Books with author Lisa Carol Williams

A young adult novel about two transgender teens who figure out how to navigate life with help from each other."A life-changing and life-saving book." ―Philip PullmanOn the first day at his new school, Leo Denton has one goal: to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in his class is definitely not part of that plan--especially because Leo is a trans guy and isn't out at his new school. Then Leo stands up for a classmate in a fight and they become friends. With Leo's help and support, the classmate, who is a trans girl, prepares to come out and transition--to find a new name, Kate, and live a truth that has been kept secret for too long. Kate and Leo are surrounded by bigots, but they have each other, and they have hope in their future.The Art of Being Normal: A Novel by Lisa Williamson is an uplifting story about two teenagers set in the modern day in the United Kingdom. The author was inspired to write this novel after working in England's national health service, in a department dedicated to helping teens who are questioning their gender identity. This novel, which won awards in the UK, is a first-person narrative about two transgender students, and is ideal for cisgender (cis) readers―people who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth―to learn more about gender identity and what it means to be transgender.A Margaret Ferguson BookPraise for The Art of Being Normal:“The Art of Being Normal is a deeply powerful, important story that also happens to be a blast to read. You’ll fall in love . . . right away, your heart will bleed at some moments and melt at others, and you’ll root for them until the bitter end.” ―Bill Konigsberg, Stonewall Award–winning author of Openly Straight and The Porcupine of Truth“The book alternates between [both characters'] viewpoints, but readers don’t find out what they have in common until Leo’s burgeoning romance gets derailed. . . . Debut author Williamson does a good job of depicting British class realities and [the characters'] struggles with family, bullying, friendship, and bravery. While the book doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulty of being a trans teen, it offers hope and the sense that even if you can’t get everything you want, you can get what you need.” ―Publishers Weekly“Two British transgender teens try to come to terms with their lives while facing serious bullying in their school. . . . Williamson has worked with teens grappling with their gender identities, and she folds practical information, about hormonal therapy to freeze puberty, for instance, as well as empathy into her story. A welcome, needed novel.” ―Kirkus Reviews“An important addition to collections for its first-person perspectives on the experiences and inner lives of transgender teens.” ―School Library Journal“Williamson presents a fresh perspective in contemporary LGBTQ drama by presenting two heroes in different stages of transitioning and further bringing the teens to life through their foibles and family dramas. . . . The best part is that it is a friendship tale; romance plays a role in the story, but it is not the focus. This is a wonderful addition to any teen collection.” ―VOYA, starred reviewPraise for the British edition of The Art of Being Normal:"A passionate and gripping tale. Five stars." ―The Telegraph"The Art of Being Normal deserves to attract attention not only for its sensitive portrayal of life as a transgender teenager but for the author's aptitude for crafting vivid, engaging and convincing characters who keep you rooting for them through the many testing obstacles she puts in their way." ―The Guardian

Emma Field has dreams and desires that call her to go beyond her father’s struggle to survive as an immigrant in Canada West in the 1840s. With the love of her Quaker neighbours and her own courage, she takes her first tentative steps at understanding the world around her. Emma Field, Book One, is a story of birth and death; and of the stirrings of body and soul, the desire for beauty, the ache of loneliness, the drive for independence and the pain of envy. It is a story of love and dignity, and of the power of taking risks.

Carol Lynch Willams' The Chosen One is a dazzling novel about a young teenager's rebellion from the polygamist cult that would have her become the seventh wife to her 60-year-old uncle Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much---if you don't count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle---who already has six wives---Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

Caity and her sister Kara get along pretty well, considering their home life. By sticking together and staying out of their mother's way, they manage to make it to school on time, get meals together, and protect one another from their mother's terrifying and seemingly random verbal and physical attacks. A few sympathetic friends, like Brandon from next door, make a big difference. But when their mother storms out of the house with a suitcase and doesn't come back, they have to face a new reality--they can't cope entirely on their own for long. Yet, as Caity comes to realize, there is a lot they can do to take control of their future. This sensitively written novel deals frankly with parental abuse, but is ultimately about the resilience and resourcefulness of young people who beat the odds.

An inspiring and timely debut novel from Lisa Williamson, The Art of Being Normal is about two transgender friends who figure out how to navigate teen life with help from each other. David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he's gay. The school bully thinks he's a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth: David wants to be a girl.On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal: to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in his class is definitely not part of that plan. When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long , and soon everyone knows that Leo used to be a girl.As David prepares to come out to his family and transition into life as a girl and Leo wrestles with figuring out how to deal with people who try to define him through his history, they find in each other the friendship and support they need to navigate life as transgender teens as well as the courage to decide for themselves what normal really means.

