Thirteen-year-old Milly should be thrilled. It’s Oktoberfest weekend in her riverfront town — and that means no school on Friday! But this year the stars seemed to be aligned against her. Her mom may be losing her beloved job nearby, her dad (a man she barely even knows) is back in town with a balloon and an embarrassing outfit, and, worst of all, she’s the only one of her friends who has yet to kiss a boy. It’s shaping up to be a long couple of days...

Bloom takes place largely on Saturday, October 16, as it follows Milly from morning to night. She prepares breakfast for her mom and cleans up a blighted corner of town with her school club. She then experiences (for better and for worse) all the Oktoberfest has to offer: she has lunch in “Deutschhausen”, sings German songs on stage (dressed up as “Fritz”) with the school choir, and, together with her best friends, hatches a plan to track down a certain Frankfurter, a boy in a floppy hat who is never seen without his telescope. Who is he? Does he have anything to do with the town’s “haunted house”? And could he possibly be the boy Milly’s lips have been waiting for?

By nightfall and the evening fireworks, Milly learns that life’s a bit messier than she had bargained for. But with the help of her friends (and her unusual lucky charm), Milly just might manage to make some fireworks of her own…

“The characters, location, and narrative voice are all so specific and inviting that the pages fly by, bearing the reader through the boundless chaos of late tweendom… An imaginative, heartwarming tale of love and community.” —Kirk’s Reviews

“These pictures were supposed to be for them.”

This is how Simon begins telling the story of his final three years of high school. The graduation ceremony has just ended, and instead of celebrating with Benji and Hailey, he’s home in his room looking at the photo album he put together that was to be their gift.

Simon picked up photography during his sophomore year—the year he, Benji, and Hailey became best friends—and spent the next three years honing his craft and documenting their lives together: learning French, hanging out at their favorite café, Le Chat Noir, spending time at Hailey’s house, goofing around out at the park, and just plain growing up. They were inseparable, even after Benji and Hailey became a couple. For all three of them, life could have continued like that forever. But midway through their senior year (and midway through the novel), their world is shattered when Hailey learns that she is pregnant. What follows is a cross-country road trip in search of an abortion.

Narrated as an album of imaginary photographs, “I’ll Go On” captures the lives of three friends as they navigate their teen years and, ultimately, their way clear across America in an attempt to salvage their friendship and their innocence.

“A well-conceived novel that delves into some potentially important issues for young adults.” —Kirkus Reviews

The six stories:

Fighting Warriors: How a young freshman is initiated into the world of high school football and his first party.

Forever: How a small community tries to piece together the events surrounding the death of a disabled veteran.

Travis & Chuckles: How a young boy tries to cope with the loss of his father who died serving in Afghanistan.

Follow the Arrow: How unemployment causes a man to lose it through his fear of losing everything.

Burn Pit: How family and friends at a summer barbecue are suddenly confronted with the world beyond their backyard.

Warm Body: How a mother and father lose their son to a war then do whatever they can to keep his soul alive.