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All of these books are filled with the fall feelings for me. Some are obvious like Pumpkinheads and Curvy Girls Can’t Date Quarterbacks. I mean very few things say fall quite like pumpkin patches and football. But for me a big part of fall was always that back to school fresh start, so I wanted to add in some of those stories. And also ones that just take place against the backdrop of fall, like Faith, some of the best action of this book happens in a maze at a Halloween carnival. This is my favorite time of year. Mock my pumpkin spice lovin’, hoody wearing, sweater weather enthusiast heart, but I am here for fall.
Curvy Girls Can’t Date Quarterbacks
Rory has struggled with her weight her whole life. She finally discovers why when a doctor diagnoses her with PCOS, a hormonal issue that makes losing weight exceptionally hard. Shortly after learning this, her bully, a cheerleader named Merritt, insinuates that she just needs to try harder to lose weight. On this particular day Rory is done. She snaps back. One thing leads to another, and she ends up betting that she will be able to get the quarterback of the football team to ask her to homecoming
By Olivia Dade
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This book is a collection of 3 short stories.
Sweetest in the Gale, is a sweet love story between Candy and Griff. Both of them are English teachers at Marysburg high school. Each of them are dealing with some form of grief in their lives. In this story, they learn to let each other in, help each other on the path to healing and fall in love somewhere along the way.
Unraveled, is more of a case of opposite attracts. After the art teacher at Marysburg High is mysteriously let go, Poppy takes the role as the new art teacher. Math teacher Simon is brought on to mentor her. Though they are about as different as math and art, somewhere along the way they fall in love.
Cover Me is about Elizabeth who has lost her insurance and finds herself in the middle of a cancer scare. Her best friend James asks her to marry him so that he can take care of her and get her insurance. She begrudgingly accepts. Unfortunately for this “fake” marriage, there are some feelings that have been buried since their years as college roommates, and in resolving these feelings, they find love.
By Lila Rose
Reagan is an English teacher at the high school she attended. She grew up there as the fat kid and endured some bullying, but she has emerged a confident and funny, albeit disorganized and unconventional woman. She is charming and cares deeply about her students and her family. Her high school crush, who was also the high school quarterback turned pro, has been transferred to the local pro team. During a school assembly to honor him, he and Reagan have a meet cute that had me laughing. It turns out Carter also had a crush on Reagan back in the day, but he cared too much about what his jerky teammates thought to act on it. Now he doesn’t care what anyone thinks, but will Reagan be able to trust him? Ahhhh… the makings of a great romance.
By Julie Murphy
Faith Taking Flight adapts the Faith Herbert comic books into a superhero-themed, coming-of-age YA novel. Of course, weird stuff goes down at “summer camp,” but these superhero origin tropes serve as a backdrop for her struggles to adjust to this new normal while attempting to live the life of a normal teenager. Upon returning to the real world, Faith is excited to learn that her favorite TV show will soon be filming in her town; maybe she might even meet the star (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Also a lot of weird stuff starts happening in the town: disappearances and the arrival of a new drug all the kids are taking. Faith may just have to don the cape one more time, save the town and fall in love. It is an empowering and enjoyable book to read.
By Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
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Pumpkinheads is a graphic novel filled with fall nostalgia. The story is a simple tale of friendship. Two friends who have spent the past four falls working together in a pumpkin patch decide to go on one last adventure on their last night. We follow them on hijinx all over the patch. The success of the mission may be up for discussion, but the importance of friendship is everywhere and set against a fall backdrop of corn mazes, apple cider and kettle corn. What is not to love about a simple story of friendship and fall and frito pie.
By Molly O’Hare
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Spencer Hurley is a devoted single dad to his nine-year-old daughter, Belle. It had become clear that Belle’s old school was not a good fit. She was struggling with learning disabilities, and not only was she not getting the support she needed, but she was being bullied by the students and even some of the staff. So Spencer moved her to a new school that had one of the best teachers for his daughter. Ellie Ryan is a special education teacher. While she is very good with the students, the rest of her life is a hot mess at times because she has some learning disabilities herself, which are part of what makes her such a compassionate teacher. A comedy of errors around the parent teacher conference where Ellie and Spencer meet leads to a rocky start to their relationship. But as it says on the cover, this is a romantic comedy, so we know how this rocky relationship is going to end, and it is a fun journey getting there.