Showing titles in Physical & Emotional Abuse

For as long as she can remember, Kylie Briscoe's been searching for the moon even though she has no idea why it soothes her. Placed in an impossible situation by her mother, Kylie cries for help. It brings rescuers and a new life, but it feels more like a death sentence when she is separated from her three-year-old sister Aliza, the only person Kylie's ever really loved.

It's Newfoundland, 1986. Fourteen-year-old Bun O'Keefe has lived a solitary life in an unsafe, unsanitary house. Her mother is a compulsive hoarder, and Bun has had little contact with the outside world. When Bun's mother tells Bun to leave one day, she does. Hitchhiking out of town, Bun ends up on the streets of St. John's, Newfoundland. Fortunately, the first person she meets is Busker Boy, a street musician who senses her naivety and takes her in. Together they live in a house with an eclectic cast of characters.

Some chains are meant to be broken...When Elise makes a fateful decision, her world is changed forever. Now she and her friends find themselves trapped with a deadly secret and they're running out of time. The clock is ticking. The palace is on the brink of a royal wedding and courtiers have journeyed from every corner of the realm. Torn between a life of servitude and the threat of capture, the friends are faced with a sudden decision, and once they make it, there will be no turning back. Will they stay in the palace or make a desperate bid for freedom?

Olivia Peters is over the moon when her literary idol, the celebrated novelist and much-adored local priest Mark D. Brendan, offers to become her personal writing mentor. But when Father Mark’s enthusiasm for Olivia’s prose develops into something more, Olivia’s emotions quickly shift from wonder to confusion to despair. Exactly what game is Father Mark playing, and how on earth can she get out of it?

After an injury forces Ria off the diving team, an unexpected friendship with Cotton, a guy on the autism spectrum, helps her come to terms with the abusive relationship she’s been in with her former coach.

Three junior high school girls accuse their music teacher of inappropriate actions. The story is told through the eyes of one of the accusers, Claire, who lives in the shadow of a disabled younger brother, and the teacher’s daughter Melody. Interwoven in the story are the problems the three accusers face in their own lives and the work Melody does at a horse farm where she helps disabled children - one of whom turns out to be Claire’s brother.

Junk. That's what the kids at school call Bobby Lang, mostly because his rundown house looks like a junkyard, but also because they want to put him down. Trying desperately to live under the radar at school—and at the home he shares with his angry, neglectful father—Bobby develops a sort of proud loneliness. The only buffer between him and the uncaring world is his love of the long, wooded trail between school and home. Life grinds along quietly and hopelessly for Bobby until he meets Rachel, an artist who sees him in a way no one ever has.

Isabel Ryans has fled Espera, leaving behind her identity as teen assassin the Moth. Now she’s trying to adjust to the reality of the outside world. But her grief and trauma are catching up with her, and surrounded by civilians who will never understand what life is like in the walled city, she feels more alone than ever. When a journalist is murdered nearby, suspicion falls on Isabel. And inside Espera’s walls, the abolitionist movement is gaining strength. When Isabel’s search for the killer leads to a reunion, she’s forced to decide whether she can really leave the city behind.

As the daughter of the wildly successful inspirational singer-author Skye - who died in a plane crash when Marnie was young - Marnie Skyedottir stands to inherit great wealth. But until she is old enough, she must survive a dreary life in private boarding school. She endures by escaping into an online role-playing game as much as possible, and steering well clear of the other girls. So when Marnie is kidnapped by someone who also claims to be Skye's daughter, she is terrified.

Seventeen-year-old Cassie Morgan lives with a time bomb (a.k.a. her stepfather, Dino Cavalli). To the public, Dino is a world-renowned violin player and composer. To Cassie, he’s an erratic, self-centered bully. And he’s getting worse: He no longer sleeps, and he grows increasingly paranoid. Before, Cassie was angry. Now she is afraid.

Loann's always wanted to be popular and pretty like her sister, Claire. So when Claire's ex-boyfriend starts flirting with her, Loann is willing to do whatever it takes to feel special even if that means betraying her sister. But as Loann slips inside Claire's world, she discovers that everything is not as it seems. Claire's quest for perfection is all-consuming, and comes at a dangerous price. And Loann is frightened she could lose the sister she's always idolized.

