Sexual
Abuse/Rape
Anderson,
Laurie Halse. Speak.
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect of Melinda's
freshman year in high school.
Cole,
Brock. The
Facts Speak for Themselves.
At the request of her social worker, thirteen-year-old Linda gradually
reveals how her life with her unstable mother and her younger brother led
to her rape
and the murder she witnessed.
Crocker, Nancy. Billie Standish Was Here
When the river jeopardizes the levee and most of the town leaves, Miss Lydia, an elderly neighbor, and Billie form a friendship that withstands tragedy and time.
Kwasney, Michelle D. Blue Plate Special
In alternating chapters, the lives of three teenage girls from three different generations are woven together as each girl learns to deal with the hands they’ve been dealt including rape, having an alcoholic mother and an over controlling boyfriend.
Lundgren,
Mary Beth. Love,
Sara.
In a series of emails and journal entries Sara, a high school junior
with a history of sexual abuse and foster home care, reveals her feelings
about herself
and two friends who are headed for destruction.
Neufeld,
John. Boys
Lie.
Eighth-grader Gina Smith is targeted as easy by some boys in
her new school because of her physical development and because of
an incident
in
her past
in which she was assaulted in a public swimming pool.
Peck,
Richard. Are
You in the House Alone?
A sixteen-year-old girl with a steady boyfriend suddenly begins
receiving threatening phone calls while she is babysitting and
anonymous notes
in her high school
locker.
Alcohol/Drugs
Draper, Sharon. Tears
of a Tiger.
The death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile
accident affects the lives of his close friend Andy, who was driving the car,
and many
others in the school.
Friend, Natasha. Lush.
Unable to cope with her father's alcoholism, thirteen-year-old Sam corresponds with an older student, sharing her family problems and asking for advice.
Go
Ask Alice.
Based on the diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user chronicling
her struggle to escape the pull of the drug world.
Hopkins, Ellen. Crank
Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter, gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina. Through a boy, Bree meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul - her life
Hopkins, Ellen. Glass
In a powerful sequel to Crank, Kristina is determined to manage her addiction to crack in order to keep her newborn child, but when she is unable to manage her use of the drug and the pull becomes too strong, her greatest fears are quickly realized.
Murray, Jaye. Bottled
Up: A Novel.
A high school boy comes to terms with his drug addiction,
life with an alcoholic father, and a younger brother who
looks up
to him. Grade
7
and up
Pearson, Mary. A Room on Lorelei Street
To escape a miserable existence taking care of her alcoholic mother, seventeen-year-old Zoe rents a room from an eccentric woman, but her earnings as a waitress after school are minimal and she must go to extremes to cover expenses.
Rapp, Adam. Punkzilla
"Punkzilla" is on a mission to see his older brother "P" before "P" dies of cancer. Still buzzing from his last hit of meth, he embarks on long trip to Memphis, Tenn., writing letters to his family and friends. Along the way, he sees a sketchier side of America and worries if he will make it to see his brother in time.
Death/Dying
Abelove, Joan. Saying
It Out Loud.
With the help of her best friend, sixteen-year-old Mindy sorts through her
relationships with her solicitous mother and her detached father as she tries
to come to terms with the fact that her mother is dying from a brain tumor.
Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays
with Morrie.
Maybe you once had a mentor who gave you advice and helped you see the world
as a more profound place. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his
college professor from nearly twenty years ago. Knowing he was dying, Morrie
visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college.
Bauer, Joan. Hope Was Here
When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.
Bray, Libba. Going Bovine
Slacker Cameron is diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and as he lays in the hospital, he encounters a punk rocker angel, Dulcie, who claims there's a curre for him. So together with hypochondriac, stoner dwarf Gonzo and a lawn gnome they pick up along the way, they head out from Texas to Tomorrowland in Orlando in an hallucinogenic road trip. Bray critiques everything from religious cults, to American education to materialism.
Coman, Carolyn. Many
Stones.
After her sister Laura is murdered in South Africa, Berry and her estranged
father travel there to participate in the dedication of a memorial
in her name.
Coman, Carolyn. Tell
Me Everything.
After her mother dies in a rescue mission on a snowy mountain, twelve-year-old
Roz wonders if talking to God, and to the boy for whom her mother
died, can help her understand what happened.
Cook, Karin. What
Girls Learn.
