Rebecca Jenshak
Faking for Now
A grounded look at the exhaustion of code-switching and the specific bravery required to drop the mask in a high school setting.
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Paper Covers Rock
by Jenny Hubbard
Young adult · ages 14–18 · 820L
A searing, unflinching look at complicity and silence in a boarding-school community after a student's suicide—important reading for teens ready for grief and moral complexity, but not cathartic.
Guardian of the Dead
by Karen Healey
Young adult · ages 14–18 · 820L
A genuinely original YA fantasy rooted in Māori culture and grief—atmospheric and morally complex, without the melodrama that sinks most teen paranormal books.
Icebreaker
by A. L. Graziadei
Young adult · ages 14–18 · 800L · 2022
A sincere coming-out story grounded in the specific culture of competitive hockey—not preachy, and the teenage voices ring true; best for readers ready to sit with tension rather than guaranteed happy endings.