Stories about teens dealing with problems.
This booklist was contributed by Appleton Public Library Reference and Information Services Staff, 3/07
Abuse | Body image and eating disorders | Death and suicide | Drug and alcohol use and abuse | Fitting in | Gangs and violence | Physical and mental diseases and disabilities | Teen Parenthood | Teen relationships |
Counterfeit son
(2000)When serial killer Hank Miller is killed in a shoot-out with police, his abused son Cameron adopts the identity of one of his father's victims in order to find a better life.Edgar Award winner
Speak
(2001)A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.Michael L. Printz Honor Book, 2000 (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
The facts speak for themselves
(1997)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.
Nothing to lose
(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.
Breathing underwater
(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. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Uncle Vampire
(1993)Sixteen-year-old Caroline and her twin sister Honey know for sure that their Uncle Toddy is a vampire who comes at night to drink their blood but fear of the consequences makes them keep their terrible secret.
Don't you dare read this, Mrs. Dunphrey
(1997)In the journal she is keeping for English class, sixteen-year-old Tish chronicles the changes in her life when her abusive father returns home after a two-year absence.
Love, Sara
(2001)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.
Past forgiving
(1995)Fifteen-year-old Alexandra finds that her boyfriend Cliff demands all her time, isolates her by his jealousy, and finally becomes physically abusive.
A child called "it" : one child's courage to survive
(1995)This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it." Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive--dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.
Fault line
(2003)When seventeen-year-old Becky Martin, an aspiring comic, meets Kip Costello, she is caught in a mentally and physically abusive relationship.
When she hollers
(1994)Tish, a teenager who has been enduring abuse from her adoptive stepfather since she was a small child, finally decides she must do something to stop him.
Life in the fat lane
(1998)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. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes
(1993)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. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Keeping the moon
(1999)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.
I am an artichoke
(1995)Working as a mother's helper in New York City, fifteen-year-old Sarah finds herself caught in the middle of a troubled relationship between an eccentric writer and her anorexic daughter.
Perfect
(2004)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.
When Zachary Beaver came to town
(2001)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. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Mates, dates, and chocolate cheats
(2006)Izzie has gained eight pounds since Christmas and is worried about how she looks. She starts to doubt her friends and herself, even though she has been selected for a TV teen panel, and a cute boy at the TV studio seems to like her just the way she is.
Diary of an anorexic girl
(2003)A young girl keeps a diary recording her struggles with anorexia.
The grooming of Alice
(2000)During the summer between eighth and ninth grades, Alice and her friends Pamela and Elizabeth decide to improve themselves through exercise. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
More than you can chew
(2003)More Than You Can Chew is a novel about an anorexic teenager who struggles to regain her mental health. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Girls under pressure
(2003)Ellie learns to deal with her self-image as she battles anorexia.Book 2 in the Girls Quartet series.
Saying it out loud : a novel
(1999)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.
After
(2005)Fifteen-year-old Francis struggles to come to terms with his father's suicide.
Many stones
(2000)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.
The truth about forever
(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.
Stay with me
(2006)When her sister kills herself, sixteen-year-old Leila goes looking for a reason and, instead, discovers great love, her family's true history, and what her own place in it is.
Impulse
(2007)Three teens who meet at Reno, Nevada's Aspen Springs mental hospital after each has attempted suicide connect with each other in a way they never have with their parents or anyone else in their lives.
24 hours
(2000)During his first twenty-four hours after finishing high school, seventeen-year-old Ellis unexpectedly becomes part of an inner-city world far different from his comfortable life, which helps deal with his best friend's recent suicide. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
A rose for Melinda
(2002)Letters, journal entries, e-mails, doctors' reports, and instant messages weave this heartbreaking story of an aspiring ballet dancer battling leukemia and the effect it has on her family and friends. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Under the wolf, under the dog
(2004)Sixteen-year-old Steve struggles to make sense of his mother's terminal breast cancer and his brother's suicide.