Two sisters cope with their mother's death by cancer while getting to know
her new husband.
Cooney, Caroline. Driver's
Ed.
Three teenagers' lives are changed forever when they thoughtlessly
steal a stop sign from a dangerous intersection and a young mother
is killed in
an automobile accident there.
Cormier, Robert. The
Bumblebee Flies Anyway.
Sixteen-year-old Barney has only fleeting memories about his past but,
as a voluntary patient at the institute for experimental medicine,
he knows he is
different from the terminally ill patients surrounding him.
His involvement with the bitter, slowly dying, Mazzo brings Barney hope,
pain,
and
a moment of heroic glory.
Deaver, Julie
Reece. Say
Goodnight, Gracie.
When a car accident kills her best friend Jimmy, with
whom she has shared everything from childhood escapades
to breaking
into the
professional
theater scene in
Chicago, seventeen-year-old Morgan must find her own way
of coping with his death.
Dowdham, Jenny. Before I Die
A terminally ill teenaged girl makes and carries out a list of things to do before she dies.
Forman, Gayle. If I Stay
While in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and younger brother, seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weights whether to live with her grief or join her family in death.
Hurwin, Davida. A Time for Dancing
Seventeen-year-old best friends Samantha and Juliana tell their stories in alternating chapters after Juliana is diagnosed with cancer.
Jocelyn, Marthe. Would You
When her beloved sister, Claire, steps in front of a car and winds up in a coma, Nat's anticipated summer of working, hanging around with friends, and seeing Claire off to college is transformed into a nightmare of doctors, hospitals, and well-meaning neighbors.
Johnson, Angela. Toning the Sweep
On a visit to her grandmother Ola, who is dying of cancer in her house in the desert, fourteen-year-old Emmie hears many stories about the past and her family history and comes to a better understanding of relatives both dead and living.
Mahy, Margaret. Memory.
On the fifth anniversary of his older sister's death, nineteen-year-old
Jonny Dart, troubled by feelings of guilt and an imperfect memory of the
event, goes in search of the only other witness to the fatal accident and,
through a chance meeting with a senile old woman, finds way to free himself
of the past.
Mazer, Norma Fox. After
the Rain.
After discovering her grandfather is dying, fifteen-year-old Rachel
gets to know him better than ever before and finds the experience bittersweet. Newbery Honor book
McDaniel,
Lurlene.
McDaniel's books deal with the sickness and death of loved ones from a teen's
point of view.
McDonald, Joyce. Swallowing
Stones.
Dual perspectives reveal the aftermath of seventeen-year-old Michael
MacKenzie's birthday celebration during which he discharges an antique
Winchester rifle and unknowingly kills the father of high school classmate
Jenna Ward.
Mori, Kyoko. Shizuko's
Daughter.
After her mother's suicide when she is twelve years old, Yuki
spends years living with her distant father and his resentful new
wife, cut
off from
her mother's family, and relying on her own inner strength to cope
with the tragedy.
Nolan, Han. Dancing
on the Edge.
A young girl from a dysfunctional family creates for herself an alternative
world which nearly results in her death but which ultimately leads her to reality.
Schmidt, Gary D. Trouble
Fourteen-year-old Henry, wishing to honor his brother Franklin's dying wish, sets out to hike Maine's Mount Katahdin with his best friend and dog. But fate adds another companion--the Cambodian refugee accused of fatally injuring Franklin--and reveals troubles that predate the accident.
Yeomans, Ellen. Rubber Houses
A novel in verse that relates seventeen-year-old Kit's experiences as her younger brother is diagnosed with and dies of cancer and as she withdraws into and gradually emerges from her grief.
Disabilities/Diseases/Mental Health
Barrie, Barbara. Adam
Zigzag.
Adam, who is dyslexic and has great difficulty with his homework, struggles
to find the right school, resist the lure of drugs, and endure the jealousy
of his older sister Caroline.
Bloor, Edward. Tangerine.
Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother
Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and
slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.
Bowler, Tim. Midget.
Subject to strange fits, physically abnormal, and psychologically disturbed
from the constant torment and abuse of his older brother, fifteen-year-old
Midget finds himself in control of his life for the first time when he
gets his own sailboat and discovers untapped mental powers.
Durant, Penny
Raife. When
Heroes Die.
