New Releases by Natasha Friend

From award-winning author Natasha Friend comes a compelling investigation of sexual harassment and the toxic and complicit structures of a small college town. Before the night of the Frat Fair, 15-year-old Nora Melchionda's life could have been a Gen-Z John Hughes movie. She had a kind-of boyfriend, a spot on the field hockey team, good grades, and a circle of close friends. Of course there were bumps in the road: she and her lifelong BFF Cam were growing apart and her mother was trying to clone her into wearing sensible khakis instead of showy short skirts. But none of that mattered, because Nora always had her dad, Rhett Melchionda, on her side. Rhett was not only Nora’s hero, but as the Athletic Director of Faber College, he was idolized by everyone she knew. Now, Nora would give anything to go back to that life. The life before whatever happened on the golf course. She doesn’t want to talk about it—not that she could, because she doesn’t remember anything—and insists that whatever happened was nothing. Cam, though, tries to convince Nora to look for evidence and report the incident to the police. And then there’s Adam Xu, who found Nora on the golf course and saw her at her most vulnerable. She ignores it all, hoping it will all go away. But when your silence might hurt other people, hiding is no longer an option. The Wolves Are Waiting begins in the aftermath of an attempted assault, but reaches farther than a story about one single night or one single incident. What Nora and her friends will uncover is a story that spans generations. But it doesn’t have to anymore.

Quinn is a teen who loves her family, skateboarding, basketball, and her friends, but after she's diagnosed with a condition called alopecia which causes her to lose all of her hair, her friends abandon her. Jake was once a star football player, but because of a freak accident—caused by his brother—he loses both of his legs. Quinn and Jake meet and find the confidence to believe in themselves again, and maybe even love.

Unable to cope with her father's alcoholism, thirteen year-old Sam corresponds with an older student, sharing her family problems and asking for advice.

Milo has two great moms, but he's never known what it's like to have a dad. When Milo's doctor suggests asking his biological father to undergo genetic testing to shed some light on Milo's extreme allergies, he realizes this is a golden opportunity to find the man he's always wondered about. Hollis's mom Leigh hasn't been the same since her other mom, Pam, passed away seven years ago. But suddenly, Leigh seems happy—giddy, even—by the thought of reconnecting with Hollis's half-brother Milo. Hollis and Milo were conceived using the same sperm donor. They met once, years ago, before Pam died. Now Milo has reached out to Hollis to help him find their donor. Along the way, they locate three other donor siblings, and they discover the true meaning of the other F-word: family.

The first month of school, thirteen-year-old Anna Collette finds herself... DUMPED by her best friend Dani, who suddenly wants to spend eighth grade "hanging out with different people." DESERTED by her mom, who's in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt. TRAPPED in a house with her dad, a new baby sister, and a stepmother young enough to wear her Delta Delta Delta sweatshirt with pride. STUCK at a lunch table with Shawna the Eyebrow Plucker and Sarabeth the Irish Stepper because she has no one else to sit with. But what if all isn't lost? What if Anna's mom didn't exactly mean to leave her? What if Anna's stepmother is cooler than she thought? What if the misfit lunch table isn't such a bad fit after all? With help from some unlikely sources, including a crazy girl-band talent show act, Anna just may find herself on the road to okay.

Man stelle sich vor, sein Gesicht zu verlieren ... Nicht sprichwörtlich, sondern in Wirklichkeit. Und mit dem Gesicht die Mauer, die man mühsam zum Eigenschutz errichtet hat, seine Schönheit, um die man immer beneidet wurde. Was bleibt einem dann noch? Ab 14.

What if you lost the thing that made you who you are? Lexi has always been stunning. Her butter-colored hair and perfect features have helped her attract friends, a boyfriend, and the attention of a modeling scout. But everything changes the night Lexi's face goes through a windshield. Now she's not sure what's worse: the scars she'll have to live with forever, or what she saw going on between her best friend and her boyfriend right before the accident. With the help of her trombone-playing, defiantly uncool older sister and a guy at school recovering from his own recent trauma, Lexi learns she's much more than just a pretty face.

Josie heeft Paul Tucci, haar vader, nooit ontmoet. Hij heeft haar moeder in de steek gelaten toen zij als tiener in verwachting raakte. Zijn familie wist zelfs niet eens dat hij vader zou worden. Althans, met dit verhaal is Josie opgegroeid. Maar dan verhuizen de ouders van Paul Tucci terug naar de stad. Hun komst roept vele vragen op bij Josie. Is alles wel gegaan zoals haar moeder haar heeft verteld? Als ze uiteindelijk ook Paul Tucci ontmoet, hoort ze een heel andere versie van het verleden. Wie vertelt de waarheid? Een ontroerende, humoristische jeugdroman over familie, geheimen en vriendschap. Paul Tucci. De naam raakt me in mijn hart. Ik moet echt even naar adem happen, want... nou ja, iets meer dan zestien jaar geleden heeft Paul Tucci mijn moeder zwanger gemaakt. Van mij. Hij zat in het eindexamenjaar, mijn moeder een klas lager. Toen ik zo groot was als een garnaaltje werd Pauls vader opeens overgeplaatst naar een bedrijf in Arizona en Paul verhuisde mee. Hoewel hij wist dat ik eraan zat te komen, heeft hij nooit meer iets van zich laten horen. Een prachtig verhaal voor een fi lm, toch? Meisje en jongen worden verliefd, vrijen met elkaar, meisje raakt zwanger, jongen verdwijnt plotseling van het toneel. Noem mij cynisch, maar na alles wat ik over Paul Tucci heb gehoord, is dit wel zoals ik het zie.

Josie's never met her dad, and that's fine with her. To Josie, Paul Tucci is just a guy who got her mom pregnant and then moved away. It all happened sixteen years ago, when Josie's mom was still a teenager herself. But now Paul Tucci is back in town, and Josie has to deal with not one but two men in her life - her father and her first boyfriend, who Josie fears will hurt her just like Paul hurt her mother.

In the world of thirteen-year-old girls, everything's fine—at least on the surface. Isabelle Lee is a typical, wisecracking, middle-of-the-pack girl who just happens to be dealing with some big issues. Her father has died and no one—especially her mother—wants to talk about it. Meanwhile, Isabelle's sister, who "used to be nine and charming," has messed everything up by ratting Isabelle out to their mom about her eating disorder. At school, there's Mr. Minx, the self-important (but really not bad) English teacher; Ashley Barnum, the prettiest girl around; and the lunchroom, where tables are turf in an all-eyes-open battle for social status. Isabelle has measured the distance to being cool and she thinks it's long shiny hair, a toothpaste smile, and perfectly broken-in size-zero jeans. Perfect is the story of one girl's attempt to cope with loss, define true friendship, and figure out the difference between appearances and reality.

From the author of PERFECT and LUSH, another novel that tells it like it is.The perils of dealing with a new stepfamily are illuminated with the same Blume-like heart and wit that Natasha Friend brought to PERFECT and LUSH.

Following the death of her father, a thirteen year old uses bulimia as a way to avoid her mother's and ten year old sister's grief, as well as her own.