Emily Franklin

Brendan Halpin

Lucas and Tessa have always had a close friendship. So it's no surprise when Lucas finally realizes his true feeling for Tessa and he asks her to Prom. What no one expected, especially Lucas, was for Tessa to come out as a lesbian-or for Tessa's decision to wear a tuxedo and escort her female crush to Prom, to spark a firestorm of controversy. Humiliated and confused, Lucas must decide if he should stand on the sidelines or if he should stand by his friend to make sure that Tessa Masterson will go to Prom.

Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom

Fans of romance don't need to look any further than the fauxmance brewing between teen idols Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers-known on their hit TV show as Jenna and Jonah, next-door neighbors flush with the excitement of first love. But it's their off-screen relationship that has helped cement their fame, as passionate fans follow their every PDA. They grace the covers of magazines week after week. Their fan club has chapters all over the country. The only problem is their off-screen romance is one big publicity stunt, and Charlie and Fielding can't stand to be in the same room. Still, it's a great gig, so even when the cameras stop rolling, the show must go on, and on, and on. . . . Until the pesky paparazzi blow their cover, and Charlie and Fielding must disappear to weather the media storm. It's not until they're far off the grid of the Hollywood circuit that they realize that there's more to each of them than shiny hair and a winning smile.

Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance

After moving to a Massachusetts boarding school where her father is the new principal, high-school sophomore and aspiring singer Love Bukowski learns some lessons about friendship and romance.

The Principles of Love

In this original collection, critically acclaimed female writers pull back the curtain on being twenty-something. Entertaining and enlightening, this anthology speaks honestly about that unique time in life when expectations are not always realized, yet surprises are plentiful and thrilling.

26 Truths About Life in Your Twenties

It's a Wonderful Lie

An unlikely romance develops between a science-minded girl who is determined to reclaim her reputation and a boy with Asperger's Syndrome.

a novel

The half life of planets

Side A: Laney's Going Solo Laney has just finished graduate school in California and sees her cross-country drive as the perfect chance to reflect on the past before facing her future back East. With 3,000 miles ahead of her and a box of mix tapes as her only companion, she envisions a trip spent reminiscing; whether it's her first camp kisses, high school parties and crushes, or college loves and losses, Laney's most treasured memories -- good and bad -- are all just a song away. Side B: A Change of Tune Laney's mother, in town for graduation, thinks a mother-daughter road trip sounds like much more fun than going it alone -- and Laney can hardly refuse. Soon, she's giving her mother a crash course not only in pop music of the '70s and '80s but also in her own life...for somehow Mom doesn't know her daughter as well as she'd like to. Together, as America whizzes by, Laney and her mother are turning up the volume of their relationship...and learning that there's nothing more revealing than the soundtrack of our lives.

Liner Notes

In this modern twist on the Cyrano story, talented and witty Cyrie Bergerac, a high school senior cursed with an enormous nose, has a secret crush on her popular friend Eddie Roxanninoff.

At face value

Summer of Love

Having left boarding school to attend the London Academy of Drama and Music, aspiring singer Love Bukowski feels she's living a dream, but it isn't long before she finds herself struggling to find her focus in the midst of life-altering events.

Love from London

A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age: How do you define family? Jenny Fitzgerald is an artist who never fit in with her sports-obsessed parents and siblings. Still, she loves her family—even if she doesn’t relate to them. Even if, unlike her younger siblings, Jenny’s father is Donor 142. She’s always known the truth, but before now, it hasn’t seemed to matter much. But this summer—her sixteenth—is different. Where does Jenny really belong? Her parents don’t understand her artwork (and her boss at the studio isn’t even convinced she has talent), her twin sisters are so close it hurts (and it’s good at hurting Jenny), and she’s not entirely sure why she has a crush on jock Tate Brodeur (not that he’s noticed her . . . yet). To find her true self, Jenny begins to search for the one person who might really understand her—someone biologically connected. With Tate’s help, Jenny consults the Donor Sibling Registry, and before she knows it, she has discovered a half sibling. Alexa is witty, impulsive, and desperate to meet. Jenny’s convinced her genetic other half is the key to having a family, but when Alexa shows up unannounced, Jenny’s world changes in ways she never could have predicted.

The Other Half of Me

"What a holiday! No pestilence, no slavery, no locusts, no cattle disease or atonement. No synagogue, no guilt, no mortar, and no real lesson to be absorbed and passed down to my Jewish offspring. Thank God," writes Joshua Braff, one of eighteen Jewish writers who extol, excoriate, and expand our understanding of this most merry of Jewish holidays. These essays, by Adam Langer, Tova Mirvis, Steve Almond, Eric Orner, and others, range from the comedic to the snarky, the poignant to the poetic, and includes such topics as the jealousy experienced in December when the rest of America is celebrating Christmas (we never get to join in the reindeer games!); the problem parents have dampening their children's desire for more presents (call it Greedikah!); and the weight gain associated with eating 432 latkes in eight nights (dayenu, enough!). Whether your Chanukahs were spent singing "I have a Little Dreidel" or playing the "Maoz Tzur" on the piano, whether your family tradition included a Christmas tree or a Chanukah bush, whether the fights among your siblings over who would light the menorah candles rivaled the battles of the Maccabees, or even if you haven't a clue who the Maccabees were, this little book proves there are as many ways to celebrate Chanukah as there are ways to spell it.

