Courtney Sheinmel Books In Order

My So-called Family

Leah Hoffman Ross just moved to New York and she wants her new friends to think she’s a typical thirteen year old. But Leah has a secret: She doesn’t have a father; she has a donor. Before Leah was born, her mother went to Lyon’s Reproductive Services and picked Donor 730. Now Leah has a stepfather and a little brother, and her mom thinks that they should be all the family Leah needs.

Despite her attempts to fit in and be normal, Leah can’t help but feel like something is missing. When she finds the link to the Lyon’s Sibling Registry, Leah has to see if she has any half siblings. And when she discovers that one of the other kids from Donor 730 is a girl her age, Leah will do anything to meet her even if she has to hide it from everybody else.

Debut author Courtney Sheinmel puts a contemporary spin on a timeless question in this heartfelt novel about what makes a family.

Positively

Emerson Price cannot remember a time when life was ordinary. She was four years old when she and her mom were diagnosed as HIV positive infected with the virus that causes AIDS and eight when her parents divorced. Now she is thirteen and her mother is dead. Emmy moves in with her father and stepmother, but she feels completely alone. Even though everyone has always accepted her, no one not her father, or stepmother, or even her best friend understands what it’s like to have to take medicine every single day and to be so afraid of getting sick. Now Emmy misses her mom more than she ever thought she would.

When Emmy’s dad and stepmother send her to Camp Positive, a camp for HIV positive girls, Emmy is certain she is going to hate it. But soon she realizes that she is not so alone after all and that sometimes letting other people in can make all the difference in the world.

Author Courtney Sheinmel has written an unforgettable novel about strength and hope in the face of tragedy.

Sincerely Sophie / Sincerely Katie

Sincerely, Sophie Eleven year old Sophie Turner lives in Manhattan and attends an all girls private school, but some difficult changes have left her feeling very lonely. When Sophie’s best friend, Jessie, suddenly rejects her for a faster crowd and the Turner family begins to break down, Sophie’s only source of comfort is the distant voice of her school assigned pen pal, Katie. Sincerely, Katie Eleven year old Katie Franklin lives in California, and she thinks life is perfect. When she and her best friend, Jake, spearhead a charity project for earthquake victims in Mexico, Katie couldn’t be happier. But when Jake starts paying attention to another girl, Katie get jealous, and does some things she isn’t proud of at all. No one at home understands her, but she does have one friend she can open up to her pen pal, Sophie. Two realistic, gentle novels in one about dealing with transitions and divorce, friendship and jealousy, Sincerely looks at the enduring power of friendship even from miles away.