Showing results by narrator "Joel Leslie" in Teen & Young Adult

In 16-year-old Mike Hernandez's life, only one thing is clear: Gay is not okay. His family's life revolves around the church, a church run by the vocally intolerant Pastor Myers, so Mike has resolved to spend his life in the closet. His only escape - besides the occasional, anonymous gay make-out session - is his art. He pours his complicated emotions into risque drawings he keeps in a secret sketchbook. A sketchbook he carries everywhere. When his sketchbook goes missing in the middle of Sunday school, Mike is sure his life is over.

Lock is awkward. He can't make eye contact, counts when he's nervous, and has to remind himself several times a day how "normal" teens behave. Homeschooled most of his life, he's resigned himself to a friendless existence at his new Atlanta high school. Until he meets West. West has everything. Looks. Talent. Money. And secrets...so many secrets. Beneath the surface of West's perfect existence is a pain he's buried so deep a million therapists couldn't unearth it, and he's determined to keep it that way. He's an actor. He can act normal. But then there's Lock.

Tommy hears dead people. Okay, one dead person. His best friend, Chase. Since his death, Tommy can't stop hearing his voice. They talk every day and Tommy even sends him texts, but it always ends the same. Message failed to send. Until one day, a stranger texts back. Getting stuck in nowhere Georgia was not on Nick's summer agenda, but a horoscope, a chance encounter, and a cute boy has things looking up. Just one problem: the boy hates him. When a broken phone leaves him with a new number, Nick is ready to write off the entire summer as a loss. But then he receives a strange text.

Sam never liked his birthdays because not a single one of them was happy. When he turned one, he fell face-down into his birthday cake. When he turned five, he broke his left arm. When he turned seven, he broke his right arm and his left leg. When he turned 12, his house caught fire. Now Sam is about to turn 16 and he is dreading the day. The only birthday wish he has is for Jake who is the Mr. Popular of Arcadia High to even acknowledge his existence, or better yet give him a happy-birthday kiss.

Donick Walsh: king of the school bullies, secret dancer, closet-case. What’s to be done when a football injury means he can never play again? Dance in the school musical, of course! Not like he has a choice. Fingers crossed his father doesn’t find out! Enter Michael Penrose: theatre-kid, and Donick’s former best friend. For years Michael has been the object of Donick’s ridicule simply because Michael is out and proud, and Donick is afraid. Suddenly confronted with his old friend, Donick sinks under the weight of the guilt of his past. How can a bully make amends for all the hurt he’s caused?

Danny Neumann is a boring 16-year-old who's crushing on his best friend, Becky, and lamenting the defection of his good friend, Kevin, when a man in black arrives at his birthday party and tries to kill him. Fear never has a chance as suddenly bursts of pure energy erupt from Danny's hands and knock the man in black on his ass-ets! But more surprises are in store for Danny as he learns he's adopted, his real parents were the last demigods left, and he's the first offspring of two demigods.