Books about Teen Topics

Note: Some of the following books feature characters going through a specific problem or issue;
others are self-help books that may be of interest to teens. The books marked with an * may
contain mature subject matter and/or realistic graphic language. Not all books on this list have
been read by faculty at BGHS.
STEREOTYPES/CLIQUES
Define Normal by Julie Anne Peters: When she agrees to meet with Jasmine as a peer counselor at
their middle school, Antonia never dreams that this girl with the black lipstick and pierced eyebrow
will end up helping her deal with the serious problems she faces at home and become a good
friend.
Walking Naked by Alyssa Brugman: After being in detention with a girl called "The Freak," Megan
finds herself torn between the developing friendship the two share and her involvement with a
popular clique.
Tribute to Another Dead Rock Star by Randy Powell: 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.
I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader by Kieran Scott: As a brunette on the all-blonde cheerleading
squad at her new Florida high school, sophomore Annisa Gobrowski tries to fit in with her popular
teammates without losing the friendship of Bethany, the only other non-blonde at the school.
Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett: Sixteen-year-old Lara, winner of beauty pageants and
Homecoming Queen, is distressed and bewildered when she starts inexplicably gaining weight and
gradually becomes extremely overweight.
Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other
Realities of Adolescence by Rosalind Wiseman: Explains how parents can help their daughters deal
with the different issues surrounding friendships, boys, gossip, and cliques as they start high
school.
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher: Discusses the effects of
society on young girls and their self-esteem.
BULLIES
Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci: Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly
perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the
class outcast.
Battle of Jericho by Sharon Draper: A high school junior and his cousin suffer the ramifications of
joining what seems to be a "reputable" school club.
Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco: The author, a victim of bullying, provides an account
of her miserable school career, telling how her experiences as an outcast affected her life, and
sharing her perspective on the events as an adult.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: Amir, haunted by his betrayal of Hassan, the son of his
father's servant and a childhood friend, returns to Kabul as an adult after he learns Hassan has
been killed, in an attempt to redeem himself by rescuing Hassan's son from a life of slavery to a
Taliban official.
Holes by Louis Sachar: As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a
curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas
desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.
Hoot by Carl Hiassen: Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in
another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site

Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons: Explores the issues
surrounding aggression in girls, discussing why the signs of aggression are harder to recognize in
girls than boys, how parents can help their daughter's deal with aggression, and the negative
impact aggression can have on teenage girls' lives.
Odd Girl Speaks Out: A collection of writings in which girls discuss their own experiences of being
bullied or bullying other girls.
What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci: Sixteen-year-old Claire is unable to face her
fears about a recurrence of her leukemia, her eating disorder, her need to fit in with the popular
crowd on Hackett Island, and her mother's alcoholism until the enigmatic Lani Garver helps her get
control of her life at the risk of his own.
ABUSIVE DATING RELATIONSHIPS
Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn: 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.
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen: After her older sister runs away, sixteen-year-old Caitlin decides that
she needs to make a major change in her own life and begins an abusive relationship with a boy
who is mysterious, brilliant, and dangerous.
Baby Help by Marilyn Reynolds: Because her partner continues to abuse her, seventeen-year-old
Melissa takes their young child and goes to a shelter for battered women where she begins the
healing process.
DEPRESSION/SUICIDAL FEELINGS
Damage* by A. M. Jenkins: 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.
Ordinary People by Judith Guest: After spending eight months in a mental institution following a
suicide attempt, seventeen-year-old Conrad returns home and finds that he must rebuild his life.
OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER
Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser: 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.
Not as Crazy as I Seem by George Harrar: 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.
EATING DISORDERS
Stick Figure by Lori Gottlieb: The author shares her childhood diaries, chronicling her experiences
as an eleven-year-old anorexic.
Best Little Girl in the World by Stephen Levenkron: After being a model daughter all her life,
fifteen-year-old Francesca suddenly begins to starve herself and is diagnosed as suffering from a
psychological disorder known as anorexia nervosa.
AUTISM/DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon: 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.