Devastated that his hero uncle, Rob, is dying of AIDS, twelve-year-old
Gary, in need of advice and guidance in his life, draws strength from
Rob himself.
Ferris, Jean. Invincible
Summer.
Seventeen-year-old Robin, in treatment for leukemia,
falls in love with a boy who also has the disease, and
together they
attempt to survive
their
ordeal.
Fox, Paula. The
Eagle Kite.
Liam's father has AIDS, and his family cannot talk about it until Liam
reveals a secret that he has tried to deny ever since he saw his father
embracing another
man at the beach.
Froese, Deborah. Out
of the Fire.
Sixteen-year-old Dayle survives a tragic fire and learns that
her own resources go much deeper than appearances.
Gantos, Jack. Joey
Pigza Swallowed the Key.
To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers,
Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his attention-deficit
disorder
when
his prescription
meds wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired.
Gantos, Jack. Joey
Pigza Loses Control.
Joey,
who is still taking
medication to keep him from
getting too
wired, goes to spend
the summer with
the hard-drinking father
he has
never known
and tries
to help the baseball team he coaches win the championship.
Sequel to Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.
Griffin,
Adele. Amandine.
Her
first
week
at
a new
school, shy, plain Delia
befriends
Amandine,
not
anticipating
the dangerous turns
their friendship
would take.
Hesser,
Terry
Spencer. Kissing
Doorknobs.
Fourteen-year-old Tara describes how her increasingly
strange compulsions begin to take over her life and affect
her relationships
with her family
and friends.
Hurwin, Davida. A
Time for Dancing.
Seventeen-year-old best friends Samantha and Juliana
tell their stories in alternating chapters after Juliana
is diagnosed
with
cancer.
Lebert, Benjamin. Crazy.
Sixteen-year-old Benjamin Lebert wrote this semi-autobiographical
novel about his partial paralysis and fitting in at a new
boarding school.
Lewis, Catherine. Postcards
to Father Abraham.
When
sixteen-year-old
Meghan
loses
her
leg
to
cancer
and
her
brother to Vietnam,
she expresses intense anger
in postcards which
she writes
to her
idol, Abraham
Lincoln.
McCormick, Patricia. Cut.
While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old
Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons
behind her self-mutilation,
and gradually starts to get better.
Moore, Peter. Blind
Sighted.
Kirk, a creative misfit who is in trouble at
high school because he is bored with his classes,
learns
to deal with
his alcoholic
mother, new
friends,
and
life with the help of a blind young woman who
hires him to read to her.
Nolan, Han. Dancing
on the Edge.
A young girl from a dysfunctional family creates for herself an alternative
world which nearly results in her death but
which ultimately leads her to reality.
Orr, Wendy. Peeling
the Onion.
Following an automobile accident in which her
neck is broken, a teenage karate champion begins
a long
and painful
recovery
with the
help of
her family.
Thirteen-year-old Rocky, self-conscious about the
braces on her leg, has her life changed by the
remarkable
artist who comes
to her
small Kansas
town
Paulsen, Gary. The
Monument.
to
design a war memorial.
Pennebaker, Ruth. Both
Sides Now.
Fifteen-year-old Liza tries to deal with
the normal everyday crises of life in an
Austin, Texas,
high school,
a process
complicated by
her mother's
fight
with breast cancer.
Rosenberg, Liz. Seventeen:
A Novel in Prose Poems.
Seventeen-year-old Stephanie journeys
from fall to spring and from childhood
to womanhood
as she
experiences first
love and deals
with
her fear of
inheriting her mother's mental illness.
Ruby, Lois. Miriam's
Well.
When Miriam is diagnosed with a tumor, her belief in faith healing
clashes with her friends' beliefs in
traditional medicine.
Sones, Sonya. Stop
Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy.
A younger sister has a difficult time adjusting
to life after her older sister has
a mental breakdown.
Sparks, Beatrice. It
Happened to Nancy.
Teenage
Nancy's
worst
nightmares come
true
when
she contracts
the
AIDS virus.
Stoehr, Shelley. Crosses.
Unhappy at home, Nancy and her friend Katie adopt punk lifestyles and
find relief in cutting themselves,
until Nancy is forced to confront her problems.
Trueman, Terry. Stuck
in Neutral.
Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel,
who suffers from severe cerebral
palsy and
cannot function,
relates his perceptions
of his life,
his family, and
his condition,
especially as he believes his
father is planning to kill him.
