Diabetes in Fiction

Two swimmers under pressure. One trying not to get close to anyone, the other trying to save their beloved camp. And a growing connection between them that makes everything messier. Ruby Hopkins has had the worst year of her life. Dropped from her high school’s swim team, nearly kicked out of school, and now newly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, she is waiting for an opportunity to show the world that she can still have a future in the water. When a comeback comes in the form of an intensive summer training camp, she takes it with no hesitation. She just has one rule: no friends, no attachments, no chances to get hurt again. Eliana Marsh, team captain and rising social media star, is used to the pressure to perform. But behind their bubbly personality, Eliana is wrestling with their gender identity and what it could mean for their career in swimming. When Eliana learns the camp could close if the team does not place at the upcoming championship, they know it’s now or never to help coach the team to a win. For Eliana’s plan to succeed, they know training one-on-one with Ruby will help both of their times improve. And despite Ruby’s irritability, she agrees, slowly opening herself up to vulnerability that she never expected. With the championship fast approaching and recruitment season starting, Ruby and Eliana must decide what they are willing to risk, both in and out of the pool.

After health problems wiped out their first few weeks of school, Perley and Amandine are both starting their Junior year behind their classmates, and both have major changes in their lives that they’re struggling to get used to. Perley was diagnosed with diabetes over the summer, and worries that all these new medical expenses will be a hardship on his family. And Amandine, part of a venerated family of vampires, has been turned much younger than she expected to be after a car accident nearly killed her. The two of them form a fast friendship – both feel a little out of step with their old lives, and as a bonus, it turns out that Amandine’s new vampire abilities can help Perley save money on blood glucose tests. But as the year goes on, they’re forced to admit that maybe their coping strategies – and their blood-sipping-turned-romance – aren’t working out so well after all. Will they be able to get their lives back to normal? Or will both have to figure out new ways for their “normal” to look?

Dacre Vinson has spent the majority of his life in quite the predicament—even the surf and his books can’t erase his Type 1 diabetes. But when Dacre’s family moves to a new Mexican town, an eccentric girl obsessed with trees offers him a job on the spot, leading to what could be the perfect distraction from his problems. Salbatora Tames has one true love—her avocado farm. Her family constantly nudges her to be more social, but Sal much prefers the dirt, the sun, and the solitude. Besides, trees listen better than people do. For Sal and Dacre, their job won’t stay easy breezy for long, not when an avocado delivery to Palenque, Mexico pops up on their radar. Together, they embark on a road trip across the jungle, where they form a tighter bond. However, as obstacles arise, their new-found troubles may lead to more woes than bliss.

A feel-good, coming-of-age rom-com from debut author Page Powars that follows a trans teen who joins a boyfriend borrowing service masquerading as an Italian Club to prove that he’s one of the guys, especially to its frustratingly handsome leader. Noah Byrd is the perfect boy. At least, that’s what he needs to convince his new classmates of to prove his gender. His plan? Join the school’s illustrious (and secret) Borrow a Boyfriend Club, whose members rent themselves out for dates. Once he’s accepted among the bros, the “slip-ups” end. But Noah’s interview is a flop. Desperate, he strikes a deal with the club’s prickly but attractive president, Asher. Noah will help them win an annual talent show—and in return, he’ll get a second shot to demonstrate his boyfriend skills in a series of tests that include romancing Asher himself. If Noah can’t bring home the win, his best chance to prove that he’s man enough is gone. Yet even if he succeeds, he still loses . . . because the most important rule of the Borrow a Boyfriend Club is simple: no real boyfriends (or girlfriends) allowed. And as long as the club remains standing as high as Asher’s man bun, Noah and Asher can never explore their growing feelings for one another.

In the battle to regulate his blood sugar, Jerry March joins a new gym, but while working out his insecurity, he overdoes it on the treadmill. His insulin drops and so does Jerry. Fellow gym member Gianni Lappatura rushes to his rescue with a glass of juice and a helping hand. A few days later, Jerry gets to return the favor. After watching Gianni’s opera-singing strip act, Jerry finds him stuck in the rain with a dead battery and saves the day. As thanks and because he thinks Jerry is cute, Gianni asks him on a date. It’s too good to be true, and Jerry soon learns his Mr. Perfect needs a bit of help of own. But Gianni’s imperfections open Jerry’s eyes to the beauty of limitations.

