Recommendations based on "Jinx of the Loser"

Now a major motion picture: Love, Simon, starring Nick Robinson and Katherine Langford!William C. Morris Award Winner: Best Young Adult Debut of the Year * National Book Award Longlist"A remarkable gift of a novel."—Andrew Smith, author of Grasshopper Jungle"I am so in love with this book."—Nina LaCour, author of Hold Still"Feels timelessly, effortlessly now."—Tim Federle, author of Better Nate Than Ever"The best kind of love story."—Alex Sanchez, Lambda Award-winning author of Rainbow Boys and Boyfriends with GirlfriendsSixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he's pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he's never met.Incredibly funny and poignant, this twenty-first-century coming-of-age, coming out story—wrapped in a geek romance—is a knockout of a debut novel by Becky Albertalli.Plus don't miss Yes No Maybe So, Becky Albertalli's and Aisha Saeed's heartwarming and hilarious new novel, coming in 2020!

Love, Simon Meets Friday Night Lights In This Feelgood Lgbtq+ Romance About A Trans Teen Torn Between Standing Up For His Rights And Staying Stealth. 'a Sharply Observant And Vividly Drawn Debut. I Loved Every Minute I Spent In This Story' - Becky Albertalli Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris Is A Proud Nerd, An Awesome Big Brother And A Messi-in-training. He's Also Transgender. After Transitioning At His Old School Leads To A Year Of Bullying, Spencer Gets A Fresh Start At Oakley, The Most Liberal Private School In Ohio. At Oakley, Spencer Seems To Have It All: More Accepting Classmates, A Decent Shot At A Starting Position On The Boy's Soccer Team, Great New Friends, And Maybe Even Something More Than Friendship With One Of His Teammates. The Problem Is, No One At Oakley Knows Spencer Is Trans - He's Passing. So When A Discriminatory Law Forces Spencer's Coach To Bench Him After He Discovers The 'f' On Spencer's Birth Certificate, Spencer Has To Make A Choice: Cheer His Team On From The Sidelines Or Publicly Fight For His Right To Play, Even If It Means Coming Out To Everyone - Including The Guy He's Falling For.

“Laura Steven simultaneously destroyed the patriarchy and made me laugh so hard I choked. I will protect Izzy O'Neill with my life.” —Becky Albertalli, author of SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDABitingly funny and shockingly relevant, The Exact Opposite of Okay is a bold, brave, and necessary read for fans of Louise O’Neill and Jennifer Mathieu.Eighteen-year-old Izzy O’Neill knows exactly who she is—a loyal friend, an aspiring comedian, and a person who believes that milk shakes and Reese’s peanut butter cups are major food groups. But after she’s caught in a compromising position with the son of a politician, it seems like everyone around her is eager to give her a new label: slut.Izzy is certain that the whole thing will blow over and she can get back to worrying about how she doesn’t reciprocate her best friend Danny’s feelings for her and wondering how she is ever going to find a way out of their small town. Only it doesn’t.And while she’s used to laughing her way out of any situation, as she finds herself first the center of high school gossip and then in the middle of a national scandal, it’s hard even for her to find humor in the situation.Izzy may be determined not to let anyone else define who she is, but that proves easier said than done when it seems like everyone has something to say about her.

"Stunning."--School Library Journal (starred review) "A pitch-perfect ode to friendship."--Good Morning America An ice skater without a rink. An artist without a place to draw. Two misfit girls who become unlikely friends over the course of an unusual week. Readers of Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Rebecca Stead, and Lisa Graff will adore Stick with Me. ?Izzy's best friend seems to be ditching her for the Queen of Mean, Daphne Toll. Izzy wants to fit in and have some real friends, but all she really has are her drawings. And then her family rents out their house during winter break for some extra cash--and that family's daughter is sleeping in Izzy's room and attending the same camp! Wren is focused on perfecting her ice-skating routine after tanking at sectionals last year. But when her sister qualifies for a life-changing treatment for her epilepsy, Wren is carted off to stay in a rented home near Boston. It doesn't help that she's forced to attend the local theater camp, where it seems like the mean girls have it out for her. Will Izzy and Wren's shared status as targets of Phoebe and Daphne bring them closer? Or will middle school drama prevent them from ever becoming friends? Jennifer Blecher, the author of the acclaimed Out of Place, writes with a pitch-perfect ear for tween girls about the ups and downs of middle school friendships. Told from dual perspectives, Stick with Me is a story about fitting in and figuring yourself out.