For as long as she can remember, Sarah’s family life has revolved around her twin sister, Annie—the pretty one, the social one, the girl who can do anything. The person everyone seems to wish Sarah—with her crippling shyness—could simply become.When Annie suddenly chops off her hair, quits beauty pageants, and gains weight, the focus changes—Annie is still the star of the family, but for all the wrong reasons. Sarah knows something has happened, but she too is caught in her own spiral after her boyfriend breaks up with her and starts hanging out with one of Annie’s old friends.Annie is intent on keeping her painful secret safe. But when she and Sarah start spending time together again for the first time in years, walls start to break on both sides … and words that had been left unsaid could change everything.

If you've had enough of the dating and relationship roller-coaster, and want to stop picking the same unavailable person over and over, you have come to the right place. Imagine finding out there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s all just a picker problem. And you can fix your picker! Sure, you may need some improvement with skills like effectively communicating or listening, but even with those skills, you won’t have the genuine love you really want and deserve, when you are beginning with a broken picker. Make a decision to never date an unavailable person again, fix your picker and find the love that is right for YOU.In this book, you will learn...The Truth About Dating “Rules” And All the Game PlayingRelationship Capacity is More Important Than ChemistryThere’s a Difference Between Personality & CharacterThe Holy Grail of Relationships – Attachment StylesTo Drop the NarcissistsWhy You Are a SuperheroThe Ultimate Forgiveness That Sets You FreeTo Put Your Own Heart FirstTo Trust Yourself. And so much more! IT’S NOT ME, IT’S YOU is required reading for every woman whether fresh off the roller-coaster relationship ride, just divorced, getting into the dating game, afraid to get into the dating game, or those who know a woman who is one of these!

Carol Lynch Willams' The Chosen One is a dazzling novel about a young teenager's rebellion from the polygamist cult that would have her become the seventh wife to her 60-year-old uncle Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much---if you don't count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle---who already has six wives---Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.PLUS SPECIAL BONUS CONTENT: FIRST CHAPTER "SNEAK PEEK" OF CAROL LYNCH WILLIAMS'S MILES FROM ORDINARY."Imagine Anna Quindlen or Sue Miller turning her attention to writing a young adult novel, and you have an idea what [Williams] has done for early teen readers…" --Audrey Couloumbis, author of the Newbery Honor Book Getting Close to BabyThirteen-year-old Lacey wakes to a beautiful summer morning excited to begin her new job at the library, just as her mother is supposed to start work at the grocery store. Lacey hopes that her mother's ghosts have finally been laid to rest; after all, she seems so much better these days, and they really do need the money. But as the hours tick by and memories come flooding back, a day full of hope spins terrifyingly out of control...."No one can get inside the head and heart of a 13-year-old girl better than Carol Lynch Williams, and I mean no one," said James S. Jacobs, Professor of Children's Literature at Brigham Young University, of her breakout novel, The Chosen One. Now this award-winning YA author brings us an equally gripping story of a girl who loves her mother, but must face the truth of what life with that mother means for both of them.

"That girl is such a mess." "Why can't she be like her sisters?"Blah, blah, blah. That's all Mia Campbell-Richardson ever hears. From her parents, her teachers, and her never-do-wrong older sister, Grace.So what if she parties too hard and studies too little? Who cares if she tends to end up with the wrong guys or says the wrong things at the wrong times? She's still a good friend (except when she isn't). And she still knows the way things should go (except when they don't).When Grace comes home with shocking news, Mia hopes that it's finally Grace's turn to get into trouble. But instead it's Mia whose life spirals out of control.So if you've ever said something you later regretted (likely), accidentally broken a friend's heart (possibly), or ruined a wedding in spectacular fashion (hopefully you haven't), All About Mia will make you laugh, cry, cry-laugh, and laugh-cry in recognition that life is sometimes most entertaining when it's at its most unfair.

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters. That is, without questioning them much - if you don't count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her. But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle - who already has six wives - Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

Twelve-year-old Hope’s life is turned upside down when her older sister, Lizzie, becomes an elective mute and is institutionalized after trying to kill herself. Hope and Lizzie have relied on each other from a young age, ever since the death of their father. Their mother, who turns tricks to support her family, is a reluctant and unreliable parent—at best. During the course of this lyrical and heartbreaking narrative from an exceptionally promising YA voice, readers will discover the chilling reason why Lizzie has stopped speaking—and why Hope is the only one who can bring the truth to light and save her sister.