Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

In a busy coffee shop, a robbery goes wrong. Two gunmen hold seven hostages, including teenager Zach Wahhsted. What nobody realizes at first is that Zach is anything but ordinary and his troubled mind is more dangerous than any weapon. Terry Trueman has created a compelling character with the same shocking power and heartbreaking compassion as his Printz Honor Award debut novel, Stuck in Neutral . Ages 12+

Impulse

by Ellen Hopkins

Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same. Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act -- suicide. Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade. Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through... (more)

Looking for Cassandra Jane

by Melody Carlson

Written in first-person, memoir style, this is the heart-touching story of Cass Maxwell, a girl struggling to find her identity during the turbulent sixties and seventies. Forced to make her own way from childhood, Cass's strength of spirit lifts her above her circumstances as God calls her to a life of hope and freedom.

It's Kind of a Funny Story: A Novel

by Ned Vizzini

Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life -- getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job -- Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That’s when things start to get crazy. At his new school, Craig realizes... (more)

Bloodletting

by Victoria Leatham

On the outside, she appears to have it all. She is creative, beautiful, confident. But inside Victoria Leatham struggles with silent, secret, and unbearable pain. In her late teens, Leatham is struck with an undeniable urge to cut herself. Oddly, the wounds she inflicts on herself mute the pain she feels inside. This memoir, a compelling and often chilling account, vividly details Leatham’s ordeal and reveals... (more)

Running with Scissors

A Memoir

by Augusten Burroughs

Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. At the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor, living with the doctor's bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood... (more)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky

Standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's... (more)

Go Ask Alice

by Beatrice Sparks

January 24th After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs.... It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth -- and ultimately her life. ... (more)

Cut

by Patricia McCormick

This debut novel deals boldly with mental illness and is by turns riveting, thrilling, and heartbreaking. Teens will relate to the adolescent drama and all-important friends as the main character tries to ³cut² it. The bittersweet tale will resonate in the turbulent world of young adults and its readers will find hope in the uplifting end.

Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood

by Koren Zailckas

Garnering a vast amount of attention from young people and parents, and from book buyers across the country, Smashed became a media sensation and a New York Times bestseller. Eye- opening and utterly gripping, Koren Zailckas’s story is that of thousands of girls like her who are not alcoholics—yet—but who routinely use booze as a shortcut to courage and a stand-in for good judgment. With one stiff sip... (more)

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Tags: mental fuckery

Inside Out

by Terry Trueman