Ruth is trapped. She’s stuck in her small, religious hometown of Kill Devil, Kentucky, stuck in the closet, and stuck living paycheck to paycheck. After her manager finds out that she lives with her girlfriend, Ruth is fired from her job as a cashier at New Creations—a craft store owned by the church that dominates life in the town.  In an act of revenge, Ruth attempts to shoplift some yarn but is caught red-handed by a New Creations cashier. Instead of calling the police, the employees lock her in the store—and attack her. When Ruth is forced to stab out one of their eyes with a knitting needle, she realizes she’s facing far bigger trouble than a simple shoplifting charge. As Ruth fights for her life, she plunges deeper into the tangled web of the New Creationists, who are hiding a terrible secret that threatens not only her, but the entire town. This relentless horror novel will have you on the edge of your seat as it hurtles towards a breathtaking conclusion. Will Ruth escape? Or will the shocking secret at the heart of the cult die with her?

Jo Quinn has everything under control. After her engagement suddenly ends, she is perfectly fine, thank you very much. Until her first love crashes through her walls and back into her life. Hunter Cleary is looking for a new start after coming out, and moving in with her first love might not be the best way to do it, but it definitely isn’t the worst. When her new roommate finds herself planning her ex-fiance’s wedding, Hunter steps up to the plate and volunteers to help in an unconventional way. Jo surprises herself when she agrees to the outlandish plan because, really, it can’t make things worse. The more fake they are with the world, the more real Jo and Hunter are with each other, slowly realizing that there’s so much more to the other than meets the eye. Because even though they’re not fifteen anymore, they still might be exactly who the other needs.

Once a promising competitive swimmer, twenty-one-year-old Mason Burke never imagined his life would look like this. After a family crisis pulled him back to his hometown, he’s now a college dropout working as a lifeguard on the shores of Lake Michigan, scraping by on bills while raising his teenage sister. Then Hunter Davis shows up. A botany graduate student, Hunter’s in town for the summer to research lakeshore plants. But it feels like his real mission is to get under Mason’s skin, and it’s working. Mason tells himself he doesn’t have time for distractions—especially ones with pretty eyes, a sharp tongue, and a smile he can’t seem to stop noticing. As the summer heats up, so does the tension between them. It’s clear the beach isn’t big enough for the two of them… and neither is Mason’s carefully guarded heart. SINGING SANDS is a steamy summer romance about a grumpy lifeguard and a witty botany researcher who discover that some tides are worth surrendering to.

Dare Chase doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as the host of Attachments, her brand-new paranormal investigation podcast, she knows to keep her doubts to herself if she wants to win over listeners.   Her first season’s subject is the Arrington Estate—a sprawling manor rumored to be haunted by the spirit of Atheleen Bell, who drowned in its lake almost thirty years ago. Dare’s more interested in investigating the suspicious circumstances of Atheleen’s death, which she thinks point to a decades-old murder, not something supernatural.   But Arrington is full of surprises. As Dare is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the estate, she’ll have to rethink the boundaries of what is possible. Because if something is lurking in the lake…it might not be willing to let her go.

Etta is tired of dealing with all of the labels and categories that seem so important to everyone else in her small Nebraska hometown. Everywhere she turns, someone feels she’s too fringe for the fringe. Not gay enough for the Dykes, her ex-clique, thanks to a recent relationship with a boy; not tiny and white enough for ballet, her first passion; and not sick enough to look anorexic (partially thanks to recovery). Etta doesn’t fit anywhere— until she meets Bianca, the straight, white, Christian, and seriously sick girl in Etta’s therapy group. Both girls are auditioning for Brentwood, a prestigious New York theater academy that is so not Nebraska. Bianca seems like Etta’s salvation, but how can Etta be saved by a girl who needs saving herself?  The latest powerful, original novel from Hannah Moskowitz is the story about living in and outside communities and stereotypes, and defining your own identity.