Health Information Project: Fiction Titles

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Health Information Project Fiction Collection

Super reads that focus on mental health issues. Check them out!
Find more books in the list below. And, check out the titles.

With a Mid-Hudson Library System card, you may borrow titles from one of the library Centers, from any System public library or you may REQUEST A TITLE from your library's online catalog.

Book titles are listed under the following subject areas with overlapping topics listed in parentheses after each book summary (or, to search for a specific title or keyword, on your menu bar, go to "Edit" and then type your selection in the "Find" area):

ABUSE
(see also DATING ISSUES & VIOLENCE PREVENTION)
Absolute Brightness. By James Lecesne. HarperTeen 2008.
In the beach town of Neptune, New Jersey, Phoebe's life is changed irrevocably when her gay cousin moves into her house and soon goes missing. This is the story of a luminous force of nature: a boy who encounters evil and whose magic isn’t truly felt until he disappears. (Sexual Identity, Violence Prevention)

Born Blue. By Han Nolan. Harcourt, 2003.
Janie was four years old when she nearly drowned due to her mother's 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. (Foster Homes, Neglect, Mothers and Daughters, Self-Discovery)

Bruises. By Anke De Vrie. Front Street, 2003.
While living in Holland, Michael meets Judith, who is frightened, bullied, and beaten by her mother and blames herself for the abuse she is enduring. (Child Abuse, Survival, Family)

Dirty Liar. By Brian James. Push, 2006.
No longer able to tolerate living with his alcoholic mother and her abusive boyfriend, high schooler Benji, nicknamed Dogboy, has moved in with his emotionally distant father, stepmother, and stepsister, and strives to be invisible at home and at school until a series of events forces him to express himself. (Emotional Problems, Self-Esteem, Family Problems)

The Rules of Survival. By Nancy Werlin. Dial, 2006.
Seventeen-year-old Matthew recounts his attempts, starting at a young age, to free himself and his sisters from the grip of their emotionally and physically abusive mother. (Child Abuse and Brothers & Sisters)

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. By Chris Crutcher. HarperTempest, 1993.
Sarah Byrnes and Eric have been friends for years. When they were children, his fat and her terrible scars made them both outcasts. Later, although swimming slimmed Eric, she stayed his closest friend. Now Sarah – the smartest, toughest person Eric has ever known – sits silent in the hospital. He must uncover the terrible secret she’s hiding before its dark currents pull them both under. (Body Image; Bullying)

Such a Pretty Girl. By Laura Wiess. Pocket Books, 2007. Haunted by flashbacks, fifteen-year-old Meredith learns that three years in prison has not changed the abusive father who molested her. (Self-esteem, Fathers & Daughters, and Recovery)

Suckerpunch. By David Hernandez. HarperTeen, 2008.
Shy, seventeen-year-old Marcus and his sixteen-year-old brother, Enrique, accompanied by two friends, drive from their home in southern California to Monterey to confront the abusive father who walked out a year earlier, and who now wants to return home.

What Mr. Mattero Did. By Priscilla Cummings. Dutton Books, 2005.
Three seventh-grade girls accuse their music teacher of having touched them inappropriately and sexually. (Sex Crimes, School)

When Kambia Elaine Flew in from Neptune. By Lori Aurelia Williams. Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Shayla lives in Houston and doesn't know what to think about her strange neighbor, Kambia who tells the most fantastic stories. (Sexual Abuse, African Americans, Family Relations)

When She Hollers. By Cynthia Voigt. Scholastic, 1994.
It's the day that Tish decides that her stepfather will never touch her again. (Child Sexual Abuse, Incest, Stepfathers)

Uncle Vampire. By Cynthia Grant. Atheneum, 1993.
At the end of this compelling depiction of the trauma of sexual abuse, Carolyn, 16, summons the courage to tell someone what her Uncle Toddy has done for as long as she can remember. (Incest, Family Problems, Emotional Problems)

BACK TO TOPICS

ALCOHOL USE & TEENAGERS
Before, After and Somebody in Between. By Jeannine Garsee. Bloomsbury, 2007.
One hour into her first day of tenth grade, Martha Kowalski knows she’s really in trouble. The school bully, Chardonnay, has already threatened her life – and at home, things are even worse. Martha’s mom, fresh out of rehab, is shacking up with a total jerk in a run-down two-family house in the ghetto. As her mother’s willpower dissolves, Martha watches helplessly – until an exhilarating twist turns everything around. But can any fairy tale last forever? (Abuse, Bullying, Family Issues)

Best Foot Forward. By Joan Bauer. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2005.
For sixteen-year-old Jenna, life is finally coming together as she deals with her father's alcoholism, her best friend, and a possible romance. Then, problems begin when he employer hires Tanner who has been caught shoplifting. (Alcoholism, Interpersonal Relations)

The Blue Mirror. By Kathe Koja. Puffin, 2005.
Seventeen-year-old loner Maggy Klass, who frequently seeks refuge from her alcoholic mother's apartment by sitting and drawing in a local cafe, becomes involved in a destructive relationship with a charismatic homeless youth named Cole. (Homelessness and Mothers & Daughters)

The Boy Who Drank Too Much. By Shep Greene. Dell Publishing, 1979.
A teenage hockey star tries to cope with his problems through drinking, but finally seeks help through his friends. (Fathers and Sons)

Buried. By Robin Merrow MacCready. Dutton, 2006.
When her alcoholic mother goes missing, seventeen-year-old Claudine begins to spin out of control, despite her attempts to impose order on every aspect of her life. (Mothers & Daughters and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

Comfort. By Carolee Dean. Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
Fourteen-year-old Kenny Roy Willson fantasizes about escape from his hometown of Comfort, Texas, following his alcoholic father's release from prison. (Coping Skills, High School, Family Problems, Father-Son Relationship)

Crunch Time. By Mariah Fredericks. Atheneum, 2006.
Four students form a study group to prepare for the SAT exam, and the reader learns that standardized tests don't reflect the real person. (Interpersonal Relations)

Leftovers. By Laura Wiess. Pocket Books, 2008.
Blair and Ardith are best friends who have committed an unforgivable act in the name of love and justice. In order to understand why, you’ll have to listen as they describe parents who are alternately absent and smothering, classmates who mock and shun anyone different, and young men who are allowed to hurt and dominate without consequence. You’ll have to understand what it’s like to be forgotten and abandoned in America today. Are you ready? (Abuse, Family Issues, Violence Prevention)

A Room on Lorelei Street. By Mary E. Pearson. Henry Holt and Company, 2005.
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. (Family Problems, Freedom)

Sarah T: Portrait of a Teen-Age Alcoholic. By Robin S. Wagner. Ballantine Books, 1975.
A shocking and compassionate look at the growing problem of adolescent liquor abuse... and the desperate need for rehabilitation.

BACK TO TOPICS

BODY IMAGE/EATING DISORDERS
The Best Little Girl in the World. By Steve Levenkron. Contemporary Books, 1978.
A revealing story about a teenager, Francesca Deitrich, who suffers from destructive anorexia nervosa. (Anorexia Nervosa)

Big Fat Manifesto. By Susan Vaught. Bloomsbury, 2008.
Writing a column every week in the school newspaper about what it really means to be fat, Jamie Carcaterra – high school senior, star of her school’s production of The Wiz, and features editor of The Wire – offers readers a searing a hilarious account of her full-size fight to change the thinking of a very thin world. (Self-Esteem)

Crystal. By Walter Dean Myers. HarperCollins Publishers, 1987.
Fifteen-year-old Crystal has difficulty trying to reconcile her personal and school life with the sexy, sophisticated persona her career as a quickly advancing high-fashion model has forced upon her. (Fashion, African American Women)

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. By Carolyn Mackler. Candlewick, 2003.
Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members 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. (Assertiveness, Family Problems)

