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YA Books about Real Problems

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A long way down Cover
Nick Hornby
FIC Hor
Book
Feb 13, 2013
After Cover
Amy Efaw
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
YA FIC Efa
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Aimee : a novel Cover
Mary Beth Miller
YA FIC Mil
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Beautiful boy : a father's journey through his son's addiction Cover
David Sheff
From as early as grade school, the world seemed to be on Nic Sheff's string. Bright and athletic, he excelled in any setting and appeared destined for greatness. Yet as childhood exuberance faded into teenage angst, the precocious boy found himself going down a much different path. Seduced by the illicit world of drugs and alcohol, he quickly found himself caught in the clutches of addiction. Beautiful Boy is Nic's story, but from the perspective of his father, David.--From amazon.com
362.299 She
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Crank Cover
Ellen Hopkins
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
YA FIC Hop
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Deadline Cover
Chris Crutcher
Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos."
YA FIC Cru
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Go ask Alice. Author anonymous Cover
Beatrice Sparks
Based on the diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user chronicling her struggle to escape the pull of the drug world
YA FIC Go
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Inside out Cover
Terry Trueman
A sixteen-year-old with schizophrenia is caught up in the events surrounding an attempted robbery by two other teens who eventually hold him hostage
YA FIC Tru
Book
Feb 13, 2013
It's kind of a funny story Cover
Ned Vizzini
A humorous account of a New York City teenager's battle with depression and his time spent in a psychiatric hospital
FIC Viz
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Jude Cover
Kate Morgenroth
Still reeling from his drug-dealing father's murder, moving in with the wealthy mother he never knew, and transferring to a private school, fifteen-year-old Jude is tricked into pleading guilty to a crime he did not commit
YA FIC Mor
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Looking for Alaska Cover
John Green
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
YA FIC Gre
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Monster Cover
Walter Dean Myers
Christopher Myers
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken
YA FIC Mye
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Rooftop Cover
Paul Volponi
Still reeling from seeing police shoot his unarmed cousin to death on the roof of a New York City housing project, seventeen-year-old Clay is dragged into the whirlwind of political manipulation that follows
YA FIC Vol
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Saint Iggy Cover
K. L. (Kelly L.) Going
Iggy Corso, who lives in city public housing, is caught physically and spiritually between good and bad when he is kicked out of high school, goes searching for his missing mother, and causes his friend to get involved with the same dangerous drug dealer who deals to his parents
YA FIC Goi
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Speak Cover
Laurie Halse Anderson
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect of Melinda's freshman year in high school
YA FIC And
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Stay with me Cover
Garret Freymann-Weyr
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
YA FIC Fre
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes Cover
Chris Crutcher
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
YA FIC
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Street pharm Cover
Allison Van Diepen
"Ty Johnson knows survival. Since inheriting his pop's business at sixteen, Ty's developed smarts, skills, and mad discipline. The supply game's in his blood. And life is pretty sweet when you're on top. But one slip--or one serious competitor--and life turns ugly fast. Suddenly, Ty's got to rethink his whole strategy. And for the #1 dealer on the streets, strategy is not just about staying ahead. It's about survival."--P. [4] of cover
YA FIC Van
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Th1rteen r3asons why Cover
Jay Asher
When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death
YA FIC Ash
Book
Feb 13, 2013
The astonishing adventures of Fanboy & Goth Girl Cover
Barry Lyga
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
YA FIC Lyg
Book
Feb 13, 2013
The Beast Cover
Walter Dean Myers
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
YA FIC Mye
Book
Feb 13, 2013
The beckoners Cover
Carrie Mac
When Zoe moves to a new town, she finds the line between victim and tormentor is easily crossed
YA FIC Mac
Book
Feb 13, 2013
The year of ice Cover
Brian Malloy
FIC Mal
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Tweak : (growing up on methamphetamines) Cover
Nic Sheff
The author details his immersion in a world of hardcore drugs, revealing the mental and physical depths of addiction, and the violent relapse one summer in California that forever changed his life, leading him down the road to recovery
362.299 She
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Twisted Cover
Laurie Halse Anderson
After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts
YA FIC And
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Under the wolf, under the dog Cover
Adam Rapp
Sixteen-year-old Steve struggles to make sense of his mother's terminal breast cancer and his brother's suicide
YA FIC Rap
Book
Feb 13, 2013
We all fall down : living with addiction Cover
Nic Sheff
Sheff writes candidly about stints at in-patient rehab facilities, devastating relapses, and hard-won realizations about what it means to be a young person living with addiction
362.299 She
Book
Feb 13, 2013
We need to talk about Kevin Cover
Lionel Shriver
Two years ago, Eva Khatchadourian's son, Kevin, murdered seven of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker, and a popular algebra teacher. Because he was only fifteen at the time of the killings, he received a lenient sentence and is now in a prison for young offenders in upstate New York. Telling the story of Kevin's upbringing, Eva addresses herself to her estranged husband through a series of letters. Fearing that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become, she confesses to a deep, long-standing ambivalence about both motherhood in general and Kevin in particular
FIC Shr
Book
Feb 13, 2013
What happened to Cass McBride? Cover
Gail Giles
After his younger brother commits suicide, Kyle Kirby decides to exact revenge on the person he holds responsible
YA FIC Gil
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Wintergirls Cover
Laurie Halse Anderson
Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder
YA FIC And
Book
Feb 13, 2013
You know where to find me Cover
Rachel Cohn
In the wake of her cousin's suicide, overweight and introverted seventeen-year-old Miles experiences significant changes in her relationships with her mother and father, her best friend Jamal and his family, and her cousin's father, while gaining insights about herself, both positive and negative
YA FIC Coh
Book
Feb 13, 2013
Syndicate content
Nick Hornby
FIC Hor
Chris Crutcher
YA FIC
Amy Efaw
YA FIC Efa
Allison Van Diepen
YA FIC Van
Mary Beth Miller
YA FIC Mil
Jay Asher
YA FIC Ash
David Sheff
362.299 She
Barry Lyga
YA FIC Lyg
Ellen Hopkins
YA FIC Hop
Walter Dean Myers
YA FIC Mye
Chris Crutcher
YA FIC Cru
Carrie Mac
YA FIC Mac
Beatrice Sparks
YA FIC Go
Brian Malloy
FIC Mal
Terry Trueman
YA FIC Tru
Nic Sheff
362.299 She
Ned Vizzini
FIC Viz
Laurie Halse Anderson
YA FIC And
Kate Morgenroth
YA FIC Mor
Adam Rapp
YA FIC Rap
John Green
YA FIC Gre
Nic Sheff
362.299 She
Walter Dean Myers
Christopher Myers
YA FIC Mye
Lionel Shriver
FIC Shr
Paul Volponi
YA FIC Vol
Gail Giles
YA FIC Gil
K. L. (Kelly L.) Going
YA FIC Goi
Laurie Halse Anderson
YA FIC And
Laurie Halse Anderson
YA FIC And
Rachel Cohn
YA FIC Coh
Garret Freymann-Weyr
YA FIC Fre