-Award Winning Author-
Kai Strand
YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
Young adult readers are some of the most passionate readers out there. You create chat groups to discuss series, you dress in character for book signings, you adopt character names as your user name, and you develop wild, mad book crushes on swoony teen boys. I get it. I'm a YA reader too. I write YA for that reader. I want Ella & Ayden, from Worth the Effort, to inspire you to feed the hungry. I want Lola, from I Am Me, to show you how gratifying volunteerism is. I want you to laugh at Jeff, and swoon over Set, and look up to Sandra, and have a nerd crush on Source as you read through Super Villain Academy. And I hope Cara, from Finding Thor, reminds you that people fight some serious unseen battles, while you drool over Nik Rock - because he's pretty near perfect. *Fans self* Dive in and don't be afraid to love-or despise-accordingly.
An Unwitting Trickster
Trickstering series, book 1
ISBN-13: 979-8732723489
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When his mundane life is upended, a Trickster discovers a long-forgotten past. Will he survive long enough to claim his hereditary throne?
Luke doesn’t know why he pulls pranks. And when a long-lost brother shows up to reveal Luke’s a god meant to rule a planet, he starts to wonder who he truly is. But his desperate search for answers is fraught with dead ends and only unearths more questions.
Stuck between his mundane past and a hopeful future, Luke is forced into hiding when interplanetary soldiers attack. The isolation from his newfound family intensifies his anxiety. His unexpected future is in limbo and any quest for answers could prove deadly.
Luke is meant to rule a planet, but can he claim the throne before he’s killed?
An Unwitting Trickster is a thrilling modern day YA mythology. If you like your main characters with a little snark, if you enjoy adventure and plot twists, then you’ll love the first book in Kai Strand’s newest series.
Buy An Unwitting Trickster to follow the journey today!
I Am Me
ISBN-13: 978-1980503071
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When giving back to others isn’t enough, can one teen discover what’s truly important in life?
Lola Renaldi leans heavily into service for the struggling. Padded by privilege, the high school senior defies her mom’s push to study law and marry well in favor of chasing her volunteering obsession. And during her favorite gig building affordable homes, she’s happy to befriend a mysterious boy… until he scorns her supposedly naïve, privileged mindset.
As doubt chips away at her confidence, the big-hearted girl worries her perfect plans for the future are quickly unraveling. And with new boyfriend troubles, a bestie spiraling into a meltdown, and an unexpected loss, she fears she’s not the person she always wanted to be.
Can Lola uncover the missing piece she needs to feel completely whole?
I Am Me is an emotional contemporary YA fiction book. If you like well-meaning heroines, transformative personal growth, and true-to-life situations, then you’ll love Kai Strand’s coming-of-age novel.
Buy I Am Me to define dreams and hopes today!
Finding Thor
ISBN-13: 978-1633557925
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Tragedy has left Cara Cassidy broken and the only thing keeping her from giving in completely is her guilt. Until Nik Rock. Nik stirs up feelings in degrees she has never experienced, and causes her to do things that most assuredly give him the wrong impression—like kiss him before their first date. Somehow, he breaks down the walls around her emotions until she has no choice but to forgive herself and feel again.
Worth the Effort series
Worth the Effort: The complete series
ASIN: B08WKSDFMG
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Ella’s Story (Book 1)
Ella Jones is a coward. There’s a teen boy living in the alley behind her work and she’s terrified of him. The morning she forces herself to sit down and make a true connection she changes both their lives. But there’s more to Ayden’s story than Ella knows. When their worlds collide in the most unexpected place, Ella feels betrayed. Will she find the courage to learn who Ayden really is, or will she determine he’s not worth the effort?
Ayden’s Story (Book 2)
For seventeen-year-old Ayden Worth, life on the streets is simpler than the pressures and anxieties of home. One fateful day he runs into the only person he ever wanted to know better. Ella Jones. Meeting Ella gives him incentive to overcome his troubles. Yet, as Ayden repairs his life, she suggests he help others who struggle like him. Will she be just another person who wants more than he can give? Or will she be worth the effort?
Ella's Story
ASIN: B00K4F0C18
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Ella Jones is a coward. There is a teen boy living in the alley behind her work and she is terrified of him.
Desperate to leave behind the stereotypical and judgmental world she was raised in, Ella forces herself to make a true connection with seventeen-year-old Ayden Worth. As their friendship grows Ayden’s quiet, gentle ways teach her true courage.
But there’s more to Ayden’s story than Ella knows. When their worlds collide in the most unexpected place, Ella feels betrayed. Will she find the courage to learn who Ayden really is, or will she determine he’s not worth the effort?
Ayden's Story
ASIN: B00M7HOZUU
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​Seventeen-year-old Ayden Worth shouldn’t have to seek peace of mind in the streets. But as family pressures mount, his anxieties increase, and he turns his back on comfort for a life in homeless camps and back alleys.
Then one fateful day he runs into the only person he ever wanted to know better. Ella Jones. His memories paint her as kind and undemanding, and it seems the years haven’t changed her. Her simple expectations draw him to her. Against all odds, a relationship buds and grows.
Yet, as Ayden repairs his life, Ella suggests he help others who also struggle. Will Ella turn out to be just like his dad, expecting more from him than he can give? Or will he prove that he is worth the effort?
Super Villain Academy series
King of Bad
ISBN-13: 978-1681461458
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Jeff Mean would rather set fires than follow rules or observe curfew. He wears his bad boy image like a favorite old hoodie; that is until he's recruited by Super Villain Academy - where you learn to be good at being bad. In a school where one kid can evaporate all the water from your body and the girl you hang around with can perform psychic sex in your head, bad takes on a whole new meaning. Jeff wonders if he's bad enough for SVA. He may never find out. Classmates vilify him when he develops good manners. Then he's kidnapped by those closest to him and left to wonder who is good and who is bad. His rescue is the climactic episode that balances good and evil in the super world. The catalyst - the girl he's crushing on. A girlfriend and balancing the supers is good, right? Or is it...bad?
Polar Opposites
ISBN-13: 978-1611608694
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The supers are balanced. Academies have altered their curriculum to teach both sides of the super power spectrum. All’s well in the super world. Right? When Mystic kidnaps Oceanus, Jeff learns it isn’t all right. Turning to the newly balanced supers for assistance, he panics to find they’ve done nothing to rescue Oceanus. When no ransom request follows, he worries Mystic’s plan never included returning his girlfriend. Frustrated, he’s forced to work with the only super willing to help. Oceanus’ ex-villain, ex-boyfriend, Set. Mystic isn’t the only one hiding something. Nothing about Jeff is balanced. Temper flares result in scorched clothing or flying furniture, and his charm has become an indiscriminating people-magnet. Jeff is convinced, or maybe just hopeful, that his lack of control is directly related to Oceanus being gone. But will he and Set find her before Jeff loses control completely and will they find her alive?
Super Bad
ISBN-13: 978-1633557703
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IThe world is in chaos. Violence and thievery reign. And with the supers still balanced, it’s only getting worse. Without good versus evil, the supers care less and less. In order to restore purpose, the world needs its super heroes and its super villains, but the one who balanced them in the first place is missing. Sandra’s concern over finding her brother Jeff, isn’t her only problem. Her pathetic excuse for super powers has left her needing a new ankle. And though she’s still very much committed to her boyfriend, Source, she’s growing unreasonably attracted to Set, the boy who double-crossed Jeff by stealing his girlfriend. When Sandra is taken and held as bait by some kids who want to unbalance the super world, it becomes the inciting event that changes things for supers everywhere and forces them to answer the question, “Hero or villain?”