The Fold. By An Na. Penguin, 2008.
Joyce never used to care that much about how she looked, but that was before she met JFK—John Ford Kang, the most gorgeous guy in school. And it doesn’t help that she’s constantly being compared to her beautiful older sister, Helen. Then her rich plastic-surgery-addict aunt offers Joyce a gift to “fix” a part of herself she’d never realized needed fixing—her eyes. Joyce has heard of the fold surgery—a common procedure meant to make Asian women’s eyes seem “prettier” and more “American”—but she’s not sure she wants to go through with it. The plastic surgeon has shown Joyce that her new eyes will make her look just like Helen—but is that necessarily a good thing? (Interpersonal Relations, Korean Americans, Self-Esteem)

Girls Under Pressure. By Jacqueline Wilson. Delacorte Press, 2002.
Ellie learns to deal with her self-image as she battles anorexia. (Anorexia Nervosa)

Massive. By Julia Bell. Simon Pulse, 2005.
Because of her mother's obsession with weight, coupled with the false idea that being thin is the key to success, young Carmen becomes just as obsessed as her mother in having a perfect body. (Eating Disorders, Mothers and Daughters)

Mercy, Unbound. By Kim Antieau. Simon Pulse, 2006.
Believing she has wings and is an angel on earth, fifteen-year-old Mercy decides to stop eating due to her adamant view that angels don't need food, but when she is forced to go to an eating disorder clinic, Mercy begins to see things in a new light. (Family Issues & Religious Beliefs)

Model Summer. By Paulina Porizkova. Hyperion, 2007.
Paris, 1980. Everyone is beautiful and glamorous. At the edge of the crowd is 14-year-old Jirina who has always been too tall, too skinny and too odd to be popular. She spent most of her time taking care of her sister, hiding from her irritable mother and feeling like she could do nothing right – until she was discovered by a Parisian modeling agency. Will she be able to return to her former life after having a taste of freedom?

Out of Order. By Robin Stevenson. Orca, 2007.
Sophie spent a year starving herself. Now she’s walked through the front doors of a new school, with her heart hammering. She keeps her eyes straight ahead, hoping no one will notice her and that no one will suspect what she doesn’t want them to know – that she used to be fat. (Friendship, High School, Self-Esteem)

More Than You Can Chew. By Marnelle Tokio. Tundra, 2003.
Marty Black may not be able to control her parents' behavior, but she can decide what she will and will not eat. Eventually, she stops eating altogether. Marty is close to death when she finally asks for help and finds herself in a psychiatric institution. But recognizing her need for help is only the first tenuous step on a long road to recovery. (Self-Acceptance)

My Sister's Bones. By Cathi Hanaur. Delacorte Press, 1996.
From September to May is an eventful few months in the life of a plucky New Jersey girl, a doctor's younger daughter who is coming of age just as her beautiful older sister begins to succumb to anorexia. (Anorexia Nervosa, Sisters)

Skin. By Adrienne Maria Vrettos. Margaret K, McElderry Books, 2006.
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. (Anorexia Nervosa, Siblings, Divorce/Separation)

Specials. By Scott Westerfeld. Simon Pulse, 2006.
Tally was once an ugly, but is now programmed as a Special. She is programmed to keep the Uglies down and the Pretties stupid. Will her past interfere with orders and save the lives of those she cared for?
(Decision Making, Self-Esteem, Survival, Body Image)

Uglies. By Scott Westerfield. Simon Pulse, 2005.
Tally can't wait for her sixteenth birthday to become pretty like all the other perfect girls. But her new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty and runs away. Tally is forced to choose between helping her friend and transforming into a perfect beauty. (Friendship, Runaways, Decision Making)

BACK TO TOPICS

BULLYING
(see also COPING SKILLS & VIOLENCE PREVENTION)
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl. By Barry Lyga. Houghton Miffin, 2006.
A fifteen-year-old "geek" who keeps a list of the high school jocks and others who torment him, and pours his energy into creating a great graphic novel, encounters Kyra, Goth Girl, who helps change his outlook on almost everything, including himself. (Coping Skills and Friendship)

The Beckoners. By Carrie Mac. Orca Book Publishers, 2004.
Alienation and terror would be the only future for Zoe if she did not give into the local gang. The adults in her life are preoccupied with themselves or don't care. She has no choice but to witness and partake in the bullying of her entire community just to survive. (Female Gangs, Children of Alcoholics, Violence Prevention)

Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do? By Cynthia Voigt. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006.
As new ninth-graders eager only to survive high school, Mikey and Margalo must deal creatively with stolen money and cheating on the tennis courts. (Best Friends, High School, Sports)

Drowning Anna. By Sue Mayfield. Hyperion, 2002.
Shy Anna is seemingly befriended by the popular Hayley in her new school, until Hayley's cruel bullying assumes dangerous proportions. (Popularity)

Games: A Tale of Two Bullies. By Carol Gorman. HarperCollins, 2007.
When fourteen-year-old rivals Boot Quinn and Mick Sullivan fight once too often, the new principal devises the punishment of having to play games together at his office, where they learn which battles are worth fighting. (Violence Prevention and Middle School)

COMING SOON! Red Rage. By Brigitte Blobell. Annick Press, 2007.
Mara has a lot to be angry about. She lives in a bleak housing development where prospects are dim. Things are no better at home – the atmosphere in her family’s apartment is almost unbearable. Rage is the only thing that offers relief from her world. Then she meets Tim, and there’s a teacher who sees a better future for Mara. But when an unspeakable event occurs, Mara is forced to look inward, and to the one person who has never given up hope.

This is What I Did. By Ann Dee Ellis. Little, Brown& Company, 2007.
Imagine if you had witnessed something horrific. Imagine if it had happened to your friend. And imagine if you hadn't done anything to help. That's what it's like to be Logan, an utterly frank, slightly awkward, and extremely loveable outcast enmeshed in a mysterious psychological drama. This story allows readers to piece together the sequence of events that has changed his life and his perspective on what it means to be a good friend and a good person. (Interpersonal Relations)

BACK TO TOPICS

CAREERS, EDUCATION & FINANCES
A Field Guide to High School. By Marissa Walsh. Delacorte Press, 2007.
When Claire heads off to Yale, she leaves her eighth-grade sister a book titled A Field Guide to High School. In it, she explains the key to running the social and academic gambit at their private school, and discusses the elements of each social group and the importance of knowing what not to wear. She stresses the need to choose the right people from the very start of school, and tells her how she was so successful. (Coping Skills, Decision Making, Interpersonal Relations)

COPING SKILLS/DECISION MAKING/PEER PRESSURE
Alice on Her Way. By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Atheneum, 2005.
Alice is adjusting to her new stepmother, her brother's new apartment, her ex-boyfriend, and getting her driver's license. (High Schools, Stepmothers, Family Life)

Before We Were Free. By Julia Alvarez. Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.
In the early 1960's in the Dominican Republic, twelve-year-old Anita learns that her family is involved in the underground movement to end the bloody rule of the dictator. (Family Life)

Birdland. By Tracy Mack. Scholastic, 2003.
Thirteen-year-old Jed spends Christmas break working on a school project filming a documentary about his East Village, New York City neighborhood, where he is constantly reminded of his older brother, Zeke, a promising poet who died the summer before. (Brothers/Speech Disorders)

Book of Fred. By Abby Bardi. Washington Square Press, 2001.
Mary Fred Anderson, raised in an isolated fundamentalist sect whose primary obsessions seem to involve the likelihood of an apocalypse and the spreading of the name "Fred," is hardly your average fifteen-year-old.
(Religion Fundamentalism, Family)

Both Sides Now. By Ruth Pennebaker. Holt, 2000.
The one thing that Liza could never have planned on was her mother Rebecca getting breast cancer. (Breast Cancer, Mothers and Daughters, High School)

Breaking Point. By Alex Flinn. HarperCollins, 2002.
Fifteen-year-old Paul enters an exclusive private school and falls under the spell of a charismatic boy who may be using him. (Friendship, High School)

Can't Get There from Here. By Todd Strasser. Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Tired of being hungry, cold, and dirty from living on the streets of New York City with a tribe of other homeless teenagers who are dying, one by one, a girl named Maybe ponders her future and longs for someone to care about her. (Street Children, New York)

