Gritty Realism

Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. But there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens.

Eric and Sarah have been friends since junior high, when his weight and her scars made them outcasts. In high school, Eric has slimmed and Sarah doesn't let being an outsider hurt her. Now she sits silent in a hospital. Can Eric uncover her secret before it puts them both in danger?

Rogerson Biscoe, with his green eyes and dark curly hair, is absolutely seductive. Before long, 16-year-old Caitlin finds herself under his spell. And when he starts to abuse her, she finds she's in too deep to get herself out.

With perceptiveness and compassion, Draper portrays an African-American teenager who feels driven to consider suicide in the wake of a devastating tragedy.

CCBC Choices - 2004
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Raspberry Hill, who once was homeless, vowed never to end up on the streets again. But after stealing from her best friend, she must finally confront the biggest of all her fears: is she really much different from her thieving father after all?

Nick has never spoken of his father's violent temper, but when Nick meets Caitlin, everything changes. This critically acclaimed first novel offers an honest and fresh look into the mind of the abused--and abuser.

Anna wasn't drunk--but she had been drinking--and now she feels guilty for an accident that left her brother's girlfriend dead. Therapy reveals her dreams, memories, fears, and precarious sense of self.

Thirteen-year-old Isabelle Lee struggles with an eating disorder while dealing with a turbulent home life and social pressures at school. The author brings a depth of characterization, humor, and a real adolescent's voice to this multileveled story about the desire to be perfect in an imperfect world.

In this chilling look inside the mind of a loner, the author of the National Book Award winner "Godless" crafts a compelling novel that will have readers guessing until its explosive end.

When Tara was eleven years old, she heard the phrase that changed her life: step on a crack, break your mother's back. . . . And before Tara knew what was happening, she was counting the cracks in the sidewalk everywhere she went, in constant fear of breaking her mother's back. If she missed one crack or lost count, she had to go home and start all over again.

Over time, Tara's quirks changed -- and multiplied. To calm herself, she arranged her food carefully on the plate, chatted with troll dolls, and recited prayers over and over. She didn't like behaving so oddly; she only knew she had to if she wanted to feel better.

Tara's troubles only got worse when, one day, she developed a new ritual: She kissed her fingers and touched a doorknob. . . .

Terry Spencer Hesser has written a funny, compelling, and sensitive story about a teenag

Based on a real-life event and written in verse, this novel relates the disturbing story of one girl's descent into addiction.

Fleeing from her stepfather, Savannah and her half brother, Henry, travel to the childhood home of their mother, Alice. As the kids make their journey, another story unfolds: glimpses of a teenage Alice, caught in first love and unaware of its consequences.

This riveting, thrilling and heartbreaking debut novel deals boldly with mental illness. Teens can relate to the adolescent drama and all-important friends as the main character tries to "cut" it.

Winner - 2005 Golden Kite Award - Fiction
From the author of "David v. God" comes a new novel about a 17-year-old trying to make it on her own. Struggling to shed the responsibility of her alcoholic mother and controlling grandmother, Zoe rents a room on Lorelei Street in a fierce grab for control of her own future.

Gail can't escape the feeling that she's being watched.

Gail Osburne is living the good life in suburban Connecticut -- until she finds an obscene note in her locker. "Forget it", her friend Alison counsels. But Gail can't forget. Another note appears, and another. Then the phone calls start -- and the horrible feeling that someone, somewhere, is watching her and waiting for the chance to strike.

In the blink of an eye it happens: a teenage girl has a mental breakdown and is whisked away to the hospital. For her sister, left behind, nothing will ever be the same. Fearful of her own sanity, her fragile friendships, and her unraveling world, she embarks on a powerful emotional journey.

Shawn McDaniel is an enigma and a miracle, except no one knows it, least of all his father. In this powerful first novel, the reader learns to look beyond the obvious and finds a character whose spirit is rich beyond imagining.

One moment can change a life forever.

Fifteen-year-old Izzy has it all -- a loving family, terrific friends, a place on the cheerleading squad. But her comfortable world crumbles when a date with a senior ends in a car crash and she loses her right leg.

Suddenly nothing is the same. The simplest tasks become enormous challenges. Her friends don't seem to know how to act around her. Her family is supportive, but they don't really want to deal with how much she's hurting.

Then Rosamunde extends a prickly offer of friendship. Rosamunde definitely isn't the kind of girl Izzy would have been friends with in her old life. But Rosamunde may be the only person who can help Izzy face her new one.

A chilling yet riveting story about sexual abuse and the explosion that occurs when a teenage girl fights to put an end to the confusion and shame it causes her.

A new love is special and rare, but the world around Ellie and Miah doesn't see it like that. All they see is race: Miah is black and Ellie is Jewish. Will their love survive? An ALA Best Book for Young Adults. A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book.