Soledad lives in Mexico but works in California, making money to support her mother’s restaurant, even though her mother has died. An old friend helps her out, but how long can she continue to struggle before things change?
- Genre Guide
- Staff-Created List
Seattle Picks: Teen - Realistic Fiction
5 users like thisStories about school, sports, growing up, and life. MS = books for middle school readers. (Updated January 2025)
StaffLibrary Staff
The Seattle Public Library
25 items
- Aisha leaves her ballet company when the pressure and the racism become too much, joining her best friend’s art school. But racism appears there too, and she must find her own way to good mental health.
- It’s been 365 days since Leo’s older sister Nina was killed in a drunk driving collision, but Leo can’t remember anything, even though he was in the car too. Why won’t Nina’s boyfriend tell him what happened?
- Fred tries to adapt to her new family situation after her mom dies and her stepdad brings home his new girlfriend and her son, but when a group of refugees arrives in town, everyone will have to adapt, and no one will find it easy. MS
- Perry’s job at the tribal museum reveals that the museum curators have been using legal loopholes to retain the remains of her tribal ancestors, leading her to plan to take the remains back.
- After meeting on vacation, Carly, Daniella, Lainie, and Penny bonded tightly and always considered themselves to be summer sisters. When Carly dies suddenly though, the other three struggle to keep their friendship alive without her.
- After a mental health crisis, Eloise decides she is a loner, but if she wants to get into her college of choice, she must volunteer in the community and meet other people, but her new coworker Austin is far too sunny to be real.
- Effie plans to study multimedia at college, but she has to be sure it is accessible to her and her wheelchair. Her mom has always advocated for her, but now she must learn how to speak for herself.
- Avery and her parents move to rural Georgia to take care of her dying grandmother, but the tension between her mother and grandmother might break the family. With two new friends, Avery learns the racist history of the town may have a lot…
- Naomi and Kylie have been best friends forever, but their friendship is tested when Kylie calls the cops on some Black teen boys, and Naomi must reckon not only with Kylie’s behavior, but that of her whole racist family.
House Party
a Novel
Ten authors contribute ten stories about ten teens who arrive at the final house party of their senior year with their own particular, private goals. MS- Queer Indian-American Maya attends a conservative school, where she meets Juneau, a rich white girl who belongs to a secret society that uses art and pranks to subvert the school’s bigoted policies. But as Maya falls for Juneau, she…
- After losing his sister in a car crash, Kermit is invited to join a club where every member has lost someone close to them. There he bonds with his crush, Matt, but as they grow closer, Matt begins putting himself in danger to avoid his…
- After her mother’s death, Sarah must transfer out of her fine arts school to become the primary caregiver for her little brother. When another student, David, helps her catch up at her new school, she wonders if her responsibilities will…
- Alejandra plans to get through her senior year unnoticed, but microaggressions and outright racism at her school pile up until her best friend circulates a petition to get a teacher fired.
- Autistic and queer Ariana has sex at a party with Luis, but not willingly. When he starts spreading rumors about her, she finds herself bonding with other girls, even his ex, who have been wronged by him, and they plot their revenge…
- Mafi’s secret identity is Ghost, a mysterious vigilante who pranks other teens as a form of justice, but when one of her pranks reveals a family secret and jeopardizes her own family members in Afghanistan, she must face her real self.
- Marisol and her mom argued all the time about everything, right until her mom died in a car crash. Marisol’s grief only makes her mad at everything and everyone, but when she lands in juvie, she meets someone who helps her find herself.
- Véronica’s wants to become an aquatic performer at a local attraction, but her parents would never let her, due to her hip dysplasia, so she tries out to become a mermaid without their knowledge. MS
- Sal must help his alcoholic father maintain their roadside motel after his mother dies, and his best friend Noor tries to leave their small town for college despite her uncle’s intentions, but what can two immigrant teens do in a place…
You've viewed 20 of 25 items