New Releases by Janet Tashjian

Larry (otherwise known as Josh) is in the doldrums, but after meeting a spiritual guru at Walden Pond who convinces him to join his study group, he starts to question his grasp of reality.

Those were the magic words and Beth knew it. How many times had I uttered that phrase to Ms. Robinson in guidance, the standard answer for what I wanted to do with my life? CHANGE THE WORLD. Did I still have the strength and determination to get it together and try to make a difference? Was it my destiny, my vocation? Or was I just trying to impress a girl? As I looked at Beth, I wondered if the reason why even mattered. The indefatigable Larry is back, and this time he takes on the American political system After falling off the wagon and becoming what he so clearly and strongly resisted-a consumer-Josh Swensen (aka Larry) finds himself in a hyper-paranoid state of no return. That is, until he's kidnapped and coaxed into resurfacing as his old persona. Before long, Larry is back on the scene with much more on his mind than a gospel Web site-this time Larry wants to affect change in government. What starts out as a campaign to get the younger population to vote turns into a run for the presidency. Can Larry really take on George Bush? In this very smart, very witty novel, Janet Tashjian brings the political world to the forefront and explores it from many different points of view.

A hard-hitting novel that breaks open the gritty world of teen relationship abuse, by the author of The Gospel According to Larry "Unlike Abby, I hadn't had a boyfriend since Peter last year, and even that was stretching the definition of boyfriend way past anything Webster would recognize. I had better luck holding the attention of a roomful of people in a comedy club than a guy-I couldn't decide if that was good or just plain pathetic." Seventeen-year-old Becky Martin-smart, funny, ambitious-aspires to be a stand-up comic. While setting out to make her goal a reality, she meets Kip Costello, a rising star in the San Francisco comedy-club scene. And what could be better than an intense boyfriend who cares about every detail of her life? But Becky soon discovers a darker side to Kip, where emotional and physical abuse grow hand-in-hand. As the relationship goes from loving to controlling, Becky must find the courage to get help before it's too late. In this powerful novel, Janet Tashjian tackles the difficult and complex subject of teen relationship abuse from the viewpoints of both the victim and the perpetrator, showing that there are no easy answers for either-but many brave survivors.

Becky ist glücklich verliebt. Aber allmählich stellt sie fest, dass Kip ein Kontrollfreak ist, der Macht über sie haben will. Als er sie bei seinen Wutausbrüchen wiederholt verletzt, verlässt sie ihn. Aber als Kip sich geläutert zeigt, willigt sie in ein Treffen ein, das schwerwiegende Folgen hat.

Monica, a fourteen-year-old perfectionist and word game expert, tries to break free from all of the suffocating rules in her life by creating a game for living called Multiple Choice.

Computer-literate, twelve-year-old Tru keeps an electronic diary where she documents her desire to cure her handicapped twin brother and her plan to create a television show.