Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

Wolitzer, Meg. Belzhar. New York, New York: Dutton Juvenile, 2014. Print.  ISBN 978-0-525-42305-8; Hardcover; $17.99.

Annotation:
Jam's boyfriend is dead and she can't bear living until a special English class at a boarding school for "emotionally fragile" intellectuals opens her eyes to a possible future.

Book Talk:
Jam Gallahue falls madly in love with the tall, romantic and gorgeous English exchange student Reeve and they spend 41 perfect days together until the unthinkable happens.  He dies.  Jam, unable to bear the loss, buries herself in the blankets on her bed and can barely function.  After a year of serious depression her parents ship her off to a boarding school in Vermont called The Wooden Barn.  There she meets others like her: drifters, misfits, sensitive souls with traumatic pasts they can't bear in the present.  Jam is sure nothing will ever feel good again until she is enrolled in a mysterious class called Special Topics in English where the entire curriculum is based on the work of Sylvia Plath.  This is where they learn about Belzhar.  When Jam and her classmates discover how to go back to the way things were before their lives fell apart they each have to decide whether they want to live in an unchanging and comfortable past or an uncertain future.  Find out what Jam discovers in Belzhar and see if she chooses love over life.

Available in paperback, hardcover, eBook, and audio CD.

Teen quote:

"It's not as dark as it sounds, ending on a hopeful note about transformation." 
~Amy, 18.

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

King, A S. Everybody Sees the Ants. New York: Little, Brown, 2012. Print.  ISBN 978-0-316-12927-5; Paperback; $9.99.

Annotation: 
Lucky Linderman escapes from Nader, the Squid and the Turtle by visiting his grandfather in his dreams and imagining ants seek revenge on his behalf.

Book Talk: 
Lucky Linderman doesn't feel so lucky.  He has no real friends and no girlfriend.  He has been bullied by Nader McMillan for as long as he can remember, and it is getting worse.  But no one seems to care.  His granddad never came home from the Vietnam War and no one in his family has recovered.  His mother hides from her problems at the local public pool and his dad works too much.  After Nader's last attack leaves him disfigured, depressed and vengeful, Lucky begins hallucinating tiny ants to enact his revenge.  In order to escape oppressive reality Lucky travels into his dreams where he tries to rescue his grandfather from the jungle and rescue himself from Nader McMillan.  Read A.S. King's engaging and haunting novel to discover how Lucky, and everyone else who is suffering, sees the ants.

Available in paperback, hardcover, eBook and audio CD.

Awards: 2011 Cybils Award finalist
2011 Andre Norton Award finalist

Teen quote:
"I really like this book because it talked about how your (sic) the one who builds your own prisons so your (sic) the only one who can tear them down. I also liked that whenever he woke up from a dream he had an object from the dream. That was COOL."
~Jill, 15.

The Program by Suzanne Young

Young, Suzanne.  The Program.  New York: Simon Pulse, 2013.  Print.  ISBN 978-1-4424-4580-2; Hardcover; $16.99.

Annotation: Sloane can't reveal any emotions or she risks being taken away to have her memory erased and never being able to kiss her boyfriend James again, or remember him.

Book Talk:
What would you do if you weren't allowed to show any emotions?  Not even to your own family?  

Sloane and James are a normal high school couple, except it's the near future and an epidemic of teen suicide becomes a nation-wide crisis and the government implements a terrifying program where at-risk teens are whisked away by handlers to have their memories erased and their senses dulled.

Who would you trust?  Would you choose death too?

Available in eBook, paperback, hardcover, and digital audio book.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Myers, Walter D, and Christopher A. Myers. Monster. New York: HarperCollins, 1999. Print.  ISBN 9780060280789; Hardcover; $15.89.

Annotation:
Steve is in prison awaiting trail for murder and his own lawyer isn't sure if he's innocent.

Book Talk:
16 year old Steve Harmon has landed in prison and is awaiting trial for felony murder in a robbery gone wrong.  In order to deal with life behind bars and what awaits him before a State Prosecutor who refers to him as a "monster" Steven writes in a journal and creates a screenplay of his experience.

Check out this notebook entry:

"They take away your shoelaces and your belt so you can't kill yourself no matter how bad it is.  I guess making you live is part of the punishment."

Read Walter Dean Myers award-winning book to find out whether Steve is destined to spend the rest of his life behind bars, whether his lawyer truly believes he is innocent, and whether he can figure out for himself whether or not he's a monster.

Available in paperback, hardcover and on audio CD.

Awards: 
Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award 2000
Nominated for the National Book Award 1999
Coretta Scott King Award Honor Book 2000
Nominated for the Edgar Award 2000

Rage: True Stories by Teens About Anger edited by Laura Longhine

Longhine, Laura. Rage: True Stories by Teens About Anger. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Pub, 2012. Print.  978-1-57542-414-9; Paperback; $11.99.

Annotation: 
Teens tell the truth about what it is like to feel intense, violent anger.

Book Review:

Rage: it’s more than anger.  You know that feeling, the one where your mind has lost all capacity for rational thought and you are left sobbing, shocked, and shaking, and so is everyone around you.  Despite your best efforts to stay calm, you hurl insults, scream, kick, bite, punch, smash things, and hurt people, including yourself.  What doesn’t bother one person can trigger Hulk-like mayhem in someone else.  Rage can be one of the most terrifying of human emotions, and yet it is something we all experience and have difficulty dealing with.  This amazing little collection of true stories told by teens that have experienced rage firsthand chronicles the raw emotions behind abuse, abandonment, poverty, racism, bullying, and feeling trapped and judged.  Watch Fred beat another guy to a bloody pulp and land in jail; Robin channel his fury into Karate kicks; and Natasha use the mask of perkiness and perfection to cover up her panic and isolation.  Brimming with courage, honesty, and real-life tips on how to handle the unimaginable, this is an essential read for any teen (or adult) who has ever felt overwhelmed by their own temper.

The Real Teen Voices series (which includes Rage, Pressure, and Vicious) come from a diverse selection of teen voices, showing that hatred and fury are not bound to certain social classes, but touch all people regardless of race, geographic location, economic situation, sexual orientation or gender.  The hard, uncomfortable edges in their writing are softened by moments of tenderness, clarity, and real love and affection, as well as hope for the future.  The book also includes an interview with therapist Toni Heineman offering practical advice on recognizing anger issues, staying calm, and removing yourself from volatile situations before you explode.  Recommended for ages 13+ due to mature content.  

Available in paperback and e-book.

You can watch a video about the struggle one of the teen authors, Natasha Santos, has with herself while writing "Bum-rushed by my past" by visiting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b74ly0qorQ8.  You can also read her story.  

Want more?  Check out this Youth Communication teen author talking about how writing saved him from his anger and bullying.  Three cheers for literacy!!!