Riding the Bus with My Sister by Rachel Simon: When she received an invitation to her mentally
retarded sister's annual Plan of Care review, Simon realized that this was Beth's way of attempting
to bring her back into her life. Beth challenged the author to give a year of her life to riding "her"
buses with her. Even though Simon didn't know where it would take her, she accepted. During that
time, she came to see her sister as a person in her own right with strong feelings about how she
wanted to live her life, despite what others thought.
Coping When a Brother or Sister is Autistic by Marsha Sarah Rosenberg: Explains how to cope
when a sibling is autistic, explaining what autism is and discussing its diagnosis, treatments,
related disorders, and long term effects; also includes a glossary, a bibliography, and a list of
related organizations.
Special Siblings by Mary McHugh: Mary McHugh discusses what it was like to grow up with her
mentally disabled brother and offers advice to other siblings on how to cope with their parents'
attitudes, how to deal with their feelings of guilt and resentment, and how to take care of their own
emotional needs when they are caring for their disabled sibling.
Tribute to Another Dead Rock Star by Randy Powell: 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.
DRINKING/BINGE DRINKING/DRINKING AND DRIVING
Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper: 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.
Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Korin Zailickas: The author discusses her relationship
with alcohol, telling how she began drinking at the age of fourteen and continued drinking for the
express purpose of getting drunk, bolstering her courage, or medicating her moods, and sharing
the reasons why she decided to give up alcohol nine years later
We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier: As The Avenger searches for the teenage boys who trashed a
house in his neighborhood, Buddy, one of the trashers, increases his drinking in order to cope with
his parents' separation and his obsession with the daughter of the owner of the vandalized house
The God of Beer by Garrett Keizer: To complete a class assignment at his high school in rural
Vermont, Kyle and his friends Quake and Diana do a social protest project involving alcohol.
RAPE/SEXUAL ABUSE
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson: A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating
effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.
Lucky* by Alice Sebold: The author tells the story of her violent rape at the age of eighteen, her
accidental sighting of her attacker six months later, the resulting trial and conviction of the man,
and the trauma she suffered for years afterwards.
Fair Game* by Erika Tamar: High school senior Laura Jean is shocked when her boyfriend Scott
appears to be involved in the gang-raping of a retarded girl by a group of school jocks.
I Am the Central Park Jogger by Tricia Meili: In 1989, Trisha Meili, jogging in New York's Central
Park, was raped and left for dead. The brutality of the assault shocked America. In this candid
memoir, Meili, anonymous for 13 years, reflects on the attack and her subsequent recovery.
When Jeff Comes Home by Catherine Atkins: Sixteen-year-old Jeff, returning home after having
been kidnapped and held prisoner for three years, must face his family, friends, and school and the
widespread assumption that he engaged in sexual activity with his kidnapper.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower* by Stephen Chbosky: Charlie, a freshman in high school, explores
the dilemmas of growing up through a collection of letters he sends to an unknown receiver

Telling After being sexually abused by the father of the children she is babysitting, twelve-year-old
Cassie faces a difficult journey before she finds the strength and insight to deal with the problem.
CHILD ABUSE
A Child Called It* by David Pelzer: David Pelzer, victim of one of the worst child abuse cases in the
history of California, tells the story of how he survived his mother's brutality and triumphed over
his past.
Forged by Fire by Sharon Draper: Gerald, a teenager who has spent years protecting his fragile
half-sister from their abusive father, must face the prospect of one final confrontation before the
problem can be solved.
Dont You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix: In the journal she is
keeping for English class, sixteen-year-old Tish chronicles the changes in her life when her abusive
father abandons her and her brother, and her mother follows him.
Hate You by Graham McNamee: Nursing hatred for the father who choked her and damaged her
voice as a child, seventeen-year-old Alice writes songs she feels she cannot sing and seeks to
reconcile her feelings for herself and her father.
Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oates: Fourteen-year-old Frankie 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.
TEEN FATHERHOOD
Hanging On To Max by Margaret Bechard: When his girlfriend decides to give their baby away,
seventeen-year-old Sam is determined to keep him and raise him alone.
