"The Hurt Patrol", "Beau, Lee, The Bomb & Me," and "Rusty Summer" - a trio of books about a trio of teen friends, including a gay teen boy and a fat-shamed girl

The Hurt Patrol by Mary McKinley

"Give me your nerds, your freaks, your huddled weirdos yearning to breathe free. Stick them in Boy Scout uniforms and you'll have ...a sorry bunch of rejects who will never make Eagle."

Welcome to the club... Beau has been scouting since first grade. Not because he loves it, but because his dad does. It’s the only thing they’ve ever bonded over, what with Beau’s dad being into sports, beer, and brawling. So when they move to yet another Midwest town, Beau expects the usual Boy Scout experience, filled with horribleness and insults. Instead he finds something else entirely. Kicked out of every other patrol, their little band of brothers is equal parts nuts and awesome.

For the first time, people are watching Beau’s back instead of throwing things at it. Nice. Novel. And also necessary, when you’re dealing with parents splitting up, crushes, first love, and coming out...

The first—and only—rule of Hurt Patrol:

We are never going to win—but if you’re outcast elsewhere,
...you’ll do just fine here."

"Beau, Lee, The Bomb, & Me" by Mary McKinley

"When Beau transferred to our school. I thought: Good; fresh meat. Because I knew he would be tormented the entire time he was at Baboon High. Like I am. All day…every day."

Meet Rusty, a junior at Baboon High, school year 2012-13. She's questioning everything and sure of nothing- except the fact you're doing it wrong.

In high school, there are few worse crimes than being smart or fat. So of course, Rusty's both. But when Beau blows into town, it takes the tools at their lame-ass Seattle school about two minutes to figure out he’s gay, and of course that makes him an even larger target. Have you ever heard the saying: ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’?

There’s something to that.

Rusty Summer by Mary McKinley

"With graduation a month away, I'm hitting the road with my best friends Beau, Leonie, and Leonie's awesome rescue dog, The Bomb. We've all got something on our minds. Beau is schooling our school for ignoring brutal bullying. Beautiful, crazy Leonie is striving to become a model. And I m drilling to join a local roller derby team The Rat City Roller Girls where my bulk is actually a benefit. But first, somewhere between finals and graduation, I need some answers. I need to see my dad. Face to face.
Unless he's moved without telling me, my dad is out in the wilds of Alaska somewhere remote, beautiful, and amazing, where there will be wild animals, and hot guys, and adventures and lies and heartbreaks. It's further from home than any of us have ever been. Sometimes that's how far you need to go to figure out exactly where you want to be."

Add your review of "The Hurt Patrol," "Beau, Lee, The Bomb, & Me" and/or "Rusty Summer" in comments! 

And check out this beautiful note from the author on the true-life inspiration for Beau.