New Releases by Diane Tullson

In this high-interest novel for middle readers, fourteen-year-old Taz is dealing with her parents’ divorce and trying to win a cooking competition.

Seventeen-year-old Daniel’s new girlfriend says she loves him, that she’d do anything for him. She makes Daniel feel like anything is possible. So he ignores her lies. It’s not like Cyn is a bad person. Then Daniel finds out that Cyn has been using him to move drugs across the border. Foolproof is a tough book about the consequences of gang life that asks readers to consider the line between taking risks and taking lives. Daniel crosses that line and learns a hard lesson—that no one ever thinks they are the bad guy.

Daniel and his best friend get caught up in a postgame riot.

This Teaching Guide provides age-appropriate discussion questions and lessons about literary devices, relevant vocabulary, grammar points and more.

Lucas rarely sees his father. On a trip to reconnect on the remote north coast, Lucas discovers that kinship goes beyond blood, and that while he can't pick his relatives, he can find his own community.

This Teaching Guide provides age-appropriate discussion questions and lessons about literary devices, relevant vocabulary, grammar points and more.

In these novellas, set in Haida Gwaii on British Columbia's north coast, three young adult narrators explore what home means to them. In the first two novellas, teens come home to Haida Gwaii having never been there. In the third, a teen prepares to leave Haida Gwaii for the first time. The novellas describe three rites of passage, both loosening and strengthening of family ties, and the meaning of place, especially an ancient, relatively unspoiled place, in the lives of three young people. With high-interest story lines and accessible language, the novellas are written for young adults including those reluctant to read because of a low reading level, lack of interest, or insufficient time. Each narrator plays a supporting role in another story. The novellas can be read in any order. FIRST BREATH Sumi is a savvy survivor of street life in Vancouver. When she is sent to live in Haida Gwaii, Sumi learns what family, present and past, means to her. Her younger cousin, Eril, awakens in Sumi a sense of kin, and for the first time since the death of her mother, Sumi realizes the value of caring for a loved one, and herself. SEA CHANGE A fishing trip in Haida Gwaii means Lucas will finally spend some time with his father. Instead, his father leaves Lucas with a lodge worker, Sumi. In a shooting accident, Sumi is injured, and Lucas must navigate treacherous waters to reach medical help. The connection Lucas finds with Sumi reveals the promise of a place for himself in Haida Gwaii, and shows him that he is able to create a sense of family, with or without his father. PEREGRINE SKY Eril has always lived in Haida Gwaii and she can hardly contemplate going away to university. But it seems her boyfriend, Lucas, feels only the pull of Vancouver. Then Eril's brother and father go missing in a fishing boat, and the crisis casts a new perspective on Eril's relationship with Lucas, and with Haida Gwaii. For Eril, her journey home begins by leaving the only home she knows.

Marlie Peters joins a new crowd, but they soon begin to scare her when they decide to get back at the rest of the school by playing a vicious practical joke.

Seventeen-year-old Corbin plays hockey and is known as a scrapper on and off the ice. Fighting makes him feel strong. Corbin's friend, Darius, is socially adept and popular, and Darius's reckless risk-taking makes Corbin feel alive. With Rubee, a girl both boys like, Darius crosses a line, and after a party at Riley Park, Darius and Corbin are attacked. Darius is killed; Corbin is seriously injured. Corbin fights his clouded memory—he can't identify the assailants. He fights his weakened body—he can no longer play hockey. He fights the loss of his friend. But when he gives up the fight, he finds strength in acceptance. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for teen readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read! The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

This Teaching Guide provides age-appropriate discussion questions and lessons about literary devices, relevant vocabulary, grammar points and more.

Some days it's just easier not to go to school at all. Adam has been slacking off lately, but today he stuck around to see his girlfriend. When Josh, who has been bullied mercilessly, brings a gun to school, the building is locked down and Adam is forced to risk everything to save himself and to find Zoe before Josh does. Calling on reserves he didn't know he had, Adam could end up a hero—or a victim. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for teen readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!

This Teaching Guide provides age-appropriate discussion questions and lessons about literary devices, relevant vocabulary, grammar points and more.

Tej and Liam are going snowboarding. When they take a shortcut over a treacherous logging road and have an accident, their adventure becomes more about survival than fresh powder. Tracked by a hungry bear, while trying to outrun the weather without any food, Tej and Liam learn about their friendship and what it will take to survive. When Tej is hurt, Liam decides he has to go for help—alone. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for teen readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!

This Teaching Guide provides age-appropriate discussion questions and lessons about literary devices, relevant vocabulary, grammar points and more.

CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens, 2008 Kas fights to conceal her dangerous secret. Kas has everything a teenager could possibly want. Away from home for the first time, and attending a prestigious art school, she makes friends with a model and aspiring actress, Marin, and meets Jacob, a handsome young musician. Her future is bright and promising. But Kas is hiding a secret--a secret so dangerous that it threatens to destroy not only her friendships, but also her own future. Diane Tullson has written a powerful, coming-of-age novel about eating disorders, and of the vulnerable teenager who fights to conceal her secret from her friends. Zero is a realistic portrayal of a very subtle disease that challenges readers to figure out just when they should have recognized thesymptoms of anorexia and bulimia. The novel includes an afterword that outlines the warning signs of anorexia and bulimia, as well as the common misconceptions about the victims of eating disorders.

Libby doesn't want to go on a yearlong sailing adventure with her mother and stepfather, Duncan. Modern-day pirates attack, killing Duncan and leaving her mother seriously injured. Only Lilly is left to help her mother and find safety.

In this gripping story, the author of the critically acclaimed "Edge" explores teen alcoholism and demonstrates a keen awareness of what drives ordinary teenagers to trouble and what makes them withdraw from the world.

Confronting his family's cruelty and his friend's fear of a deadly disease, Gavin learns that life is often unfair.