Catalyst. By Laurie Halse Anderson. Viking, 2002.
Kate finds herself losing control in her senior year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and an unexpected death. (Death, High School, Father-Daughter Relations)

Catch. By Will Leitch. Penguin, 2005.
Teenager Tim Temples must decide if he wants to leave his comfortable life in a small town and go to college. (High School Graduates, Colleges and Universities)

Chaser: A Novel in E-Mails. By Michael J. Rosen. Candlewick Press, 2002.
When his parents decide to move to an old house in the country, Chase uses email to his friends back in Columbus, Ohio, and to his sister in college to help him deal with cicadas, deer hunters, and other changes in his life. (Country Life, Moving, Email)

Chicken Boy. By Dowell, Frances O'Roark. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2005.
Since the death of his mother, Tobin's family life and school life have been in disarray, but after he starts raising chickens with his seventh-grade classmate, Henry, everything starts to fall into place.
(Death, Family Problems, Self-Esteem)

The Color of Absence: 12 Stories About Loss and Hope. Edited by James Howe. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001.
A collection of stories dealing with different kinds of loss experienced by young people. (Grief, Short Stories)

Conditions of Love. By Ruth Pennebaker. Dell, 2000.
During her freshman year at an elite high school in Dallas, Sarah tries to come to terms with her own volatile emotions, her changing relationship with her best friend, feelings about her mother, and new insights into her dead father whom she idolized. (Fathers and Daughters, Death, Divorce, Friendship)

Criss Cross. By Rae Lynne Perkins. Greenwillow, 2005.
Teenagers in a small town in the 1960's experience new thoughts and feelings, question their identities, connect, and disconnect as they search for the meaning of life and love. (Interpersonal Relations)

Drift. By Manuel Luis Martinez. Picador, 2003.
At sixteen, Robert Lomos has lost his family. Only his iron-willed grandmother, worn down by years of hard work, is left. But, Robert’s got a plan. (Mexican-Americans, Family, Psychology)

Driver's Ed. By Caroline Cooney. Delacorte, 1994.
A prank goes wrong and a group of friends must evaluate their responsibility for a car accident. (High School, Death)

Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie. By Jordan Sonnenblick. Scholastic Press, 2005.
When his younger brother is diagnosed with leukemia, thirteen-year-old Steven tries to deal with his complicated emotions, his school life, and his desire to support his family.
(Leukemia, Brothers, Middle School)

Falling Through Darkness. By Carolyn MacCullough. Roaring Brook, 2003.
Seventeen-year old Ginny unexpectedly gets help from her father's new tenant while struggling to cope with her guilt and confusion over the death of her daredevil boyfriend. (Grief, Guilt, Death)

Family History. By Dani Shapiro. Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
Rachel Jensen has it all: a husband she adores, challenging work in art restoration, a terrific teenage daughter, and a new baby on the way. Then her infant son is injured in an accident in her daughter’s arms, and that accident causes a terrifying lie. (Siblings, Infants)

Forbidden. By Judy Waite. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2004.
Elinor has lived in a cult her entire life, but when she meets a boy who looks strangely familiar, she begins to question what she has been taught. (Cults, Self-Discovery, Religion)

Freaky Green Eyes. By Joyce Carol Oates. HarperCollins, 2003.
Fifteen-year-old Franky relates the events of the year leading up to her mother's mysterious disappearance and her own struggle to discover and accept the truth about her parents' relationship. (Family Violence, Fathers and Daughters, Psychological Abuse)

Freewill. By Chris Lynch. HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
A teenager trying to recover from the tragic death of his father and stepmother believes himself to be responsible for the rash of teen suicides occurring in his town. (Emotionally Disturbed Children, Death, Suicide,Grandparents)

Fresh Girl. By Jaira Placide. Wendy Lamb Books, 2002.
After fleeing a coup d'etat in Haiti, Mardi tries to adapt to her new life in New York until secret memories of her former life are revived by the sudden appearance of her uncle. (Haitian-Americans)

Gossip Girl. By Cecily von Ziegesar. Little Brown, 2002.
Gossip Girl herself is an anonymous narrator with the ultimate insider scoop on the inner-workings of this privileged society because she's one of them. (Teenagers, Gossip, New York)

Guitar Highway Rose. By Brigid Lowry. Holiday House, 2003.
Two Fifteen-year-olds, Rosie and Asher, upset over the various unhappy circumstances of their lives in the Australian city of Perth, decide to run away. (Coming of Age, Parent and Teenager, Runaways)

Handbook for Boys. By Walter Dean Myers. Harper Collins, 2002.
Two African-American youth discover the rules of life, with the help of Duke and the other older guys. (Conduct of Life, African-American)

Hush. By Jacqueline Woodson. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2002.
Under the witness protection program, a young girl has to reinvent herself and her future in a new city. (African-American)

Hope Was Here. By Joan Bauer. Thorndike Press, 2001.
Ever since her mother left, Hope has, with her comfort-food-cooking aunt Addie, been serving up the best in diner food from Pensacola to NYC. (Cancer, Politics)

Important Things that Don't Matter. By David Amsden. HarperCollins, 2003.
At age five, the anonymous narrator witnesses the end of his parents' troubled marriage. As the boy negotiates his parents' two worlds, he's also absorbed in the usual preadolescent and teenage dramas; he has his first girlfriend, dumps her and plays the field with other girls who are themselves the scarred victims of no-fault divorce.
(Divorce, Family Issues, Father-Son Relationship)

Kamichama Karin (Graphic Novel). By Koge-Donbo (Nan Rymer). Tokyopop, 2005.
Karin is an average girl. She's not good at sports and gets terrible grades. On top of all that, her parents are dead and her beloved cat Shi-chan just died, too. She is miserable, but everything is about to change. Little does Karin know that her mother's ring has the power to make her a goddess! (Self-Esteem, Death, Adventure)

Kerosene. By Chris Wooding. Scholastic Publishing, 1999.
Cal likes fire because it helps him cope with life until life gets too complicated. (Emotionally Disturbed Children, Human Behavior, Fire, Alcohol)

King Dork. By Frank Portman. Delacorte, 2006.
High school loser Tom Henderson discovers that "The Catcher in the Rye" may hold the clues to the many mysteries in his life. (Self-identity, Fathers & Sons, and High School)

The Last Chance Texaco. By Brent Hartinger. HarperCollins, 2004.
Troubled teen Lucy Pitt struggles to fit in as a new tenant at a last-chance foster home. (Foster Homes, Orphans)

Leslie's Journal. By Allan Stratton. Annick Press, 2000.
Leslie's world seems to be crashing around her, and she records it all in a journal. (Family Life, Friendship, Love)

Life at These Speeds. By Jeremy Jackson. Picador, 2002.
In eighth grade Kevin Schuler is a popular kid with a decent, if not stellar, record on the track. Yet after fate takes him off a bus that crashes and kills his fellow students, including his girlfriend, Kevin inexplicably becomes a track phenomenon. (Athletes, Loss)

Looking for Alaska. By John Green. Dutton books, 2005.
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
(Death, Boarding Schools)

Lucky Stars (stuttering). By Lucy Frank. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2005.
Music entwines Kira, a thirteen-year-old singer who hates that her father makes her perform for money on New York City subway platforms; Eugene, the class clown; and Jake, who longs to sing and to approach Kira, but feels held back by his stuttering.
(Single Parent Family, Self-Esteem)

Lucky T. By Kate Brian. Simon & Schuster, 2005.
Carrie, a talented and beautiful but selfish teen, is in Calcutta trying to track down her lucky T-shirt that was accidentally sent to a shelter there. This shirt is one of the few connections she has with her often-absent, divorced father. In this foreign land, she finds a lot more than she ever expects.