Too Soon for Jeff by Marilyn Reynolds: High school senior Jeff Browning is upset when he learns
that his girlfriend is pregnant, and determined not to let a baby ruin his plans to go to college on a
debate scholarship, but his feelings change after the baby is born.
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson: Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he
becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.
TEEN MOTHERHOOD/PREGNANCY
Make Lemonade by Virginia Euler Wulff: Fourteen-year-old LaVaughn, trying to earn the money for
college, takes a job caring for the two children of Jolly, a single teenage mom, and must find the
courage to make the right decision for all of them after Jolly is fired.
Chill Wind B y Janet McDonald: Afraid that she will have no where to go when her welfare checks
are stopped, nineteen-year-old high school dropout Aisha tries to figure out how she can support
herself and her two young children in New York City.
Detour for Emmy by Marilyn Reynolds: Emmy, whose future had once looked so bright, struggles
to overcome the isolation and depression brought about by being a teen mother who gets little
support from her family or the father of her child.
Imani All Mine* by Connie Rose Porter Tasha, a fifteen-year-old mother, is proud of her baby girl
and is determined to be a good parent to her child, but she must draw upon her newfound faith to
go on when tragedy strikes.
Baby Help by Marilyn Reynolds: Because her partner continues to abuse her, seventeen-year-old
Melissa takes their young child and goes to a shelter for battered women where she begins the
healing process.
PARENTS DEATH/MOTHERLESS TEENS
Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg The reader struggles along with Katie and her sister, Diane, as
they try to cope with the burdens of growing up with an abusive father and no mother. This

beautifully told tale grips the reader from page one and does not let go until Katie comes to terms
with her sister's appetite for adventure, as she tries all the while to keep pace with her own
changes.
Joy School by Elizabeth Berg: Katie, still mourning the death of her much-loved mother, is further
upset when she must leave her friends to move with her father to Missouri, but then she meets
Jimmy, a handsome, decent, married man, and learns about the joys and pain of first love. (Sequel
to Durable Goods, but a good stand-alone read).
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones: Fifteen-year-old Ruby
Milliken leaves her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother's grave in Boston and
reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to live with her father, a famous movie star who divorced her
mother before Ruby was born.
Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: Fourteen-year-old Lily and her companion, Rosaleen, an
African-American woman who has cared from Lily since her mother's death ten years earlier, flee
their home after Rosaleen is victimized by racist police officers, and find a safe haven in Tiburon,
South Carolina at the home of three beekeeping sisters, May, June, and August.
A Music I No Longer Heard by Leslie Simon: Contains seventy true stories of men and women who
lost one of their parents while they were still in their teens, and describes how the children coped
with the loss.
Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons: Having suffered abuse and misfortune for much of her life, a young
child searches for a better life and finally gets a break in the home of a loving woman with several
foster children.
DRUG ABUSE
Smack* by Melvin Burgess After running away from their troubled homes, two English teenagers
move in with a group of squatters in the port city of Bristol and try to find ways to support their
growing addiction to heroin.
The Beast by Walter Dean Myers: A teenager from Harlem struggles to save his girlfriend from
herself when she develops a drug problem while he is away at a Connecticut prep school.
Go Ask Alice*: Based on the diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user chronicling her struggle to escape
the pull of the drug world.
DAMAGING GOSSIP
Friction by E.R. Frank: Alex, suffering a bit of a crush on her eighth-grade teacher Simon, becomes
confused about what is true when a new girl at Forest Alternative claims Simon has been molesting
her and Alex.
Boys Lie by John Neufeld: Eighth-grader Gina Smith is targeted as easy by some boys in her new
school because of her physical development and because of an incident in her past in which she
was assaulted in a public swimming pool.
DEATH OF A FRIEND
A Time for Dancing by Davida Hurwin Seventeen-year-old best friends Samantha and Juliana tell
their stories in alternating chapters after Juliana is diagnosed with cancer.
Pedro and Me by Judd Winick: In graphic art format, describes the friendship between two
roommates on the MTV show "Real World," one of whom died of AIDS.
OVERWEIGHT/POOR BODY IMAGE
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler: 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.
Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett: Sixteen-year-old Lara, winner of beauty pageants and
Homecoming Queen, is distressed and bewildered when she starts gaining weight and becomes
overweight.
Leaving Fishers by Margaret Peterson Haddix: After joining her new friends in the religious group
called Fishers of Men, Dorry finds herself immersed in a cult from which she must struggle to
extricate herself.
Fat Kid Rules the World by Kelly Going: Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and
weighing nearly three hundred pounds, gets a new perspective on life when Curt, a semi-homeless
teen who is a genius on guitar, asks Troy to be the drummer in a rock band.
DISENFRANCHISED TEENS
Rats Saw God* by Rob Thomas: In hopes of graduating, Steve York agrees to complete a hundredpage writing assignment which helps him to sort out his relationship with his famous astronaut
father and the events that changed him from promising student to troubled teen.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower* by Stephen Chbosky: Charlie, a freshman in high school, explores
the dilemmas of growing up through a collection of letters he sends to an unknown receiver.
The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian: Seventeen-year-old Josh, a loner-philosopher
who wants to make a difference in the world, tries to maintain his secret identity as the author of a
web site that is receiving national attention.
SELF-MUTILATION
Cut by Patricia McCormick: 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.
Luckiest Girl in the World by Steven Levenkron: Figure-skating star Katie Roskova, unable to
express her feelings of panic and anger, develops a habit of cutting herself with scissors and hiding
her scars beneath long-sleeve shirts, but as pressures mount her wounds become more serious
and soon her secret is revealed.
COLLEGE-BOUND PRESSURES
Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson: Eighteen-year-old Kate, who sometimes chafes at being a
preacher's daughter, 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.
And One More Thing before You Go by Maria Shriver: The author provides an inspirational guide for
young women on how to achieve a fulfilling and happy life and offers advice on the important
things to consider in life.
Congratulations, Now What? by Bill Cosby Comedian Bill Cosby offers a humorous look at the joys
and frustrations of college life and the real world after graduation.
HOMOSEXUALITY
Deliver Us From Evie by M. E. Kerr: Sixteen-year-old Parr Burrman and his family face some
difficult times when word spreads through their rural Missouri town that his older sister is a lesbian,
and she leaves the family farm to live with the daughter of the town's banker.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower* by Stephen Chbosky: Charlie, a freshman in high school, explores
the dilemmas of growing up through a collection of letters he sends to an unknown receiver.

Whistle Me Home by Barbara Wersba Seventeen-year-old Noli feels as if she has found her soul
mate when handsome, sensitive TJ moves to Sag Harbor, but even as their feelings deepen,
individual secrets threaten their relationship.
GENERAL
South of Heaven by Thomas French: Author documents the inner thoughts and secret world of
teenagers today during the year he spent inside the walls of Largo High School in western Florida.
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on the Tough Stuff [compiled by] Jack Canfield, Mark Victor
Hansen, Kimberly Kirberger: A collection of short inspirational stories for teenagers, focusing on
difficult issues such as drugs and alcohol, suicide, abuse, death and dying, and others.
Surviving the Roller Coaster by Jean Ford: Presents a comprehensive guide for teens on coping
with the various emotional mood swings common with the adolescent years and discusses the
brain chemistry and hormonal activity that affects behavior.
Life Happens: A teenager's guide to friends, failure, sexuality, love, rejection, addiction, peer
pressure, families, loss, depression, change, and other challenges of living by Kathy McCoy and
Charles Wibbelsman: Offers advice on how to cope with such feelings as sadness, anger, and
anxiety related to various problems faced by many teenagers.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey: Describes seven habits teenagers can
cultivate to help them improve their self-images, build friendships, resist peer pressure, achieve
goals, get along with parents, and make other positive changes in their lives.
Mind Riot* ed. by Karen D. Hirsch: A collection of comic strips by a variety of artists on the topic of
adolescence, dealing with such issues as family relationships, sexual orientation, and peer
pressure.
More Scenes that Happen by Mary Krell-Oishi Scenes for acting students to perform, based on high
school experiences such as teenage pregnancy, peer pressure, and also lighthearted looks at the
everyday concerns of young people.