Disfunctional/Violent Families
Corrigan, Eireann. Splintering
Relates, in a series of poems from different perspectives, the events
and after-effects of an intruder's violent attack on a family.
Flynn, Alexandra. Breathing Underwater
Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to
keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with
Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living
with his abusive father.
Klass, David. You Don't Know Me
Fourteen-year-old John creates alternative realities in his mind as he
tries to deal with his mother's abusive boyfriend, his crush on a beautiful,
but shallow classmate and other problems at school.
Divorce/Relationships
Fine, Anne. Flour
Babies.
When
his class of underachievers is assigned to spend three torturous weeks
taking care of their own "babies" in the form of bags of flour,
Simon makes amazing discoveries about himself while coming to terms with
his long-absent father.
Frank, Lucy. Oy,
Joy!
Although her ailing uncle creates problems for her whole family when
he moves in with them, Joy survives his bungling attempts at matchmaking
even as she
plays the game herself.
Mack, Tracy.
Naylor, Phyllis
Reynolds. Ice.
When thirteen-year-old Chrissa is sent to her paternal grandmother's
farm, she learns more about her absent father and some of the reasons
for her distant
relationship with her mother.
Nolan, Han. Born
Blue.
Janie was four years old when she nearly drowned due to her mothers neglect.
Through an unhappy foster home experience, and years of feeling that
she is unwanted, she keeps alive her dream of someday being a famous singer.
Shoup, Barbara. Wish
You Were Here.
A high school senior tries to cope with the shifting patterns of his
life while struggling to come to terms with his parents' divorce, his best
friend's sudden
departure, his mother's remarriage, and his father's nearly-fatal accident.
Wittlinger, Ellen. Hard
Love.
After starting to publish a 'zine in which he writes his secret feelings
about his lonely life and his parents' divorce, sixteen-year-old John meets
an unusual
girl and begins to develop a healthier personality.
Fitting In
Bauer, Cat. Harley,
Like a Person.
Fourteen-year-old Harley, an artistic teenager living with her alcoholic father
and angry mother, suspects that she is adopted and begins a search for her
biological parents.
Castellucci,
Cecil. Boy
Proof
Feeling alienated from everyone around her, Victoria Denton Los Angeles
high school senior and movie lover shaves her head and takes on the
name Egg, after a favorite character in a science fiction film she
has seen
42 times. Her shaved head and white cloak make her actress mother call
her Boy Proof. Changes begin when an interesting new boy arrives at
school and helps her realize that there is more to life than just the
movies.
Cormier, Robert. The
Chocolate War.
A high school freshman discovers the devastating consequences of refusing
to join in the school's annual fund raising drive and arousing the wrath
of the
school bullies.
Griffin, Adele. Amandine.
Her first week at a new school, shy, plain Delia befriends Amandine,
not anticipating the dangerous turns their friendship would take.
Heynen, Jim. Cosmos
Coyote and William the Nice.
When sent to live on a farm in Iowa as an alternative to juvenile detention,
seventeen-year-old Cosmos falls in love with a religious girl and reconsiders
his values and beliefs.
Howe, James. The
Misfits.
Four students who do not fit in at their small-town middle school decide
to create a third party for the student council elections to represent all
students
who have ever been called names.
Koss, Amy Goldman. The
Girls.
Each of the girls in a middle-school clique reveals the strong, manipulative
hold one of the group exerts on the others, causing hurt and self-doubt
among the girls.
Lebert, Benjamin. Crazy.
Sixteen-year-old Benjamin Lebert wrote this semi-autobiographical novel
about his partial paralysis and fitting in at a new boarding school.
Plum-Ucci, Carol. The
Body of Christopher Creed.
Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles
with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of
the class outcast.
Rennison, Louise. Angus,
Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson.
Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old
British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat
from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome
hunk Robbie.
Rennison, Louise. On
the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God: Further Confessions
of Georgia Nicolson.
Fourteen-year-old Georgia continues her diary in which she records her
misadventures trying to reclaim the attention of seventeen-year-old Robbie,
while coping
with her friends, family, and dog-like cat Angus at the same time. Sequel
to Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging.
Sheldon, Dyan. Confessions
of a Teenage Drama Queen.
In
her first year at a suburban New Jersey high school, Mary Elizabeth Cep,
who now calls herself "Lola," sets her sights on the lead in
the annual drama production, and finds herself in conflict with the most
popular girl in school.
Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl.
In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity,
and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes
Mica High School forever.
Weiss, M. Jerry
and Helen S. Weiss, eds. Lost
and Found.
Authors such as Shelley Stoehr, Tamora Pierce, Mel Glenn, and Paul
Zindel write stories based on their real-life experiences as teenagers.
Yep, Laurence. Dream
Soul.
In 1927, as Christmas approaches, fifteen-year-old Joan Lee hopes to
get her parents' permission to celebrate the holiday, one of the problems
of belonging
to the only Chinese American family in her small West Virginia community.
Food
Issues/Weight Concerns
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls
Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder
Bauer, Joan. Squashed.
As a sixteen-year-old pursues her two goals--growing the biggest pumpkin in
Iowa and losing twenty pounds herself--she strengthens her relationship with
her father and meets a young man with interests similar to her own.
Bennett, Cherie. Life
in the Fat Lane.
Sixteen-year-old Lara, winner of beauty pageants and Homecoming Queen,
is distressed and bewildered when she starts gaining weight and becomes
a fat girl.
Block, Francesca
Lia. The
Hanged Man.
Having stopped eating after the death of her father, seventeen-year-old
Laurel feels herself losing control of her life in the hot, magical world
of Los Angeles.
Crutcher, Chris. Staying
Fat for Sarah Byrnes.
The daily class discussions about the nature of man, the existence of
God, abortion, organized religion, suicide and other contemporary issues
serve as
a backdrop for a high-school senior's attempt to answer a friend's dramatic
cry for help.
Dessen, Sarah. Keeping
the Moon.
Fifteen-year-old Colie, a former fat girl, spends the summer working
as a waitress in a beachside restaurant, staying with her overweight and
eccentric Aunt Mira,
and trying to explore her sense of self.
Friend, Natasha. Perfect
Following the death of her father, a thirteen-year-old uses bulimia as a way to avoid her mother's and ten-year-old sister's grief, as well as her own.
George, Madeleine. Looks
Two high school girls, one an anorexic poet and the other an obese loner, form an unlikely friendship.
Holt, Kimberly
Willis. When
Zachary Beaver Came to Town.
During the summer of 1971 in a small Texas town, thirteen-year-old
Toby and his best friend Cal meet the star of a sideshow act, 600-pound
Zachary, the
fattest boy in the world.
Lipsyte, Robert. One
Fat Summer.
An overweight fourteen-year-old boy experiences a turning point summer
in which he learns to stand up for himself.
Mackler, Carolyn. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things
Feeling like she does not fit in with the rest of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.
Marino, Peter. Dough Boy
Overweight, fifteen-year-old Tristan, who lives happily with his divorced mother and her boyfriend Frank, suddenly finds that he must deal with intensified criticism about his weight and other aspects of his life when Frank's popular but troubled, nutrition-obsessed daughter moves in.
Newman, Leslea. Fat
Chance.
In a series of diary entries, thirteen-year-old Judi recounts her struggles
to lose weight, hide her bulimia from her mother, find a boy friend,
and decide on a profession.
Strasser, Todd. How
I Changed My Life.
Overweight high school senior Bo decides to change her image while working
on the school play with a former star football player who is also struggling
to find a new identity for himself.
Supplee, Suzanne. Artichoke’s Heart
Sixteen years old Rosemary decides she is sick of being overweight and mocked at school and at her mother's beauty salon, Heavenly Hair.
Vrettos, Adrienne Marie. Skin
When his parents decide to separate, eighth-grader Donnie watches with horror as the physical condition of his sixteen-year old sister, Karen, deteriorates due to an eating disorder.
On the Edge
Flinn,
Alex. Fade
to Black
HIV-positive Alejandro Crusan, a Florida high-school junior,
has been attacked with a baseball bat while driving to school. Clinton Cole,
the bigot accused of the crime denies having been involved. Dana Bickell,
a classmate with Down Syndrome, is only witness. The three alternate telling
their stories through free verse. They reveal how the assault has changed
their lives as they tell of its aftermath. (Grade 7-10)
Love, Sex & Pregnancy
Behrens, Andy. All the Way
Hoping to have sex for the first time with a girl he has met on the Internet, seventeen-year-old Ian drives with his two best friends from Illinois to South Carolina.