Mom’s Cancer.(Graphic Format) By Brian Fies. Abrams Image, 2006.
This graphic novel is the inspirational story about one family’s struggle with lung cancer. It explores how they all cope with the effects and ongoing treatment. (Family Life and Recovery)

Never Mind the Goldbergs. By Matthue Roth. Push, 2005.
Hava, a seventeen-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl leaves her home in New York for the summer to film a television show in California.
(Traditions, Rebelliousness, Friendship)

Notebook Girls. By Julia Baskin. Warner, 2006.
Four teens recount the course of their friendship at one of New York City's most prestigious public high schools, from their horrified witness to the September 11 attacks to their efforts to juggle demanding schedules and social pressures. (Friendship)

Nothing to Lose. By Alex Flinn. HarperCollins, 2004.
A year after running away with a traveling carnival to escape his unbearable home life, sixteen-year-old Michael returns to Miami, Florida, to find that his mother is going on trial for the murder of his abusive stepfather. (Runaways, Wife Abuse, Murder)

One True Friend. By Joyce Hansen. Clarion Books, 2001.
Fourteen-year-old orphan Amir, living in Syracuse, exchanges letters with his friend Doris, still living in their old Bronx neighborhood, in which they share their lives and give each other advice on friendship, family, foster care, and making decisions. (African Americans, Friendship)

Out Of Order. By Amanda McRaney Jenkins. HarperCollins, 2003.
Sophomore Colt Trammel loves baseball and his girlfriend Grace, but he hates the rest of high school and maintains a tough facade to hide his feelings of inferiority. (High School, Self-Esteem, Interpersonal Relations)

The Pain Tree and Other Teenage Angst-Ridden Poetry. By Esther Pearl Watson & Mark Todd. Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
Bold mixed-media illustrations accompany original poetry written by and for teens. (Poetry, Anxiety)

Prom. By Laurie Halse Anderson. Speak, 2005.
Eighteen-year-old Ash wants nothing to do with senior prom, but when disaster strikes and her desperate friend, Natalia, needs her help to get it back on track, Ash's involvement transforms her life.
(High School, Self-Realization, Friendship, Family)

The Real Question. By Adrian Fogelin. Peachtree, 2006.
Fisher Brown, a sixteen-year-old over-achiever, is on the verge of academic burnout when he impulsively decides to stop cramming for the SATs for one weekend and accompany his ne'er-do-well neighbor to an out-of-town job repairing a roof. (Single-parent families, Fathers & Sons, and Coming of age)

The Reappearance of Sam Webber. By Jonathan Fuqua. Candlewick Press, 2001.
Eleven-year-old Sam Webber was never very good at making friends his own age. In fact, he felt closest to his mother and father. So, Sam is devastated when, without warning, his father abandons the family. (Single-Parent Families, Fear, High School)

Returnable Girl. By Pamela Lowell. Marshall Cavendish, 2006. Friendship with an outcast classmate and memories of her mother's desertion interfere with the relationship thirteen-year-old Ronnie tries to establish with her new foster mother. (Families, Friendship, and Self-identity)

The Revealers. By Doug Wilhelm. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003.
Tired of being bullied and picked on, three seventh-grade outcasts join forces and, using scientific methods and the power of the Internet, begin to create a new atmosphere at Parkland Middle School.
(Internet, Bullying, Friendship)

Runaway. By Van Draanen. Knopf, 2006.
After running away from her fifth foster home, Holly, a twelve-year-old orphan, travels across the country, keeping a journal of her experiences and struggle to survive. (Homelessness and Survival)

Saving Francesca. By Melina Marchetta. Random House, 2004.
Sixteen-year-old Francesca could use her outspoken mother's help with the problems of being one of a handful of girls at a parochial school that has just turned co-ed, but her mother has suddenly become severely depressed. (Depression, Catholic School, Family)

Search and Destroy. By Dean Hughes. Ginee Seo Books, 2005.
Recent high-school graduate Rick Ward, undecided about his future and eager to escape his unhappy home life, joins the army and experiences the horrors of the war in Vietnam.(Self-Actualization, Dating)

Shadow Boxer. By Chris Lynch. HarperCollins, 1993.
The shadow of their deceased father, a boxer, provides a background for 14-year-old George and his younger, hyperactive brother, Monty. (Death, Brothers, Fathers and Sons)

Sloppy Firsts: A Novel. By Megan McCafferty. Three Rivers Press, 2001.
Jessica's best friend moved away and now she has to deal with high school and her family all on her own. (High School, Teenage Girls, Family Relations, Friendship)

Snap: A Novel. By Alison McGhee. Candlewick Press, 2004.
Eleven-year-old Edwina confronts old and new challenges when her longtime best friend Sally faces the inevitable death of the grandmother who raised her. (Friendship, Death, Grief, Family)

Stitches. By Glen Huser. Groundwood Books, 2003.
Travis's difficult life is examined over a period of three years, beginning in seventh grade. The only real constant in his life is Chantelle, a disfigured girl with a debilitating disease. Picked on unmercifully for no apparent reason by three bullies, Travis finds some balance through artistic expression, his encouraging teachers, some genuine friendships, and the support of his aunt. (Bullying, Self-Expression)

A Sudden Silence. By Eve Bunting. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988.
Jesse Harmon knows he will never forget the night his deaf brother, Bry, was killed by a hit-and-run driver because he couldn't hear Jesse warn him. (Drunk Driving, Death, Brothers)

Surviving the Applewhites. By Stephanie Tolan. HarperCollins, 2002.
Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for home schooling to the arty and eccentric Applewhite family's Creative Academy, where he discovers talents and interests he never knew he had. (Theater, Family Life)

Three Clams and an Oyster. By Randy Powell. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2002.
Three high school juniors must find a replacement for their football team. In one weekend they wrestle with the questions of life, death, and loyalty. (Friendship, Humor)

Travel Team. By Mike Lupica. Philomel Books, 2004.
After he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father once led to national prominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory. (Fathers and Sons, Individuality, Teamwork, School Sports)

Tribute to Another Dead Rock Star. By Randy Powell. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999.
For a tribute to his mother, a dead rock star, fifteen-year-old Grady returns to Seattle, where he faces his mixed feelings for his retarded younger half-brother Louie while pondering his own future. (Mothers and Sons, Mentally Handicapped, Family Relations)

True Believer. By Virginia Euwer Wolff. Atheneum Books for Young Adults, 2001.
Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it - an occasion to rise to. (Single-Parent Families, Poverty, Friendship, Violence)

Truth About Forever. By Sarah Dessen. Viking, 2004.
The summer following her father's death, Macy plans to work at the library and wait for her brainy boyfriend to return from camp, but instead she goes to work at a catering business where she makes new friends and finally faces her grief. (Grief, Death, Friendships, Interpersonal Relations)

Truth About Twelve. By Theresa Golding. Boyds Mills Press, 2004.
Tremendously burdened by a secret guilt, twelve-year-old Lindy uses her skill at baseball to help her cope with a new school, scornful classmates, and complicated family problems. (Emotional Problems, Secrets, Baseball)

The Usual Rules. By Joyce Maynard. St. Martin's, 2003.
Life for Wendy is fraught with the usual teen angst until September 11, when her mom heads off to work at the World Trade Center and never comes home. (Fathers and Daughters, Death, September 11)

Walk Softly Rachel. By Kate Banks. Frances Foster Books, 2003.
When fourteen-year-old Rachel reads the journal of her brother, who died when she was seven, she learns secrets that help her understand her parents and herself. (Family Problems, Death, Secrets)

We All Fall Down. By Robert Cormier. Delacorte, 1991.
Jane Jerome and her family come home to find that vandals have destroyed their possessions, urinated on their walls, and left 14-year-old Karen in a coma at the bottom of the basement stairs. (Vandalism, Revenge, Alcoholism)

Whale Talk. By Chris Crutcher. Greenwillow Books, 2001.
The swim team members, all misfits and in a school that has no pool, grow together into self-acceptance, but not without heartache. (Sports, High School)

What Happened to Lani Garver. By Carol Plum-Ucci. Harcourt Inc, 2002.
Who or what is newcomer Lani, an angel? An unusual story of compassion and tragedy. (Emotions, Homosexuality)

