Young Student Library

Cole Matthews used to be a violent kid, but a year in exile on a remote Alaskan island has a way of changing your perspective. After being mauled by a Spirit Bear, Cole started to heal. He even invited his victim, Peter Driscal, to join him on the island and they became friends. But now their time in exile is over, and Cole and Peter are heading back to the one place they're not sure they can handle: high school. Gangs and violence haunt the hallways, and Peter's limp and speech impediment make him a natural target.

Sticky is a beat-around-the-head foster kid with nowhere to call home but the street and an outer shell so tough that no one will take him in. He started out life so far behind the pack that the finish line seems nearly unreachable. He's a white boy living and playing in a world where he doesn't seem to belong. But Sticky can ball. And basketball might just be his ticket out, if he can only realize that he doesn't have to be the person everyone else expects him to be.

It's July in New York City, and aspiring filmmaker Wes Auckerman has just arrived to start his summer term at NYU. While shooting a séance at a psychic's in the East Village, he meets a mysterious, intoxicatingly beautiful girl named Annie.

Avaline Hall is no ordinary girl. She's a student at Blythewood Academy, an elite boarding school that trains young women to defend human society from the shadowy forces that live among us. After the devastating events of her first year at Blythewood, Ava is eager to reunite with her friends - and with Raven, the compelling but elusive winged boy who makes her pulse race. She soon discovers, though, that the sinister Judicus van Drood hasn't finished wreaking havoc on Blythewood.

Before that morning, these were the words most often used to describe straight-A student and star soccer player Devon Davenport: responsible, hardworking, mature. But all that changes when the police find Devon home sick from school as they investigate the case of an abandoned baby.

In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: To cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Tracy Kidder’s magnificent account shows how one person can make a difference in solving global health problems through a clear-eyed understanding of the interaction of politics, wealth, social systems, and disease.

When Emma Sasha Silver loses her eyesight in a nightmare accident, she must relearn everything from walking across the street to recognizing her own sisters to imagining colors. One of seven children, Emma used to be the invisible kid, but now it seems everyone is watching her. And just as she's about to start high school and try to recover her friendships and former life, one of her classmates is found dead in an apparent suicide. Fifteen and blind, Emma has to untangle what happened and why - in order to see for herself what makes life worth living.

Elena is lost in the shuffle between her three overachieving siblings. But now that she’s on her own for a whole semester, she intends to keep the spotlight on herself - and Spain is just the place to do it. But Elena has always been more comfortable writing plays than starring in them, and she’s beginning to realize that keeping out of the spotlight has its perks, too....

Nori Tanaka is thrilled to be studying abroad in Tokyo, Japan, but it isn't exactly what she had imagined. She expected tranquil gardens and swoopy-roofed houses, not concrete and neon. And everyone assumes that, with her traditional Japanese features, she's a native instead of the naïve Japanese-American that she really is. Even Erik, a gorgeous German student, mistakes Nori for Japanese, and treats her like a personal tour guide. Nori is sure that he'll like her for who she is once he gets to know her, so what harm can come of temporarily pretending to be Japanese?

Being a hefty, deaf newcomer almost makes Will Halpin the least popular guy at Coaler High. But when he befriends the only guy less popular than him, the dork-namic duo has the smarts and guts to figure out who knocked off the star quarterback. Will can’t hear what’s going on, but he’s a great observer. So, who did it? And why does that guy talk to his fingers? And will the beautiful girl ever notice him? (Okay, so Will’s interested in more than just murder...).

With her martyr-doctor mother gone to save lives in some South American country, Poe Holly suddenly finds herself on the suburban doorstep of the father she never knew, who also happens to be a counselor at her new high school. She misses Los Angeles. She misses the guys in her punk band. Weirdly, she even misses the shouting matches she used to have with her mom.

Seventeen-year-old Nicole dreams of spending the rest of her life with her boyfriend, Nate. So when she finds herself on her way to Paris to study abroad without him, she’s less than thrilled. Paris is filled with cars that move at the speed of light, edible snails, and a language Nicole can’t speak or read. Worst of all, Nicole feels lost without Nate. She’s not sure she’s capable of finding joie de vivre on her own, but with the help of some new friends - and a certain handsome Frenchman - Nicole might find Paris as sweet as a café au lait after all.

Siena Bernstein is leaving her yoga mat behind for a semester of study abroad in Munich. She’s thrilled with the prospect of a German adventure (her horoscope is encouraging as well), but she hopes to make more than just her dreams come true while she’s there. Siena’s dad, who passed away when she was a baby, kept a "carpe diem" list - sort of his top-10 adventurous things to do. He completed all but one of the tasks - going to Germany to thank the man who helped smuggle his family past the Berlin Wall.

Studying abroad isn't at all like Kelly thought it would be. Instead of shopping for fine Italian leather and living in an apartment with a view of the Colosseum, she is stuck in a stuffy dorm room with three other girls and is sharing one shower with the entire floor! This is not the bella Roma that she'd dreamed of. But there is one part of Italy that Kelly doesn't mind - Joe, a really cute guy who's in the study abroad program, too.

For 17-year-old Delk Sinclair, studying abroad in Ireland means one thing: escape. Delk is tired of hearing about her friends' debutante parties, watching her pregnant stepmother redecorate her mother's house, and having to smile sweetly even though she doesn't think she'll ever get over losing her mother. Ireland is Delk's chance to be happy.

Marina has been waiting her whole life to get out on the open sea. And now she's studying abroad in the Caribbean. She loves the feel of the sun on her face, the sand between her toes, and the island music swaying over her. And even better, she's getting hands-on marine biology experience. But while her experiences tell her she's in exactly the right place, her boyfriend wants her home in Vermont. And her distractingly cute Aussie boatmate couldn't disagree more. As the island heat rises, Marina must decide once and for all where her heart is - on land or at sea.

Swede escape! Calista Swanson has begun her study abroad semester in Stockholm, Sweden, and she couldn’t be happier! There’s finally some distance between her and the constant piano-playing of her annoying sister Suzanne. Calista isn’t at all focused, but she always has her friends, and a boyfriend, by her side. Jonas, who’d been an exchange student at her high school in Wisconsin, lives in Stockholm. He’s the main reason Calista is studying in Sweden. Calista loves Sweden from the moment she arrives, but...why hasn’t Jonas called?