Keely planned to keep her head down at her new school - she isn't there to make friends or memories, she just wants to be left alone. In order to get into college, she is roped into a programme that involves camping in the Welsh wilderness with five over-keen try-hards. Her plan is to keep her head down, keep her mouth shut and get through the next few days. But Keely is running from something. Something that drove her family out of their home and to this quiet town.

Between the fast-paced New York City, a rural Mississippi town, and a charming Pennsylvania college campus filled with secrets, two young girls learn the consequences of growing up too quickly. Set in alternating sections two decades apart, the parallels between their lives and the unavoidable collision that is bound to happen is revealed. Father Figure is an emotional story filled with mystery, romance, and suspense.

Ce roman est l'histoire d'une fulgurante amitié qui tourne au drame. Charlène, jeune adolescente de 13 ans un peu effacée, entre en classe de cinquième. Dès le premier jour de la rentrée, Sarah, nouvelle dans l'établissement, fait sensation auprès de tous les élèves, séduits par cette fille à la personnalité magnétique. Charlène la regarde avec admiration et haine mélangées. Finalement les deux jeunes filles se lient d'amitié.

Sometimes heroes can be found in the most unlikely places. Fourteen-year-old Clarence Feather knows no world beyond desolate Mayfair Heights. Three years ago, his mother was killed before his eyes by a stray bullet. When his father becomes unable to keep the family afloat, Clarence is manipulated into running drugs. But he longs to be a good person, in spite of the seemingly impossible odds. Wandering through his neighborhood, Clarence meets Mona, a huge albino Great Dane. The two develop a deep bond.

Only women and girls are allowed in the Red Abbey, a haven from abuse and oppression. Maresi, a 13-year-old novice there, arrived in the hunger winter and now lives a happy life in the Abbey, protected by the Mother and reveling in the vast library in the House of Knowledge, her favorite place. Into this idyllic existence comes Jai, a girl with a dark past. She has escaped her home after witnessing the killing of her beloved sister. Soon the dangers of the outside world follow Jai into the sacred space of the Abbey.

Then: Ever since Mabby died while picking beans in their garden - with the pock-a-pock of a helicopter overhead - Valkyrie knows what her job is: hide in the underground den with her brother, Bo, while Da is working, because Those People will kill them like coyotes. One Year Ago: Those People have come. It has to be them; because when Valkyrie and Bo return from a lesson of alert and ready, everything is on fire and Da is gone. But they‘ve been trained by their Da for this....

When Lexi Green's older brother, Charlie, starts plotting a road trip to find a famous musician who's been reported missing, she's beyond confused. Her brother hasn't left the couch since his girlfriend broke up with him months ago - but he'll hop in a car to find some hipster rocker? Concerned at how he seems to be rebounding, Lexi decides to go along for the ride. Besides, Lexi could use the distraction. The anger and bewilderment coursing through her after getting dumped by her pretentious boyfriend, Seth, has left her on edge.

KIEDY WSZYSTKIE TAJEMNICE W KOŃCU WYCHODZĄ NA JAW… Paula wraca pamięcią do pewnego deszczowego lata, które zmieniło jej życie na zawsze. Wtedy to zginęła Sara, jej najlepsza przyjaciółka z dzieciństwa. Teraz po dłuższym czasie Paula odtwarza wszystkie zdarzenia. To właśnie tamtego lata zbliżyła się do Grześka, miejscowego rozrabiaki, który razem z Sarą i jej bratem przesiadywał w osiedlowej kanciapie. Pogoda była wyjątkowo niewakacyjna, a nastolatkowie znudzeni, gra w wyzwania i używki to za mało, by zapewnić dobrą zabawę… Co się wtedy stało?

Here is a gripping, chilling, beautifully observed tale of what a teenage girl will do to keep her friends, by one of Australia's finest writers. Growing up during the 1980s in the safe complacency of the Australian suburbs, Plum Coyle should be happy. But on the cusp of her 14th birthday - and on the fringe of her peer group - she lives in terror of the disapproval of her cruel and fickle girlfriends and, most of all, she hates her awkward, changing body with a passion.