What I Call Life. By Jill Wolfson. Henry Holt and Company, 2005.
Placed in a group foster home, eleven-year-old Cal Lavender learns how to cope with life from the four other girls who live there and from their storytelling guardian, the Knitting Lady. (Foster Homes, Illness, Mothers and Daughters, Self-Perception)

When Dad Killed Mom. By Julius Lester. Silver Whistle/Harcourt, 2001.
Jenna and Jeremy must deal with the fact that their father murdered their mother. (Murder, Family Problems, Brothers and Sisters)

When I Was Older. By Garrett Freymann-Weyr. Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
Fifteen-year-old Sophie Merdinger's life fell apart when her younger brother died from leukemia and her parents' marriage dissolved. (Death, Brothers and Sisters, Family Relations)

The Winter Road. By Terry Hokenson. Front Street, 2006.
Seventeen-year-old Willa, still grieving over the death of her older brother and the neglect of her father, decides to fly a small plane to fetch her mother in Northern Ontario, but when the plane crashes she is all alone in the snowy wilderness. (Grief, Neglect, Survival)

Wonder When You'll Miss Me. By Amanda Davis. HarperCollins, 2003.
A year after being raped at school, Faith is bent on revenge. This quest for retribution eventually compels her to violence, forcing her to flee home in search of the only friend she has and to tumble into the colorful, transient world of the circus. Faith ultimately begins to discover who she is and all that she is capable of. (Runaway Teens, Weight Loss, Rape, Circus)

Worlds Apart. By Lindsay Lee Johnson. Front Street, 2005.
A thirteen-year-old daughter of a surgeon finds herself wrenched away from a comfortable lifestyle to a home on the grounds of a mental hospital, where her father has accepted a five-year contract. (Friendship, Mental Health Issues, Parents)

You Don't Know Me. By David Klass. Frances Foster Books, 2001.
John, abused by his mother's boyfriend, engages in interior monologues that examine his life, with humor and quirky insights. (High School, Self-Perception, Child Abuse)

You're the One That I Want. Cecily Von Ziegesar. Little, Brown, 2004.
After an agonizing wait for college acceptance letters, Blair, Serena, Nate, and their classmates at elite Manhattan prep schools discover that their college choice depends a lot on relationships--old and new. (High School, College, Choice, Friends)

BACK TO TOPICS

DATING ISSUES
An Abundance of Katherines. By John Green. Dutton, 2006.
Having been recently dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine, recent high school graduate and former child prodigy Colin sets off on a road trip with his best friend to try to find some new direction in life while also trying to create a mathematical formula to explain his relationships. (Dating and Self-actualization)

Anything But Ordinary. By Valerie Hobbs. Frances Foster Books, 2007.
From the moment their friendship begins in eighth grade, Winifred and Bernie are individualists. Awkward and quirky outsiders who pride themselves on being different, they rely on each other through the tough years of high school. They vow to attend college together but when Bernie’s mother dies and he drops out of school to work in a tire shop, Winnifred leaves for the University of California at Santa Barbara. Will the couple survive? Will they have anything in common?

COMING SOON! Barb and Dingbat’s Crybaby Hotline. By Patrick Jennings. Holiday House, 2007.
Jeff can hardly believe it when he gets the second-hand news that his girlfriend is dropping him. And what's with Barb anyway? Why does she keep calling him, and why does he get the feeling she's not telling him the whole truth?

The Boy Book. By E. Lockhart. Delacorte, 2006.
A high school junior continues her quest for relevant data on the male species, while enjoying her freedom as a newly licensed driver and examining her friendship with a clean-living vegetarian classmate. (Dating, Driving, and Friendship)

The Breakable Vow. By Kathryn Ann Clarke. Avon, 2004.
After eighteen-year-old Annie becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she marries her boyfriend, but slowly realizes that he is abusive and that she must decide what she can and will do about the relationship and to keep her daughter and herself safe. Includes information on the characteristics of abusive relationships and how to end them.
(Pregnancy, Jealousy, Self-Esteem)

Breathing Underwater. By Alex Flinn. HarperCollins Publisher, 2001.
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.(Dating Violence, Anger, Father-Son Abuse)

Chicks with Sticks: Knit Two Together. By Elizabeth Lenhard. Dutton, 2006.
Chicago high-school juniors Scottie, Amanda, Tay, and Bella, rely on their friendship and their shared passion for knitting to help them as they navigate their relationships with boys. (Knitting and Friendship)

Darkness Before Dawn. By Sharon Draper. Atheneum Books, 2001.
Keisha struggles to put her world back in perspective, she learns the power and the danger of silence, and discovers the secret gifts that had been waiting for her all along. (Rape, High School, African American Teens)

Dead-End Job. By Vicki Grant. Orca Book Publishing, 2005.
When it turns out that the boy Frances has met at her job working the nightshift is a stalker, she realizes she may be in serious danger. (Stalker, Violence Prevention)

Dreamland: A Novel. By Sarah Dessen. Viking, 2000.
Lost in her search for herself, Caitlin wanders in a dream land of drugs and a nightmare of Rogerson's sudden fists. (Dating Violence, Interpersonal Relationships, Runaways)

How They Met and Other Stories. By David Levithan. Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.
Here are 18 stories, all about love, and about all kinds of love. From the aching for the one you pine for, to standing up and speaking up for the one you love, to pure joy and happiness, these love stories run the gamut of that emotion that at some point has turned every one of us inside out and upside down.

Inexcusable. By Chris Lynch. Ginee Seo Books, 2005.
High school senior and football player Keir sets out to enjoy himself on graduation night, but when he attempts to comfort a friend and the love of his life whose date has left her stranded, things go terribly wrong. (Date Rape, Alcohol, Family Life)

Major Crush. By Jennifer Echols. Simon Pulse, 2006.
When Virginia Sauter is forced to share the title of drum major with arrogant Drew Morrow, their constant bickering and heated competition turns to sizzling romance, but explosive rumors threaten the marching band's success. (Dating, High School, and Rumors)

Past Forgiving. By Gloria Miklowitz. Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Alex, 15, thinks she's unbelievably lucky to have a boyfriend like Cliff--gorgeous, polite, popular, talented. So anxious is she to please, she excuses Cliff's controlling behavior, his angry outbursts, and his jealousy. (Acquaintance Rape, Dating Violence)

A Perfect Day for Love Letters, Volume 2. By George Asakura. Ballantine Books, 2005.
Five stories about love letters and how they affect the lives of those who receive them. (Dating and Friendship)

What Gloria Wants. By Sarah Withrow. Groundwood Books, 2005.
Gloria and Shawna have high school all planned out until Gloria detours and dates the hottest guy in school. Now she has to learn what it means to be a girlfriend with a controlling best friend, a phone hogging little sister, and protective parents.(Best Friends, Dating)

Who Am I Without Him? Short Stories About Girls and the Boys in Their Lives. By Sharon G. Flake. Jump at the Sun, 2005.
Twelve short stories about young girls and their boyfriends expose the ugly and happy truths of teenage relationships. (Dating Relationships, Abuse, Friendship, Sex)

BACK TO TOPICS

DEATH & GRIEF
All Rivers Flow to the Sea. By Alison McGhee. Candlewick Press, 2005.
After a car accident in the Adirondacks leaves her older sister Ivy brain-dead, seventeen-year-old Rose struggles with her grief and guilt as she slowly learns to let her sister go. (Car Accident, Sisters, Coping Skills)

All That Remains. By Bruce Brooks. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001.
Three novellas explore the effects of death on young adults. (AIDS, Sports)

The Battle of Jericho. By Sharon Draper. Atheneum, 2003.
A high school junior and his cousin suffer the ramifications of joining what seems to be a "reputable" school club. (Clubs, High School)

Before I Die. By Jenny Downham. David Fickling Books, 2007.
Everyone has to die. With only a few months left to live, 16-year-old Tessa has made a list of ten things she wants to do before she dies. Starting with sex. But getting what you want isn’t easy, and it doesn’t always give you what you need. And sometimes the most unexpected things become important.

