Merci Suárez Changes Gears

She Persisted: Sonia Sotomayor

The Only Road

Midnight Without a Moon

The Day of the Pelican

Faith, Hope, and Ivy June

X: A Novel

Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere

Nora Lopez is seventeen during the infamous year 1977 in New York.

After a freezing winter, a boiling hot summer explodes with arson, a blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam, who is shooting young people on the streets seemingly at random.

Not only is the city a disaster, but Nora has troubles of her own: her brother, Hector, is growing more uncontrollable by the day, her mother is helpless to stop him, and her father is so busy with his new family that he only calls on holidays.

And it doesn’t stop there. The super’s after her mother to pay their overdue rent, and her teachers are pushing her to apply for college, but all Nora wants is to turn eighteen and be on her own. There is a cute guy who started working with her at the deli, but is dating even worth the risk when the killer especially likes picking off couples who stay out too late?

Award-winning author Meg Medina transports readers to a time when New York seemed about to explode, with temperatures and tempers running high, to discover how one young woman faces her fears as everything self-destructs around her.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Meg Medina, 2018

She Persisted: Sonia Sotomayor

Meg Medina, Chelsea Clinton, Alexandra Boiger, 2021

The Only Road

Alexandra Diaz, 2016

Midnight Without a Moon

Linda Williams Jackson, 2017

The Day of the Pelican

Katherine Paterson, 2009

Faith, Hope, and Ivy June

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, 2009

X: A Novel

Ilyasah Shabazz, Renée Watson, 2018

Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere

Julie T. Lamana, 2014