Books with author S. A. Kennedy

Elpida: Book OneHigh school senior Michael Sattler leads a charmed life. He’s a star athlete, has great friends, and parents who love him just the way he is. What’s missing from his life is a boyfriend. That’s a problem because he’s out only to his parents and best friend. When Michael accidentally bumps into Christy Castle at school, his life changes in ways he never imagined. Christy is Michael’s dream guy: smart, pretty, and sexy. But nothing could have prepared Michael for what being Christy's boyfriend would entail. Christy needs to heal after years of abuse and knows he needs help to do it. After the death of his notorious father, he leaves his native Greece and settles in upstate New York. Alone, afraid, and left without a voice, Christy hides the myriad scars of his abuse. He desperately wants to be loved and when he meets Michael, he dares to hope that day has arrived. When one of Michael’s teammates turns enemy, and an abuser from Christy’s past seeks to return him to a life of slavery, only Michael and Christy's combined strength and unwavering determination can save them from the violence that threatens to destroy their future together.

Follow the burgeoning love of two teens during the worst year of their lives. Irish-born Declan David de Quirke II is the son of two ambassadors, one Irish and one American. He is ‘out’ to his parents but to no one else. French-born Jean Isidore de Sauveterre is also the son of two ambassadors, one Catalan and one Parisian. His four half brothers have been told to cure him of his homosexuality. Both teens have lost a parent in a London car bombing.Declan and Isidore meet at the beginning of their senior year at a private academy in the United States. Declan is immediately smitten with Isidore and becomes his knight in shining armor. Isidore wants to keep what is left of his sanity and needs Declan’s love to do it. One is beaten, one is drugged, one is nearly raped, one has been raped. They are harassed by professors and police, and have fights at school, but none of it compares to running for their lives. When the headmaster’s popular son attempts suicide and someone tries to assassinate Declan’s mother, they are thrown headlong into chaos, betrayal, conspiracy, allegations of sexual coercion, even murder. And one of them carries a secret that may get them killed.

Elpida: Book ThreeMichael and Christy attended prom, graduated high school, and Michael leads the USATF tryouts. With Oxford University on the horizon, his future looks bright, and he believes life has returned to normal after Christy’s rescue. He couldn’t be more wrong.Christy has been free from a life of slavery for more than a year and has made remarkable progress due in no small part to the love he found with Michael. But the recent prosecution of a past abuser has shattered the life he so painstakingly built out of nothing but a mountain of horror. He now faces the daunting task of building a new life—yet again.Twelve-year-old Thimi has been missing since Christy left Greece and, unbeknownst to everyone, has hidden out in a vacant mansion in Glyfada. Learning of Christy’s survival is the only thing that brings him out of hiding. People, open spaces, even the most common of sounds frighten him beyond reason. A mere ghost of a boy, Thimi arrives in the US with no knowledge of the outside world—the only constant in his life a purple marble.Lost, shattered, and afraid, only hope gives them the strength and courage they need to begin anew.

“…a faint vibrating sound rumbled towards him across the lake. Something was wrong, he was sure of that, but he could not work out what and there was no time now to go and look…”It is July 1929. Four children arrive for a boating holiday to find the lake flooded. They cannot even reach their boat. But that is only the beginning. Cut off from their familiar world, more and more things go wrong. Problems they thought they had solved become more and more serious. In a thrilling climax, as the children discover the secret of the old boat moored in the bay, courage and resourcefulness are not enough and it is uncertain who will survive. Alan Kennedy’s first novel is an affectionate homage to Arthur Ransome. Lovers of Ransome’s fiction will recognise many familiar themes. A delightful read for lovers of the Swallows and Amazons series; it made me smile out loud - Sallie Eden, The Magazine of The Arthur Ransome Society.

When Anna and Sean Kennedy discovered that one of their sons had asperger's syndrome and that their other son was autistic, they were truly devastated - but their family's troubles were just the beginning.Turned away by no fewer than 26 special needs schools when searching for appropriate educational facilities for their boys, Anna and Sean were down - but not out. Anna was determined to prove that for children like their sons, the challenges of growing up with autism - to demonstrate to the world that they were simply Not Stupid - did not have to end in defeat. Through sheer guts and determination, they turned their situation into a victory by establishing a centre of excellence for the care and support of those with autism. With more than half a million people in Britain affected by autism, it is little wonder that their school quickly became over-subscribed - proof that educational provision in this field is inadequate in the United Kingdom today, and proof also that it is still possible to transform a vision into reality through simply not giving up. Anna's story, and that of her ever-improving sons, is a beacon of inspiration for parents of special needs children all over the country. Not Stupid offers a readers a rollercoaster of emotions but most of all it offers a real sense of hope for those whose lives are affected by autism.

Get Out: Book OneMicah Johnson is out of options. Following a stint as a runaway after the cruel revelation of his sexual orientation, Micah vows to get his life back on the right track. But there are roadblocks between him and his goal of making the national draft and having a shot at becoming an AFL player, including struggles with other students both on and off the football field. Hiding behind sarcasm will only protect him from so much, and Micah knows just making it to graduation will be an epic battle. If only Micah could find a fraction of the faith that his mentor, Declan Tyler, has in him, but he can’t seem to see what Declan does. Micah is trying to reform, but the end of the road is a long way off, and it’s clear the process is ongoing.