Bittersweet. By Drew Lamm. Clarion, 2003.
When her beloved grandmother suffers a stroke, high school junior and talented artist Taylor finds her inspiration and creative energy disappearing until she learns to reconnect with others and herself in unexpected ways. (Grandmothers, Grief, Interpersonal Relations)

Blind Faith. By Ellen Wittlinger. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006.
While coping with her grandmother's sudden death and her mother's resulting depression and fascination with a spiritualist church, whose ministers claim to communicate with the dead, fifteen-year-old Liz finds herself falling for a new neighbor whose mother is dying of cancer. (Death & Grief, Depression, Spiritualists, Mothers & Daughters)

Bringing Up the Bones. By Lara M. Zeises. Delacorte Press, 2002.
Bridget searches for happiness on her own after the death of Benji, her longtime best friend and boyfriend. (Dating)

By the River. By Steven Herrick. Front Street, 2006.
A fourteen-year-old describes, through prose poems, his life in a small Australian town in 1962, where, since their mother's death, he and his brother have been mainly on their own to learn about life, death, and love. (Coping, Brothers)

Deadline. By Chris Crutcher. Greenwillow Books, 2007.
Ben Wolf had big things planned for his senior year – but now he received some very bad news and only one year left to make his mark on the world. How can he make an impact in the small town of Trout, Idaho? He decides not to let anyone else know what’s going on. Next, he decides to become the best 123-pound football player his high school has ever seen. And then there’s Dallas Suzuki, his dream girl. Ben’s resolve begins to crumble when he realizes he isn’t the only one in Trout keeping secrets…. (Family Issues)

Dear Zoe. By Phillip Beard. Viking, 2005.
Fifteen-year-old Tess writes a letter to her dead sister trying to figure out her own life and how to cope with her grief in a time when the United States is grieving over their losses from terrorism. (Sisters)

Desert Crossing. By Elise Broach. Henry Holt, 2006.
A summer trip across the New Mexico desert turns nightmarish for fourteen-year-old Lucy, her older brother Jamie, and his best friend Kit, as they become involved in the suspicious death of a young girl. (Brothers & Sisters and Coping)

Elsewhere. By Gabrielle Zevin. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
After being hit and killed by a taxi, fifteen-year-old Liz Hall finds herself in a place both like and unlike earth. Liz must live her life elsewhere, aging backwards until she is a baby again, to return to earth and live a life she feels she missed out on. (Future)

Hard Hit. By Ann Turner. Scholastic Press, 2006.
A rising high school baseball star faces his most difficult challenge when his father is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. (Fathers and Sons, Baseball, Coping)

Just Like That. By Marsha Qualey. Dial, 2005.
A tragic accident, ending with the death of two people her own age, changes the life of an eighteen-year-old woman forever.
(Dating Issues, Friendship, Family)

Maybe. By Brent Runyon. Knopf, 2006.
Sixteen-year-old Brian struggles with life at a new school, his sexual desires, and his unresolved feelings about the loss of his older brother. (Sexual Desires and Brothers)

Pray Hard. By Pamela Walker. Scholastic Press, 2001.
Twelve-year-old Amelia feels secretly responsible for her father's death in a plane crash a year earlier. Her life is turned upside down when a newly religious ex-convict claims to have seen Amelia's father in a vision and moves in with Amelia and her mother.
(Fathers & Daughters, Death, Spirituality)

Skin Deep. By E.M. Crane. Delacorte Press, 2008.
If all the world’s a stage, Andrea Anderson is sitting in the audience. In the social hierarchy she is a Nothing, and at home her mother runs the show. Then one day Andrea accepts a job. Honora Menapace–a reclusive neighbor–is sick. But what starts out as a simple job yanks Andrea’s back-row seat out from under her. Life is no longer predictable, and nothing is what it seems. Light is dark, villains are heroes, and what she once saw as ugly is too beautiful for words. Andrea must face the fact that life at first glance doesn’t even crack the surface. (Family Issues, Friendship, Interpersonal Relations)

Sun, Moon, Stars, Rain. By Jan Cheripko. Front Street, 2006.
Still grieving over his father's death, nineteen-year-old college dropout Danny Murtaugh turns to a drunk, an eccentric landowner, and a young waitress for answers about his past and direction for his future. (Alcohol, Dating, Self-discovery)

The Road of the Dead. By Kevin Brooks. The Chicken House, 2006.
Two brothers, sons of an incarcerated gypsy, leave London traveling to an isolated and desolate village, in search of the brutal killer of their sister. (Closure, Grief, Coping)

The Turning. By Gillian Chan. KCP Fiction, 2005.
Sixteen-year-old Ben Larsson is angry and his mother is dead. His estranged father has dragged him to England, hoping that a fresh start in a new country will repair their damaged relationship. Ben is determined that this will never happen. Then, Ben's life is consumed by unexplained events. This could change his life forever. (Fathers and Sons, Fairies, Friendship)

Wrecked. By E.R. Frank. Antheum Books For Young Readers, 2005.
After a car accident seriously injures her best friend and kills her brother's girlfriend, sixteen-year-old Anna tries to cope with her guilt and grief, while learning some truths about her family and herself.
(Coping, Brothers and Sisters)

BACK TO TOPICS

DEPRESSION IN YOUTH
America. By E.R. Frank. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2002.
Teenage America, a part-black, part-white, part-anything boy who has spent many years in institutions for disturbed, antisocial behavior, tries to piece his life together. (Race Issues, Suicide, Foster Care)

Damage. By A.M. Jenkins. HarperCollins Publisher, 2001.
Seventeen-year-old football hero Austin, trying to understand the inexplicable depression that has drained his interest in life, thinks he has found relief in a girl who seems very special. (Football, Relationships)

Lisa, Bright and Dark. By John Neufeld. Puffin Books, 1969.
Lisa Shilling is sixteen and has everything, but is losing her mind. (Family Relations)

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DISABILITIES
Falling Boy. By Alison McGhee. Picador, 2007.
Left paralyzed by a mysterious accident, sixteen-year-old Joseph is living with his father in Minneapolis and working in a bakery, while two new people in his life--seventeen-year-old Zap, a fellow bakery employee, and Enzo, a nine-year-old girl--set out to unravel the mystery of Joseph's life and past. (Friendship and Coping)

The Girls. By Lori Lansens. Little, Brown, 2006.
Since their birth, Rose and Ruby Darlen have been known simply as "the girls." They make friends, fall in love, have jobs, and follow their dreams. But the Darlens are special. Now nearing their 30th birthday, they are history's oldest conjoined twins. Rose shares the joys and challenges of her life with sister Ruby, the beautiful one. (Sisters, Self-esteem, and Self-identity)

Joey Pigza Loses Control. By Jack Gantos. Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2000.
Now that Joey has a handle on his actions, he feels prepared to face the most mysterious member of his family--his estranged father, Carter Pigza. (ADHD, Fathers and Sons, Alcoholism)

Kissing Doorknobs. By Terry Spencer Hesser. Dell, 1999.
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. (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Interpersonal Relationships)

Rules. By Cynthia Lord. Scholastic Press, 2006.
Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic.(Friendship, Coping)

Side Effects. By Amy Goldman Koss. Roaring Brook, 2006. Everything changes for Isabelle, not quite fifteen, when she is diagnosed with lymphoma. Eventually she survives and even thrives. (Survival, Illness, and Recovery)

Socrates in Love, Volume 1. By Kyoichi Katayama. VIZ, 2005. A high school romance endures the tragedy and challenges of the girl’s leukemia diagnosis. (Leukemia, Dating, and Coping)

Stuck in Neutral. By Terry Trueman. HarperCollins, 2000.
Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel loves the taste of smoked oysters and his mother's gentle hugs. Unfortunately, it's impossible for Shawn to feed himself or to hug his mom back. (Cerebral Palsy, Euthanasia, Family Relations)

Tangerine. By Edward Bloor. Scholastic, 1997.
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. (Brothers, Vision Disorders, Physical Handicap)

