The Killer’s Tears Anne-Laure Bondoux, 2006

A young boy, Paolo, and the man who murdered his parents, Angel, gradually become like father and son as they live and work together on the remote Chilean farm where Paolo was born.

Good Girls Laura Ruby, 2006

Sixteen-year-old high school senior Audrey is humiliated when a compromising photograph of her is sent around her school, but she discovers a toughness within her that she never knew she had.

Just Listen: a novel Sarah Dessen, 2006

Isolated from friends who believe the worst because she has not been truthful with them, sixteen-year-old Annabel finds an ally in classmate Owen, whose honesty and passion for music help her to face and share what really happened at the end-of-the-year party that changed her life.

Make Lemonade Virginia Euwer Wolff, 1993

In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother.

Freak Show James St. James, 2007

Having faced teasing that turned into a brutal attack, Christianity expressed as persecution, and the loss of his only real friend when he could no longer keep his crush under wraps, seventeen-year-old Billy Bloom, a drag queen, decides the only way to become fabulous again is to run for Homecoming Queen at his elite, private school near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Keeping the Moon Sarah Dessen, 1999

Fifteen-year-old Colie, a former fat girl, spends the summer working as a waitress in a beachside restaurant, staying with her overweight and eccentric Aunt Mira, and trying to explore her sense of self.

Battle Dress Amy Efaw, 2005

As a newly arrived freshman at West Point, seventeen-year-old Andi finds herself gaining both confidence and self esteem as she struggles to get through the grueling six weeks of new cadet training known as the Beast.

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things Carolyn Mackler, 2003

Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.

The Grooming of Alice Phyllis Naylor, 2000

During the summer between eighth and ninth grades, Alice and her friends Pamela and Elizabeth decide to improve themselves through exercise.

Getting It Alex Sanchez, 2006

Hoping to impress a sexy female classmate, fifteen-year-old Carlos secretly hires gay student Sal to give him an image makeover, in exchange for Carlos's help in forming a Gay-Straight Alliance at their Texas high school.

Make Me Over: 11 Stories of Transformation Marilyn Singer, 2005

Presents a collection of 11 stories about change, makeover, and the transformations of human experience, both inside and out.