and other holiday dilemmas

How to Spell Chanukah

The Gilmore Girls meets The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in this fun, sophisticated teen novel about the lovable Love Bukowski. First in a brand-new series. The "movie version" of Love Bukowski's life is picture perfect. She can roll out of bed and be at class in her new prep school within minutes because she lives in an amazing house on Hadley Hall Campus, where her Dad just happens to be the principal. And though she's just joined the ranks of the nation's future leaders and lushes of America, they've all become her best friends. Gorgeous upperclassmen crowd around her doorstep just to catch a glimpse of her performing her original songs. Life is sweet! Unfortunately, the not-so-glamorous reality of her life is that her Dad is the principal of the this prototypical New England prep school. Friends are hard to come by, and the only guys who come near her front door are the ones she wants to swat away. Not that there's a shortage of Hadley hotties; it's just that the one Love's singled out is an utterly incredible and totally unattainable senior. Now, Love will have to figure out the true meaning of her name to make her reality as awesome as her fantasies.

Ring in the holiday with eighteen writers who extol, excoriate, and expand our understanding of this most merry of Jewish festivals as they offer up funny, irreverent, and, yes, even nostalgic takes on a holiday that holds a special place in Jewish hearts . . . and stomachs. Pieces by Jonathan Tropper, Jennifer Gilmore, Steve Almond, Joanna Smith Rakoff, Adam Langer, and others address pressing issues: what is the weight gain associated with eating 432 latkes in eight nights? Offer joyous gratitude: “What a holiday! No pestilence, no slavery, no locusts, no cattle disease, or atonement. Thank God.” And afford tender truths: “You are reminded of your real gifts: a family you get to come home to.” Whether your family tradition included a Christmas tree or a Chanukah bush, whether the fights among your siblings rivaled the battles of the Maccabees, or even if you haven’t a clue who the Maccabees were, this little book illustrates the joys, frustrations, and small miracles of the season.

18 Writers Celebrate 8 Nights of Lights

How to Spell Chanukah...And Other Holiday Dilemmas

A Novel in Stories

Early Girls

Heather Swain

America's most acclaimed writers express the confusion, elation, apprehension, and joy of pregnancy and childbirth. Contributors include Steve Almond, Heidi Julavits, JT Leroy, Ann Packer, Arthur Bradford, and many others.

The Big Book of Pregnancy and Parenting Fiction - Volume I

Before

The Girls' Almanac chronicles the lives of Jenna and Lucy—two thirty-something women who desperately long for a true friend—as well as the lives of the women and men who have touched them: friends, lovers, parents, and neighbors. Set across the Northeast—through suburban neighborhoods, preppy camps, island resorts, and Ivy League colleges—as well as far flung locales like Ecuador and Iceland, The Girls' Almanac traces the friendships of women willing to risk both self-consciousness and intimacy, loss and betrayal, in pursuit of a proper best friend. Exploring the fascinating closeness and distance that female friendships encompass, The Girls' Almanac reveals the map of Jenna and Lucy's interconnected lives, and ultimately their pathways to each other.

The Girls' Almanac

A Novel

DIVDIVLove finally connects with her mother—and finds her whole world turned upside down/div Big changes are afoot for Love Bukowski. Just when she meets her half-sister for the first time in Los Angeles, she gets a call from her long-lost mother and hops a plane back to Martha’s Vineyard. Love is ready to embrace the new and exciting steps toward her senior year—but in Massachusetts, she finds more than she bargained for. Her mom is still not there, her boyfriend, Charlie, has changed from a down-to-earth guy into someone she’s not sure she knows anymore, and her old flame Jacob is wearing his heart on his short-sleeved tee. She could use some advice, but her dad doesn’t have all the answers. Arabella’s in California, and her best buddy Chris has distractions of his own. Only one woman can clear things up—one who’s never been a part of Love’s life before. DIV/div/div

Labor of Love

DIVDIVSpringtime blooms, but for Love Bukowski, life at home is chilly/div After an incredible semester at the London Academy of Drama and Music, Love Bukowski is back at Hadley Hall. Unfortunately, it feels as though her fabulous British life (and boyfriend) are on hold. Love wants only to be at Aunt Mable’s side during her fight with breast cancer. But Love’s English boyfriend, Asher, suddenly doesn’t seem to want to talk to her, and her ex-boyfriend Jacob has popped back into her life. Love’s dad is struggling with the way she’s changed (i.e., grown up), and Aunt Mable has new information about Love’s mysterious mother. Love still longs for security—but maybe home is not the place to find it. /div

Emily Franklin

Books

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