Rosa, Sola by Carmela Martino Rosa Bernardi, an only child living with her Italian immigrant parents in 1960s Chicago, often feels alone, or SOLA, as her parents would say. But after she holds her best friend AnnaMaria’s baby brother for the first time, Rosa is sure that if she prays hard enough, God will send …

Roland West, Loner by Theresa Linden 2nd-Place Winner of the 2016 Catholic Press Association Book Awards in the Teen & YA Fiction Category!Roland West, Loner is a contemporary Christian story of a fourteen-year-old boy who finds himself friendless at a new school and the subject of cruel rumors. Despised by older twin brothers, he feels utterly …

Secrets: Visible & Invisible by Carolyn Astfalk, T.M. Gaouette, Theresa Linden, Susan Peek, Cynthia T. Toney, Corinna Turner, and Leslea Wahl Secrets: Visible and Invisible is a collection of short stories by seven CatholicTeenBooks.com authors. As described by Mark Hart of Life Teen International, who provides the foreword, “Each story reveals something different about the human …

Saving Mount Rushmore by Andrea Jo Rodgers When John Jenkins’ parents ship him off to stay with his aunt, he’s certain it will be the worst summer ever—until he learns he’s been accepted into a top-secret school. St. Michael’s Academy is home to gifted students with extraordinary talents. Although John has no idea why he’s …

Erin’s Ring by Laura H. Pearl Presented in a story-within-a-story, Erin’s Ring offers an historical novel set within the story of two contemporary teen-age friends from very different kinds of families. Both stories have elements of Catholicism offered as ordinary and important parts of life. The small town setting is appealing and the characters are …

The Other Side of Freedom by Cynthia T. Toney In a southern farming community in 1925, thirteen-year-old Salvatore and his Italian immigrant father become involved against their will in a crime that results in the murder of an innocent man and family friend. Will Sal keep the secrets about that night as his father asks, …

Julia’s Gifts by Ellen Gable As a young girl, Julia began buying gifts for her future spouse, a man whose likeness and personality she has conjured up in her mind, a man she calls her “beloved.” Soon after the United States enters the Great War, Julia impulsively volunteers as a medical aid worker, with no …

Book Review – The Gate by Nancy Carabio Belanger First-place winner, Best Catholic Novel–Catholic Press Association 2014 Book Awards For smart-aleck Josh, being a Christian in the eighth grade is completely irrelevant, especially with the temptations that middle school can bring. For him, life is all about playing video games, getting money, and causing trouble. …

Book Review – A Single Bead by Stephanie Engelman On the anniversary of the plane crash that took the life of her beloved grandmother and threw her own mother into a deep depression, 16-year-old Katelyn Marie Roberts discovers a single bead from her grandmothers rosary-a rosary lost in the crash. A chance encounter with a …

Book Review – Awakening by Claudia Cangilla McAdam Fear drives me forward as I rush down a rocky path in Jerusalem, trying to sort things out even as dusk makes it harder to hurry. Am I really an American girl, cast back to the time of Jesus? Or a delusional Jewish teen, plagued with visions of …