Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Auden decides to spend the summer with her father and new stepmother, Heidi, at the beach. They have just had a new baby, Thisbe, who is very fussy. Auden has always lived with her mother in the world of academia. She only concentrates on her studies, books, learning, classes. She walks into a totally different world of fun, relaxation, biking, babies. She meets Eli, whose best friend was killed. Together they spend their sleepless nights making up for all of the things Auden has missed in her lifetime - food fights, parties, making friends, beer joints, riding bicycles, prom. She gets scared when things get serious with Eli and at the same time, her father and Heidi separate. With the help of her new friends, she gets things back to normal and improves the relationships with both her father and her mother. She gets back with Eli and she, Eli, and her new friend Maggie go off to college in the fall.

Pretty Like Us by Carol Lynch Williams

Beauty McElwarth lives in Florida and is starting 6th grade. Jamie Borget, her new teacher is dating her mom. Cody Nelson used to be her best friend, but now doesn't want to play with her any more because she is turning into a "girl". She is dreading her coming year at Green River School because she has no friends and is very shy. The teacher announces that they will have a new student in their class who has progeria, a disease that causes advanced aging. When Beauty returns from lunch she finds Mr. Borget talking to somebody's grandmother, who turns out to be Alane Shriver, the new student. Beauty wants so much to be a part of the in crowd that she runs out to recess to tell them all about Alane and calls her a freakoid. Eventually, Beauty and Alane become friends and Beauty realizes that her grandmother's favorite saying - "pretty is as pretty diz" - is true. The girls take Beauty's mother's restored Cadillac out one night after midnight and get rammed by a wild boar. Alane falls out of a swing and almost drowns. Beauty is so good for Alane because she treats her like a normal kid. She doesn't realize that Alane is going to die soon. When she finds out, she knows she must help Alane. Alane has always wanted to write a book and with Beauty's help, she writes Pretty Like Us.