Bunting, Eve. Doll
Baby.
A fifteen-year-old girl who is pregnant decides she wants to keep her baby,
not realizing how much harder it will be than caring for her beloved Daisy
Doll.
Cart, Michael, ed. Love and Sex: Ten Stories of Truth
Efaw, Amy. After
In complete denial that she is pregnant, straight-A student and star athlete Devon Davenport leaves her baby in the trash to die, and after the baby is discovered, Devon is accused of attempted murder.
Doherty, Berlie. Dear
Nobody.
Eighteen-year-old Chris struggles to deal with two shocks that have changed
his life, his meeting the mother who left him and his father when he
was ten and his discovery that he has gotten his girlfriend pregnant.
Fienberg, Anna. Borrowed
Light.
A sixteen-year-old feels alienated from her family while struggling with
the difficult decisions surrounding her unplanned pregnancy.
Grant, Cynthia. The
White Horse.
In her writing for a concerned teacher, sixteen-year-old Raina reveals
her troubles with a dysfunctional family, life on the streets, drug abuse,
and
finally an unplanned pregnancy.
Martin, C.K. Kelly. I Know It’s Over
Sixteen-year-old Nick, still trying to come to terms with his parents' divorce, experiences exhilaration and despair in his relationship with his girlfriend Sasha especially when, after instigating a trial separation, she announces that she is pregnant.
Pennebaker, Ruth. Don't
Think Twice.
Seventeen years old and pregnant, Anne lives with other unwed mothers in a
group home in rural Texas where she learns to be herself before giving her
child up for adoption.
Plummer, Louise. A
Dance for Three.
When fifteen-year-old Hannah becomes pregnant and her rich, popular boyfriend
claims he is not responsible, she is forced to face some hard facts about her
life.
Wallington, Aury. Pop
When seventeen-year-old Marit decides to lose her virginity to her best friend, she finds that separating sex from love proves to be more complicated than she expected.
Young, Cathy, ed. One Hot Second: Stories about Desire
A collection of eleven stories by award-winning authors that explore the many varieties of teenage desire, including first crushes, first kisses, and first times.
Living in Towns Big and Small
Abelove, Joan. Go
and Come Back.
Alicia, a young tribeswoman living in a Amazonian village in the Andes, tells
about the two American women anthropologists who arrive to study the way of
life of her people.
Bradbury, Ray. Dandelion Wine
One magical summer in the life of 12-year-old Douglas Spaulding in a small Illinois town.
Brooks, Martha. True Confessions of a Heartless Girl
A confused seventeen-year-old girl, a single mother and her young son, two elderly women, and a sad and lonely man, with their own individual tragedies to bear, come together in a small Manitoba town and find a way to a better future.
Curtis, Christopher
Paul. The
Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963.
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an
African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed
after they
go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
Finch, Susan. The
Intimacy of Indiana.
In a small Indiana town, Olivia, Adam, and Neil, friends since childhood,
face difficult choices as they enter their senior year in high school.
Frank,
E.R. Life
Is Funny.
The lives of a number of young people of different races, economic
backgrounds, and family situations living in Brooklyn, New York, become
intertwined over
a seven year period.
Friedman, Amy. The Year My Sister Got Lucky
When fourteen-year-old Katie and her older sister, Michaela, move from New York City to upstate New York, Katie is horrified by the country life-style but is even more shocked when her sister adapts effortlessly, enjoying their new life, unlike Katie.
Koss, Amy Goldman. Strike
Two.
Haley's hope of spending the summer playing softball and hanging out
with her cousin Gwen is ruined when her father and her uncle land on opposite
sides
of the local newspaper strike.
Leitch, Will. Catch
Teenager Tim Temples must decide if he wants to leave his comfortable life in a small town and go to college.
Pearsall, Shelley. All of the Above
Five urban middle school students, their teacher, and other community members relate how a school project to build the world's largest tetrahedron affects the lives of everyone involved.
Spinelli, Jerry. Crash.
Seventh-grader
John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable
with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual
Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of
friendship and the importance of family.
Wittlinger, Ellen. What's
In a Name?
Each of ten teenagers living in Scrub Harbor, Massachusetts, explores
his or her identity at the same time that the local residents consider changing
the
name of their town.
Comments or Suggestions?
Contact Cathy Lichtman, Teen Librarian
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