BACK TO TOPIC

FAMILY ISSUES
After Tupac and D Foster. By Jacqueline Woodson. Putnam, 2008.
When D Foster walks into Neeka and her best friend’s lives, their world opens up. D doesn’t have a real mom, and they envy her independence. But D wants to feel connected, and the three girls bond over their love of Tupac Shakur’s music. Seeing how Tupac keeps going when he is sent to jail helps when Neeka’s brother is wrongly imprisoned and D’s absent mom keeps disappearing. (African Americans, Interpersonal Relations)

Bounce. By Natasha Friend. Scholastic Press, 2007.
Evyn wants to be left alone. Her mother died when she was young, and her father’s marrying a woman she hardly knows and forcing Evyn and her brother to move in with the woman and her five children. But she doesn’t want to make the necessary changes, but must find a way to manage her life. (Coping Skills)

Converting Kate. By Beckie Weinheimer. Viking, 2007.
Kate was raised in the Church of the Holy Divine – it’s influenced everything in her life from her homeschooling to her ugly handmade clothes. But ever since the death of her nonreligious father, Kate has suspected there’s more to life than memorizing Bible passages. Taking advantage of a move to a new town, Kate quits the Holy Divine. She replaces it with the cross-country team at her public school, her father’s beloved book collection, and services at a traditional Christian church. As Kate struggles to come to terms with her father’s death and her mother’s blind allegiance to the Holy Divine, she discovers there’s a big difference between religion and faith – and that the two don’t always go hand in hand. (Death, Interpersonal Relations, Religion)

Gifts. By Ursula K. Le Guin. Harcourt, 2004.
Orrec makes a decision to not use his “gift” – an ability to unintentionally kill the ones he loves – despite it being part of his family’s heritage. Instead, he decides to move through his world with a blindfold with the help of his friend, Gry, who also chooses to reject her gift. Can these two outcasts, useless in a place where gifts are everything, find purpose in the world? (Fantasy)

In the Space Left Behind. By Joan Ackermann. HarperTeen, 2007.
When Colm Drucker’s mother heads out to Las Vegas for her third honeymoon, Colm has plans of his own – organizing his baseball cards, playing guitar and remodeling the family house as a surprise wedding present. But from the start of his week alone, Colm is faced with a series of unforeseen and bewildering events: his dog dies, his absent father calls out of the blue with a bizarre proposition and he gets kissed by a beautiful girl. When he learns that his mother plans on putting the house up for sale, he embarks on a cross country trip with the one person he never wanted to depend on. (Dating Issues, Death)

Lock and Key. By Sarah Dessen. Viking, 2008.
When the social worker asks Ruby where her mother is, she knows she’s in trouble. She’s been living alone, waiting until she turns 18 and can be on her own legally. Instead she’s sent to live with her older sister, Cora, who has a wealthy husband. Now Ruby has a luxurious house, private school, new clothes and a chance for the future. But, she has a hard time letting go of her old life. (Alcohol Use, Coping)

Waiting for Normal. By Leslie Connor. HarperCollins, 2008.
Addie is waiting for normal. But her mom has an all-or-nothing approach to life: a food fiesta or an empty pantry, jubilation or gloom, her way or no way. In spite of life’s twists and turns, Addie remains optimistic, hoping to find normal. (Divorce, Coping, Friendship)

GAMBLING
Big Slick: High Stakes and Dirty Laundry. By Eric Luper.
All in all, 16-year-old Andrew Lang has been dealt a pretty good hand in life. Sure, he has to spend his afternoons slaving away at his dad’s dry-cleaning business, but even that’s not so bad with Jasmine, the hot Goth-chick senior, working beside him. So what if she’s got a boyfriend? Plus, Andrew’s got another ace up his sleeve – he’s good at poker. Unfortunately, all it takes is one bad bet to turn his bankroll from huge to nonexistent. And he’s pretty sure that sooner or later his dad will notice the missing $600 he borrowed from the register….

BACK TO TOPICS

GENDER ISSUES
Don't Cramp My Style. By Lisa Rowe Fraustino. Simon & Schuster, 2004. A collection of stories by young women about that time of the month. (Menstruation, Short Stories)

HIV/AIDS
The Beat Goes On. By Adele Minchin. Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Beautiful, confident, and popular with boys, Emma seems to have it all. But then she finds out she's HIV positive from having sex just once. (Sexual Behavior, Coping Skills)

Chanda's Secrets. By Allan Stratton. Annick Press, 2004.
Chanda, is an astonishingly perceptive girl living in the small city of Bonang, a fictional city in Southern Africa. When her youngest sister dies, the first hint of HIV/AIDS emerges, Chanda must confront undercurrents of shame and stigma. Not afraid to explore the horrific realities of AIDS, Chanda's Secrets also captures the enduring strength of loyalty, friendship and family ties. (Family, Secrecy, Shame, Death)

Chanda’s Wars. By Allan Stratton. Harperteen, 2008.
It’s been six months since Mama died, and Chanda is struggling to raise her little brother and sister. Determined to end a family feud, she takes them to her relatives’ remote rural village. But across the nearby border, a brutal civil war is spreading. Rebels attack at night, stealing children. All that separated Chanda from the horror is the rugged bush and a national park filled with predators. Soon she must face the unthinkable with an unlikely ally. (Family Issues, Violence Prevention, Coping)

Girl Who Saw Lions. By Berlie Doherty. Roaring Brook Press, 2007.
When her mother dies of AIDS in their African village, Abela is left to face the lions of the world. Lions like her Uncle Thomas, who has plans to sell her in Europe. Lions like his bitter white wife, whom he abandons with Abela, who is forced to stay in a London apartment, cooking and cleaning while dreaming of her homeland. (Adoption, Death, Family Issues)

The Heaven Shop. By Deborah Ellis. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2004.
Binti and her siblings are orphaned when their father dies of AIDS. They are separated and sent to relatives all over Malawi.
(Orphans, Grandmothers)

It Happened to Nancy. By Beatrice Sparks. Avon Books, 1994.
Fourteen-year-old Nancy, an asthmatic, meets 18-year-old Collin, a gentle, caring young man who appears to be the answer to her dreams--until he rapes her, leaving her HIV-infected. (Acquaintance Rape)

BACK TO TOPICS

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
48 Shades of Brown. By Nick Earls. Graphia, 1999.
After moving in with his aunt, seventeen-year-old Dan starts to fall in love with her twenty-two-year-old friend. (Roommates, Family)

After Summer. By Nick Earls. Graphia, 2005.
Alex Delaney is worried about getting into college until he meets a mysterious girl named Fortuna. He spends a lot of time with her on the beach, falls in love, but worries when he realizes that things cannot last.
(Sexual Behavior)

Alice in the Know. By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006.
Alice fills the summer before her junior year of high school with a job at the mall, hanging out with her friends, and wishing she had a bigger family. (Family life, Friendship, Self-discovery)

Alt Ed. By Catherine Atkins. Penguin Group, 2003.
Participating in a special after-school counseling class with other troubled students, including a sensitive gay classmate, helps Susan, an overweight tenth grader, develop a better sense of herself.
(Interpersonal Relations, Self-Esteem, Body Image, Homosexuality)

Are We There Yet? By David Levithan. Knopf, 2005.
Tricked by their parents into taking a trip to Italy together, two brothers--one in high school and the other recently graduated from college--reflect on the directions of their own lives and on the distance that has grown between them. (Brothers, Italy)

The Au Pairs Skinny-Dipping. By Melissa de la Cruz. Simon & Schuster, 2005.
While Mara recovers from her break-up with Ryan and Eliza's family repairs their financial damage, the girls still manage to find a way to enjoy their busy summer as nannies in the Hampton homes of the rich and famous. (Dating, Relationships)

The Beast. By Walter Dean Myers. Scholastic, 2003.
A visit to his Harlem neighborhood and discovery that the girl he loves is using drugs give seventeen-year-old Anthony Witherspoon a new perspective both on his home and on his life at a Connecticut prep school. (Schools, Drug Abuse)

Big Mouth and Ugly Girl. By Joyce Carol Oates. HarperCollins, 2002.
When sixteen-year-old Matt is falsely accused of threatening to blow up his high school and his friends turn against him, an unlikely classmate comes to his aid. (High School, Friendship)

