informed: the new normal
a resource page for teens (& anyone else who needs to know)
Fiction: Stories Can Be Real Life
Good Girls by Laura Ruby
Audrey is exploring her first love--or lust--with Luke. She doesn't really know what it is, but when a private picture of the two of them together surfaces after a party, this honor student must cope with the aftermath. The picture is forwarded to the entire school, and, once her parents see it, she has to decide who she really is and who she can count on.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth.
There's also a movie featuring a young Kristen Stewart, if you're interested.
Forever by Judy Blume
Katherine and Michael meet at a New Year's Eve party. They're attracted to each other and begin a relationship. Once they've decided their love is forever, they choose to make love. It's the beginning of an intense and exclusive relationship, with a future all planned. Until Katherine's parents insist that she and Michael put their love to the test with a summer apart...
Desire (Yaoi) by Maki Kazumi
Toru is a shy and quiet student who has a special crush on his close friend Ryoji, a popular member of the high school swim team. In front of Ryoji, Toru hides his feelings and acts as if he is just one of Ryoji's good friends, but out of the blue Ryoji confesses to Toru that he wants to try experimenting sexually with him. Toru, dazzled, can barely hide his secret desire for Ryoji and accepts his offer. As time passes, Toru's happiness begins to fade knowing that his affair with Ryoji was just a fling based out of sexual curiosity. Toru and Ryoji both use to hide their feelings from each other, but now they have discovered that they were not the only ones.
Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton
The statistics of the millions infected with HIV/AIDS in southern Africa find a human face in this gripping story of one teenager, Chanda Kabele, who sees the disease threaten her family and community. Far from case history, Chanda's immediate, first-person, present-tense narrative is neither sentimental nor graphic as it brings close the personal struggle with all its pain and loss, shame and guilt. Chanda's stepfather and baby stepbrother died of the disease. Now Mama may have it. No one will talk about the cause. Is Chandra infected?
The Pledge by Chandra Sparks Taylor
Raised in a strict household, sixteen-year-old Courtland Murphy never had a date... until basketball star Allen Benson asked her out. Now her new boyfriend is pressuring her to prove she loves him—by having sex. Everyone gives her different advice, from "do it!" to "you made a pledge, girl!" It would be so easy for Courtland to go all the way with Allen, but sometimes his charming personality leaves her wondering. Who knew being in love could be so confusing?
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, Will Grayson crosses paths with . . . Will Grayson. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high school stage. Told in alternating voices from two YA superstars, this collaborative novel features a double helping of the heart and humor that have won them both legions of fans.
Hero by Perry Moore
The last thing in the world Thom Creed wants is to add to his father’s pain, so he keeps secrets. Like that he has special powers. And that he’s been asked to join the League – the very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. But the most painful secret of all is one Thom can barely face himself: he’s gay. But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, who can control fire but not her anger; Typhoid Larry, who can make anyone sick with his touch; and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide; but they will have to learn to trust one another when they uncover a deadly conspiracy within the League. To survive, Thom will face challenges he never imagined. To find happiness, he’ll have to come to terms with his father’s past and discover the kind of hero he really wants to be.