A very big bunny

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Michelle Baldini, Lynn Biederman

THE SMART THING Is to Prepare for the Unexpected.So reads the fortune cookie fortune that Amanda receives at the beginning of her family's vacation to Florida. Amanda knows all about preparing for the unexpected--her mother, whom she calls The Captain, is always hard on Amanda, and it's just when Amanda lets her guard down that the very worst comes through. Looking for acceptance, Amanda turns her attention to boys, and doing whatever she can to be popular at school. That includes making out with the gorgeous senior Rick in his car after school--even though he has a girlfriend. And when Rick offers her The Deal--a real, official date to the Homecoming in front of everyone, in exchange for her virginity--Amanda jumps at the chance. But no matter how you try to prepare for the unexpected, sometimes you can't. Sharp, chatty, and brutally honest, this debut novel is compulsively readable and heartbreakingly real.From the Hardcover edition.

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Madeleine L'Engle

Phillipa Hunter, or Flip, doesn't think she'll ever fit in at the Swiss boarding school. Besides still aching after her mother's death and being homesick for her father and Connecticut, she isn't sophisticated like the other girls, and discussions about boys leave her tongue-tied. Her happiest times are spent apart from the others, sketching or wandering in the mountains. But the day she's out walking alone and meets a French boy, Paul, things change for Flip. As their relationship grows, so does her self-confidence. Despite her newfound happiness, there are times when Paul seems a stranger to her. And since dating is forbidden except to seniors, their romance must remain a secret. With so many new feelings and obstacles to overcome in her present, can Flip help Paul to confront his troubled past and find a future? With the help of Paul and her new art teacher, Madame Perceval, Phillipa begins to heal and assist others as well. (A stand-alone novel.)