Blankets. Craig Thompson. Top Shelf Productions, 2005.
Loosely based on the author's life, chronicles Craig's journey from childhood to adulthood, exploring the people, experiences, and beliefs that he encountered along the way. (Family Life, Education, Careers, Love)

Blue Highway. By Diane Tullson. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2003.
The friendship of two best friends, Truth and Skye, is torn between boys and alcohol. (Friendship, Betrayal)

A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life. By Dana Reinhardt. Wendy Lamb Books, 2006.
Sixteen-year-old atheist Simone Turner-Bloom's life changes in unexpected ways when her parents convince her to make contact with her biological mother, an agnostic from a Jewish family who is losing her battle with cancer. (Adoption, Family Life, Terminal Illness)

Caddy Ever After. By Hilary Mckay. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2006.
The four eccentric Casson siblings each contribute written accounts of the events--which include a Valentine's Day dance, the appearance of a sinister balloon, and the breakdown of a car--that lead to Caddy's wedding day. (Family, Brothers and Sisters)

The Cheat. By Amy Goldman Koss. Dial Books, 2003.
An eighth grader, Sarah, is given answers to the geography midterm by a schoolmate, leading to some fast-paced middle school gossip, serious self-examination, and strained friendships. (Cheating)

Chicks with Sticks (KnitWise Series). By Elizabeth Lenhard. Dutton Books, 2007.
For Scottie, Amanda, Bella and Tay, life in Chicago is all about seeking shelter. They’ve found it in their firelit stitch ‘n bitch at Joe; in the halls of their quirky private school; in the arms of boyfriends – and always in the comfort of the friendship that bonds them together. But now the Chicks are staring down the end of high school and it’s time to contemplate life beyond the protective web of their knitty ensemble. (Friendship)

Click Here: To Find Out How I Survived Seventh Grade. By Denise Vega. Little Brown, 2005.
Seventh-grader Erin Swift writes about her friends and classmates in her private blog, but when it accidentally gets posted on the school Intranet site, she learns some important lessons about friendship.
(Friendship, Weblogs, Middle School)

Contents Under Pressure. By Lara Zeises. Delacorte Press, 2004.
Lucy, a fourteen-year-old high school freshman, experiences the happiness and confusion of dating a popular older boy, changing relationships with life-long friends, and sharing a bedroom with her older brother's pregnant girlfriend. (Pregnancy, High School, Brothers and Sisters, Family Problems, Dating Relationships)

David & Della. By Paul Zindel. HarperCollins, 1993.
Two creative Manhattan teens who just might be in love -- if Della can stay out of detox and David gets over his writer's block. (Alcoholism)

Dead Girls Don't Write Letters. By Gail Giles. Roaring Book, 2003.
Fourteen-year-old Sunny is stunned when a total stranger shows up at her house posing as her older sister Jazz, who supposedly died out of town in a fire months earlier. (Death, Sisters, Mystery)

Define Normal. By Julie A. Peters. Little Brown, 2000.
When the repressed, rule-following Antonia Dillon finds out that she's to be the peer counselor for the rebellious pierced Jazz Luther whose outrageous behavior is the antithesis of everything Antonia holds dear, she is horrified. (Family Problems, Friendship, Peer Counseling)

Deliver Us from Normal. By Kate Klise. Scholastic, 2005.
For Charles, life in Normal, Illinois isn't normal at all. His family is poor and he is cursed with a secret unwanted skill. After an ugly incident at school, the family is forced to move, starting a physical and also, a personal journey for Charles. (Family Life, Self Image, Religion, Moving)

Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. By E. Lockhart. Hyperion, 2008.
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14: A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school. Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15: A knockout figure, a sharp tongue, a chip on her shoulder and a gorgeous new senior boyfriend. Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16: Possibly a criminal mastermind. (Friendship)

Every Time a Rainbow Dies. By Rita Williams-Garcia. HarperCollins, 2001.
Thulani spends long hours on the roof of their brownstone alone with his beloved doves. One day he hears a scream and looks over the parapet to see a young woman being raped in the alley below. (Caribbean Americans/Interpersonal Relationships/Rape)

Feeling Sorry for Celia. By Jaclyn Moriarty. St. Martin's Press, 2001.
Written as a series of notes and letters, Elizabeth deals with parents who aren't perfect and with romantic disappointments, as well as calamities both large and small. (Friendship, Parent Relationships)

Friends: Stories About New Friends, Old Friends, and Unexpectedly True Friends. By Ann M. Martin and David Levithan. Scholastic, 2005.
A collection of stories dealing with friendship and the effects that it can have on the lives of the people involved.
(Friendship, Short Stories)

Head Games. By Mariah Fredericks. Atheneum, 2004.
Two teenagers connect online in a role-playing game which leads them into their own face-to-face, half-acknowledged courtship.
(Dating, High School)

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart. By Deb Caletti, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2004.
In the summer of her junior year, sixteen-year-old Ruby McQueen and her mother, both nursing broken hearts, set out on a journey to reunite an elderly woman with her long-lost love and in the process learn many things about "the real ties that bind" people to one another.(Love, Old Age, Self-Perception)

Honey Blonde Chica. By Michele Serros. Simon & Schuster, 2006.
Evie Gomez and her best friend Raquel hang with Flojos, a crew name for their designer flip-flops and habit of doing absolutely nothing. But when their shy friend, Dee Dee, comes home from Mexico City transformed into a Sangro diva with a new name, attitude, and clothes, Evie and Raquel must reexamine their friendship and social desires. (Friendship, Self-identity, Social Acceptance)

How Not to Be Popular. By Jennifer Ziegler. Delacorte, 2008.
Maggie Dempsey is tired of moving all over the country. Her parents are second-generation hippies who uproot her every year or so to move to a new city. When Maggie was younger, she thought it was fun and adventurous. Now she hates it. When she moved after her freshman year, she left behind good friends, a great school, and a real feeling of belonging. When she moved her sophomore year, she left behind a boyfriend, too. Now that they’ve moved to Austin, she knows better. She’s not going to make friends. She’s not going to fit in. Anything to prevent her from liking this new place and them from liking her. Only . . . things don’t go exactly as planned. (Coping Skills, Decision Making, Family Issues)

I Am the Wallpaper. By Mark Peter Hughes. Delacorte Press, 2005.
Thirteen-year-old Floey Packer, jealous of her attractive and popular older sister, shares her home with two younger cousins and experiences a summer vacation filled with embarrassing events, with herself as the star.
(Sibling Rivalry, Cousins)

Jake, Reinvented. By Gordon Korman. Hyperion Press, 2003.
Rick becomes friends with the popular new boy, Jake Garrett, football player and host of superlative parties, and, in the process, discovers the true nature of his schoolmates and uncovers the mystery of Jake's past. (Self-Perception, Peer Pressure, Social Acceptance)

Just Another Day in My Insanely Real Life. By Barbara Dee. Margaret K, McElderry Books, 2006.
With her father "out of the picture" and her mother working long hours, twelve-year-old Cassie unconsciously describes her anger and confusion in a fantasy novel she is writing for school. (Single-Parent Family, Coping)

Letters from the Inside. By John Marsden. Houghton Mifflin, 1994.
In this Australian twist to an answer to the personal ads, two teenage girls begin a correspondence that gradually reveals more than either young woman wants known. (Family Problems, Letters, Friendship)

Life Is Funny. E.R. Frank. DK Publishing, 2000.
A high-intensity, multicultural, multidimensional teen reading experience that will challenge and change those who open it. (Family Problems)

The Lightkeeper's Daughter. By Iain Lawrence. Delacorte Press, 2002.
Returning to a remote lighthouse island off British Columbia, her childhood home, Squid remembers painfully the death of her brother and her parents' involvement in the episode. (Family Life, Siblings)

Lord of the Deep. By Graham Salisbury. Delacorte Press, 2001.
Working for his stepfather on a charter fishing boat in Hawaii teaches thirteen-year-old Mikey about fishing, and about taking risks, making sacrifices, and faci