No right turn
(2005)After three years of wanting only to be invisible, sixteen-year-old Jordan begins to recover from his father's suicide and start living again when a neighbor's vintage Corvette Stingray opens up new possibilities for him. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Trigger
(2006)Teenager Jersey Hatch must work through his extensive brain damage to figure out why he decided to shoot himself.
Go ask Alice
(1971)A fifteen-year-old drug user chronicles her daily struggle to escape the pull of the drug world. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Crackback
(2005)Miles barely recalls when football was fun after being sidelined by a new coach, constantly criticized by his father, and pressured by his best friend to take performance-enhancing drugs.
Runner
(2005)Living with his alcoholic father on a broken-down sailboat on Puget Sound has been hard on seventeen-year-old Chance Taylor, but when his love of running leads to a high-paying job, he quickly learns that the money is not worth the risk.
True confessions of a Hollywood starlet : a novel
(2005)Teen movie star Morgan Carter retreats to a small midwestern town to recuperate anonymously after an overdose and rehabilitation, recording her thoughts in a diary.
Tears of a tiger
(1994)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.John Steptoe Award for New Talent winner.
Stoner & Spaz
(2002)A troubled youth with cerebral palsy struggles toward self-acceptance with the help of a drug-addicted young woman. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Bottled up : a novel
(2003)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.
The Beast
(2003)A visit to his Harlem neighborhood and the discovery that the girl he loves is using drugs give sixteen-year-old Anthony Witherspoon a new perspective both on his home and on his life at a Connecticut prep school.
Rooftop
(2006)From the acclaimed author of "Black and White" comes a new novel about an urban youth working to earn his GED and kick his drug habit. Trouble comes to a head one tragic night on a rooftop when his estranged cousin, who has shown up for rehab, is shot by the police.
Harley, like a person
(2000)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.
Ask me no questions
(2006)Fourteen-year-old Nadira, her sister, and their parents leave Bangladesh for New York City, but the expiration of their visas and the events of September 11, 2001, bring frustration, sorrow, and terror for the whole family.
Battle dress
(2000)As a newly arrived freshman at West Point, seventeen-year-old Andi finds herself gaining both confidence and self esteem as she struggles to get through the grueling six weeks of new cadet training known as the Beast. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
The misfits
(2001)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. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Alice, I think
(2003)Fifteen-year-old Alice keeps a diary as she struggles to cope with the embarrassments and trials of family, dating, school, work, small town life, and a serious case of "outcastitis."
Sloppy firsts : a novel
(2001)A fresh, funny, utterly compelling fiction debut by first-time novelist Megan McCafferty, Sloppy Firsts is an insightful, true-to-life look at Jessica's predicament as she embarks on another year of teenage torment--from the dark days of Hope's departure through her months as a type-A personality turned insomniac to her completely mixed-up feelings about Marcus Flutie, the intelligent and mysterious "Dreg" who works his way into her heart. Like a John Hughes for the twenty-first century, Megan McCafferty taps into the inherent humor and drama of the teen experience. This poignant, hilarious novel is sure to appeal to readers who are still going through it, as well as those who are grateful that they don't have to go back and grow up all over again. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
A step from heaven
(2002)A young Korean girl and her family find it difficult to learn English and adjust to life in America.
The body of Christopher Creed
(2001)Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.
Confessions of a teenage drama queen
(1999)In her first year at a suburban New Jersy 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.
Stargirl
(2000)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. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Romiette and Julio
(1999)Romiette, an African-American girl, and Julio, a Hispanic boy, discover that they attend the same high school after falling in love on the Internet, but are harrassed by a gang whose members object to their interracial dating. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Bang!
(2005)A teenage boy must face the harsh realities of inner city life, a disintegrating family, and destructive temptations as he struggles to find his identity as a young man. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Fade to black
(2005)An HIV-positive high school student hospitalized after being attacked, the bigot accused of the crime, and the only witness, a classmate with Down Syndrome, reveal how the assult has changed their lives as they tell of its aftermath. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Kung Fu High School
(2005)Life at hellish "Kung Fu" High School is narrated by Jen B. who, along with her brother, Cue, belongs to one of two gangs still standing against the puppet principal and the tyrant drug kingpin. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
The Outsiders
(1997)The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Poison ivy
(2006)In a government class three popular girls undergo a mock trial for their ruthless bullying of a classmate.