A moving story about unconventional love, bullying and being true to yourself. ‘I wish I wasn’t the weirdest sixteen-year-old guy in the universe.’ Felix would love to have been a number. Numbers have superpowers and they’re safe – any problem they might throw up can be solved. 'If I were a five, I’d be shaped like a pentagon ... there’d be magic in my walls, safety in my angles.' People are so much harder to cope with. At least that’s how it seems until Bailey Hunter arrives at school. Bailey has a stutter, but he can make friends and he’s good at judo. And Bailey seems to have noticed Felix: ‘Felix keeps to himself mostly, but there’s something about him that keeps drawing me in.’ Both boys find they’re living in a world where they can’t trust anyone, but might they be able to trust each other, with their secrets, their differences, themselves?

In case you’re wondering, this is not a love story. Chapters 28-44 of the heartbreaking debut novel, Solitaire. My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year – before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people – I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now. Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden. I don’t know what Solitaire are trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden.I really don’t. This incredible debut novel by outstanding young author Alice Oseman is perfect for fans of John Green, Rainbow Rowell and all unflinchingly honest writers.

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by debut author Joya Goffney is a story of an overly enthusiastic list maker who is blackmailed into completing a to-do list of all her worst fears. It's a heartfelt, tortured, contemporary YA high school romance. Fans of Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before and Kristina Forest's I Wanna Be Where You Are will love the juicy secrets and leap-off-the-page sexual tension. "A hilarious and swoonworthy story." --Kristina Forest, author of Now That I've Found You "A fun, emotionally rich romance with a sweet, imperfect character who will win your heart." --Liara Tamani, author of All the Things We Never Knew Quinn keeps lists of everything--from the days she's ugly cried, to "Things That I Would Never Admit Out Loud" and all the boys she'd like to kiss. Her lists keep her sane. By writing her fears on paper, she never has to face them in real life. That is, until her journal goes missing . . . Then an anonymous account posts one of her lists on Instagram for the whole school to see and blackmails her into facing seven of her greatest fears, or else her entire journal will go public. Quinn doesn't know who to trust. Desperate, she teams up with Carter Bennett--the last known person to have her journal--in a race against time to track down the blackmailer. Together, they journey through everything Quinn's been too afraid to face, and along the way, Quinn finds the courage to be honest, to live in the moment, and to fall in love. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection Epic Reads Recommended Pick at Target A Kirkus Children's Best Book of 2021

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets The Night Circus in this standout debut YA novel, about a boy who visits a magic-filled circus in his dreams in order to escape reality, where his trans identity remains a secret. An ideal next read for fans of Cemetery Boys. After an incident at his school leaves closeted trans teenager Asher Sullivan needing stitches, his mother betrays him in the worst possible way--she sends him to Catholic school for his senior year. Now he has to contend with hideous plaid skirts, cranky nuns, and #bathroomJesus. Nighttime brings an escape for Asher when he dreams of the Midnight Circus--the one place where he is seen for the boy he truly is. Too bad it exists only in his sleep. At least, that's what he believes until the day his annoyingly attractive trapeze rival, Apollo, walks out of his dreams and into his classroom. On the heels of this realization that the magical circus might be real, Asher also learns that his time there is limited. In his desperation to hang on to the one place he feels at home, Asher sets both worlds on a collision course that could destroy all the relationships he cares about most. Now he must decide how far he'll go to preserve the magical circus, even if it means facing his biggest challenge yet--coming out.

I have finally trapped a Sex God. He is mine, miney, mine, mine. There is a song in my heart and do you know what it is? It is that well-known chart topper "Robbie, oh Robbie, I . . . er . . . Lobbie You!!! I Do I Do!!!" Georgia Nicolson is now the girlfriend of the Sex God (aka Robbie), and everything should be perfect. But whether it's because her loony parents drag her off to Och Aye land (aka Scotland) or because she accidentally snogs old flame Dave the Laugh at a party, Georgia's life never turns out as planned! In this edition that combines the third and fourth volumes in the hilarious #1 New York Times best-selling series, Georgia may be about to become a shameless vixen! The hysterically funny third and fourth volumes of the best-selling Georgia Nicolson diaries: knocked out by my nunga-nungas and dancing in my nuddy-pants.

Emma Nash is back....and determined to work out the world of friendships and relationships once and for all (...ish). 'Great fun and full of laugh-out-loud moments. Perfect for fans of Holly Bourne'. Katy Birchall, author of the It Girl series Now she's in the sixth form, Emma's expecting life to be a breeze but when her best friend Steph suddenly has a boyfriend who she's spending more time with Emma's not sure what to do with herself. So Emma's got a mission in mind: making new friends. Signing up for the school fashion show seems like the perfect opportunity. Although soon, through a series of mishaps that are absolutely not Emma's fault (well, sort of), her world is teetering on the edge of disaster again. Would going back to creating a life for herself online really be so bad?