Laurel imprint: 210 books

The room smells of sweat, smoke, beer, and longing. The music pulses, the lights flash, and Kata and Ana dance. For a moment the raucous crowd is tamed, and together the two girls soar above their lives. But then the deafening applause sends the dancers crashing down to earth, back to the gang...

In the final volume of the fresh and funny Girls Quartet, Ellie’s best friends do the unthinkable—bond without her—until the girls realize how to really be friends. Ellie knows the rule: Best friends always come before boys. But Russell isn’t just any old boy. He and Ellie are in love....

When 16-year-old Natalie Kaplan meets a new person, she knows right away what kind of dog they'd be. Natalie herself resembles an Ibizan hound—quiet, playful, loyal, smart, and above all, obedient. Actually, Natalie has been trained so well that sometimes she thinks her mother is secretly controlling...

THESE STORIES TAKE the reader to meet mochos; cholos; Mr. and Mrs. Special; Manny with his mysterious phone calls; Melly, who dreams of being the first girl to take the Dive; Andy and Ruthie, who find that being “boyfriend-girlfriend” takes on new meaning the night of the prom; and Chuy, who seems...

She's left her good Catholic girl ways behind . . . mostly. It is 1967, the Summer of Love, and Mary Margaret Hallinan has that itchy, squirmy feeling that there must be something more out there for her. Her new best friend, the glamorous Jane, says that boys are the ticket to a spectacular future....

RACHEL HAS JUST graduated from high school and thinks she knows everything. Well, maybe not quite everything. Then she meets the mysterious Mr. Preston, who offers her a live-in job looking after Grace—a brain injured woman with a lovely house, grasping sisters, feral neighbors, and a box full of...

From National Book Award Finalist, Mitali Perkins, comes a story about the magic of India’s monsoon season—“monsoon madness”—and all the change it brings to a teenage girl and her family.   Jasmine “Jazz” Gardner heads off to India during the monsoon season. The family trip is her mother’s...

Some might think Jay was cheated. By his mother, who walked out when he was 9. By his dad, who took a job a couple thousand miles away and let him stay above a bar in a one-room apartment. By the basketball coach, who saw his talent but chose youth over determination. And even Jay’s not sure whether...

Ever since she was a tiny child, Amy’s father’s friends have told her that her young, pretty mother is going to leave her. Of course Amy knows that could never happen—her parents love each other and her, so how could her mother ever leave? Then, one chilly afternoon, Amy’s mother never shows...

Samantha only wants to be loved. By her father, by her best friend, and now by the new boy at school, Farouk. The more time Sam spends with him, the more she can’t stop thinking about him. But she’s cautious, because people can hurt. To escape, Sam runs track at school, finishing every race, but...

During World War II, a group of American fighter pilots roamed the skies over China and Burma, menacing the Japanese war effort without letup. Flamboyant, daring, and courageous, they were called the Flying Tigers.  The Tigers, who had been recruited from the Army, Navy, and Marines, first saw action...

Barry can punch anyone hard enough to make them see a whole sky full of stars, though that's not really his style. Barry and Alby have been friends since the first grade. They've always protected one another. When Barry's pop dies, times are tough and the only thing Barry has of value is his...

IN Catwalk, DEBORAH GREGORY creates a new YA series that takes her famously upbeat urban voice and combines it with the appeal of Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model. Catwalk follows Pashmina, Felinez, Angora, and Aphro, four best friends at Manhattan’s Fashion International High School...

Thirteen-year-old Jesse leads a pretty boring life in just about the most boring place in the universe -- otherwise known as Ida, Texas. She cannot forget the death of her baby brother seven years ago, and how she just couldn't pray for him when he was sick. She never talks about it though, not even...