Autobiography of my dead brother
(2005)Jesse pours his heart and soul into his sketchbook to make sense of life in his troubled Harlem neighborhood and the loss of a close friend.
Scorpions
(1996, c1990)After reluctantly taking on the leadership of the Harlem gang, the Scorpions, Jamal finds that his enemies treat him with respect when he acquires a gun--until a tragedy occurs.Newbery Honor Book (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Big Mouth & Ugly Girl
(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. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Behind the eyes
(2006)Sixteen-year-old Hector is the hope of his family, but when he seeks revenge after his brother's gang-related death and is sent to a San Antonio reform school, it takes an odd assortment of characters to help him see that hope is still alive.
Give a boy a gun
(2000)The horrors of teen violence are explored in this eye-opening novel through the lens of one shattering event where two armed students hold terrified classmates and teachers hostage in a school gym. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Miracle's boys
(2000)Twelve-year-old Lafayette's close relationship with his older brother Charlie changes after Charlie is released from a detention home and blames Lafayette for the death of their mother.
Wild roses
(2005)In Washington State, seventeen-year-old Cassie learns about the good and bad sides of both love and genius while living with her mother and brilliant, yet disturbed, violinist stepfather and falling in love with a gifted young musician. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Of sound mind
(2001)Tired of interpreting for his deaf family and resentful of their reliance on him, high school senior Theo finds support and understanding from Ivy, a new student who also has a deaf parent.
Joey Pigza loses control
(2002)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. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
(2003)Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Not as crazy as I seem
(2003)As fifteen-year-old Devon begins mid-year at a new prestigious prep school, he is plagued by compulsions such as the need to sort things into groups of four.
Damage
(2001)Seventeen-year-old football hero Austin, trying to understand the inexplicable depression that has drained his interest in life, thinks that he has found relief in a girl who seems very special.
Accidents of nature
(2006)Having always prided herself on blending in with "normal" people despite her cerebral palsy, seventeen-year-old Jean begins to question her role in the world while attending a summer camp for children with disabilities. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
The silent boy
(2003)Katy, the precocious ten-year-old daughter of the town doctor, befriends a retarded boy. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
When she was good
(1997)The death of her abusive, manipulative older sister prompts seventeen-year-old Em to remember their unpleasant life together, with their parents and then later on their own.
Cut
(2000)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.
A face in every window
(1999)After the death of his grandmother, who held the family together, teenage JP is left with a mentally challenged father and a mother who seems ineffectual and constantly sick, and he feels everything sliding out of control.
Hanging on to Max
(2002)When his girlfriend decides to give their baby away, seventeen-year-old Sam is determined to keep him and raise him alone. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
The first part last
(2003)Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.Won the Coretta Scott King Award and the Michael L. Printz Award. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
The girl with a baby
(2003)Jane has always been the good Williams. Her brothers might be high school dropouts and late-night rowdy partiers, but never Jane. Now she's one of those: the teenage mothers packing diaper bags with their knapsacks, wheeling strollers into the high school daycare, tired and grumpy.
Make lemonade
(1993)In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother.
Gingerbread
(2002)After being expelled from a fancy boarding school, Cyd Charisse's problems with her mother escalate after Cyd falls in love with a sensitive surfer and is subsequently sent from San Francisco to New York City to spend time with her biological father. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Life is funny: a novel
(2000)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. (View First Chapter/Excerpt)
Spellbound
(2001)Raven, a teenage mother and high school dropout living in a housing project, decides, with the help and sometime interference of her best friend Aisha, to study for a spelling bee which could lead to a college preparatory program and four-year scholarship.
Blind sighted
(2002)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.
The murder of Bindy MacKenzie
(2006)Class brain Bindy Mackenzie has alienated her entire high school but when she realizes someone is trying to kill her, she has to make friends in order to get help.
Born blue
(2001)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.
Hard love
(2001)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.