Girls Like Us by Gail Giles

Biddy’s grandmother does not want to take care of her now that the state will no longer send support checks.  Quincy’s last foster family has moved away.  The two classmates are now legally able to live independently and they have graduated from high school.  Where will they live?  How will they navigate life?  And can they get along?  Written in a vernacular much like Sapphire’s Push, and alternating between Biddy’s and Quincy’s first person perspectives, Girls Like Us offers readers two engaging voices and two different viewpoints of intellectually disabled characters. I recommend this title for more sophisticated readers who have enjoyed Push, and for girls’ book clubs.  This volume is likely to engender compassion for differently-abled peers while it explores themes of victimhood, survival, friendship, cooperation, and self-acceptance. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Unleashing Readers offers some discussion questions on their blog here.

Giles, Gail.  Girls Like Us.  Berryville: Candlewick Press, 2014.

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

Kendra is a sexual abuse survivor who is in therapy for her trauma. As Scars begins, Kendra is beginning to believe that her abuser, whose identity she has blocked from memory, is stalking her.  She is too terrified to report the threats she is receiving, and she cuts herself to cope.  Will she find the safety and help she needs before it’s too late?  Experienced urban teen readers looking for “drama,” as well as those who request survivor stories like A Child Called It will enjoy this suspenseful novel in spite of its suburban setting.  A teaching guide provided by the author herself may appeal to book group facilitators working with teenage girls. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Rainfield, Cheryl.  Scars.  New York:  WestSide Books, 2011.  Print.