimes a queer girl summer in New York is just what a straight boy needs.
Synopsis
When Adam Freedman—a skinny, immature, and lackluster high school student from Piedmont, California—is sent by his parents to join his older sister Casey in New York City, he is hopeful that his life is about to change. And it sure does.
It is the Summer of 2006—the year of gay marriage demonstrations and the rise of transgender rights—and Casey has thrust herself into New Yorks fringe lesbian, sexual, and political scene. Accustomed to being a social misfit, Adam now finds himself part of a wild subculture complete with underground clubs, drinking, and friendly women who take a surprisingly intense interest in him. It takes some time for him to realize many in this new crowd assume he is transgendered—a boy who was born a girl—or else why would he always be around? But then he meets Gillian, the girl of his dreams. If only she werent a lesbian! And if only she didnt believe he was really (sort of) a girl.
Ariel Schrags scathingly funny and poignant debut novel puts a fresh spin on questions of love, attraction, self-definition, and what it takes to be at home in your own skin.
Synopsis
When Adam Freedman — a skinny, awkward, inexperienced teenager from Piedmont, California — goes to stay with his older sister Casey in New York City, he is hopeful that his life is about to change. And it sure does.
It is the summer of 2006. Gay marriage and transgender rights are in the air, and Casey has thrust herself into a wild lesbian subculture. Soon Adam is tagging along to underground clubs, where there are hot older women everywhere he turns. It takes some time for him to realize that many in this new crowd assume he is trans—a boy who was born a girl. Why else would this baby-faced guy always be around?
Then Adam meets Gillian, the girl of his dreams — but she couldnt possibly be interested in him. Unless passing as a trans guy might actually work in his favor . . .
Ariel Schrags scathingly funny and poignant debut novel puts a fresh spin on questions of love, attraction, self-definition, and what it takes to be at home in your own skin.
Synopsis
From a filmmaker,and#160;the story of a high schooland#160;heroine--funny, wise, and reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi--negotiating an existentially trying spring semester at herand#160;southern Californiaand#160;prep school
About the Author
Keshni Kashyap was raised in Los Angeles, California. She studied literature at Berkeley and film at UCLA. Tinaand#8217;s Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary is her first book.
Illustrator Mari Araki, an artist and storyteller, was raised in Ishikawa, a suburb of Kanazawa.andnbsp; She is a graduate ofandnbsp;Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and lives in Southern California.