Goal Oriented Girls

Teen Fiction with Ambitious, Goal Oriented Female Characters

 

Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz

• Pub Date: 2016
• Middle and High School interest
• See also: Senior Year, Getting into College, In the News 
• Jasmine is in her senior year of high school when she finds out she and her family are undocumented. 

 

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

• Pub Date: 2017
• High School Interest
• Diversity: Indian-American characters
• See also: Post-High School, Marriage, Multiple Narrators, Competition, Losing Virginity
• Dimple wants to win Insomnia Con.

 

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

• Pub Date: 2016
• High school interest 
• See also: Getting into College, Multiple Narrators
• Lisa wants to get a particular scholarship at all costs.

 

Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia

• Pub Date: 2016
• High School Interest

 

Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian

• Pub Date: 2010
• High school interest
• See also: Senior Year 

 

The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morill

• Pub Date: 2017  
• Middle and high school interest 
• See also: Historical Fiction
• Piper is determined to find her missing friend. 

 

Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati

• Pub Date: 2013
• Middle and high school interest
• See also: Religion, International Setting
• An Orthodox Jewish girl pursues her dream of ballet in secret because her parents would not approve. 

 

Mad Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

• Pub Date: 2014
• High school interest 
• See also: Historical, Marriage, Forbidden Romance, International Settings
• Victoria Darling is determined to pursue an art career and be independent at a time when this wasn't typical for women. 

 

Overturned by Lamar Giles

• Pub Date: 2017
• High school interest 
• See also: Long Lost Parent, Trust No One
• Nikki is determined to figure out what her father was hiding. 

 

Endangered by Lamar Giles

• Pub Date: 2015
• High School Interest 
• Diversity: Mixed race protagonist 
• See also: Secrets, Blogs
• I wrote about it: Books to Keep you Guessing 
• Lauren Daniels secretly runs a photoblog that specializes in "justice," but someone knows her secret.

 

This Girl is Different by J.J. Johnson

• Pub Date: 2011
• High School Interest
• See also: Fish Out of Water, Senior Year, Getting into College, Blogs 
• Evie starts an anonymous blog to point out injustices in her high school.

 

A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman

• Pub Date: 2014
• Middle and high school interest  
• See also: Religion, International Settings, Coaches/Mentors, Disabilities
• On my blog: The Difference a Prosthetic can Make 
• Veda is determined to pursue dance no matter what. 

 

Flygirl by Sherri Smith

• Pub Date: 2009
• Middle and high school interest
• See also: Secrets, Historical
• Ida Mae Jones passes as white to join the WASP during WWII. 

 

Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi lee

• Pub Date: 2018
• High school interest
• See also: Historical
• Also listed: Girls on their Own in the Past 
• Felicity is determined to become a doctor at a time when women are not allowed to study medicine.