Books That Tell it Like it Is

Try these books if you're looking for:

• contemporary fiction
• authentic books
• honest books - tell the story like it is, without shying away from anything
• focus on characters and relationships

The Road 
By Cormac McCarthy
F MCCARTHY
A man and his son walk alone towards the coast, and this is the moving story of their journey. The Road is an unflinching exploration of human behavior-from ultimate destructiveness to extreme tenderness. The dialog is terse and terribly authentic. Although this novel is set in a post-apocalyptic America; the nature of the story, the relationship between father and son, and the powerful dialog all lead me to recommend this as “realistic fiction.”

Going Bovine 
By Libba Bray
YA F BRAY
Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen year-old who, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeld Jakob's (aka mad cow) disease, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed video gaming dwarf he meets in the hospital in an attempt to find a cure.

Say What You Will 
By Cammie McGovern
YA F MCGOVERN
A girl confined to a wheelchair by cerebral palsy and a boy stymied by an obsessive-compulsive disorder are assigned to spend time together in what becomes a blossoming friendship that neither expected.

Character-Driven, Issue-Oriented Young Adult Fiction

Try these books if you're looking for:

• teen fiction
• character-driven
• issue-oriented

Homeless Bird 
By Gloria Whelan
YA F WHELAN
Koly is just thirteen when her marriage is arranged with a young boy. Her path is not easy. She must endure many difficulties. Her mother-in-law abuses her verbally and emotionally and eventually abandons her. She meets her challenges with courage and her situation does slowly improve, and she ultimately achieves happiness.

Life as We Knew It 
By Susan Beth Pfeffer
YA F PFEFFER
Miranda is 16 years old living with her mother and brothers in rural Pennsylvania when catastrophe hits the earth. This is the story of how their lives change and how the must struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon pushing it just slightly closer to earth, but resulting tidal waves and a great increase in volcanic activity worldwide. The story is told through Miranda’s diary entries. Gripping.

Notes from the Midnight Driver 
By Jordan Sonnenblick
YA F SONNENBL
After being assigned to perform community service at a nursing home, sixteen-year-old Alex befriends a cantankerous old man who has some lessons to impart about jazz guitar playing, love, and forgiveness.

It's Kind of a Funny Story 
By Ned Vizzini
YA F VIZZINI
A humorous account of a New York City teenager's battle with depression and his time spent in a psychiatric hospital.

Issue-driven Books, with Emphasis on Characters

Try these books if you're looking for:

• Books about controversial issues
• Books about characters and relationships
• Books similar to Jodi Picoult’s but cleaner

Please Look after Mom
By Kyong-suk Shin
F SHIN
Follows the efforts of a family to find the mother who went missing from Seoul Station and their sobering realizations when they recall memories that suggest she may not have been happy.

Every Last One
By Anna Quindlen
F QUINDLEN
Mary Beth is first and foremost a mother whose three children come first, before her career, or even her life as the wife of a doctor. Caring for her family and preserving their everyday life is paramount. So when one of her sons becomes depressed, she focuses on him, and is blindsided by a shocking act of violence.

The Language of Flowers
By Vanessa Diffenbaugh
DIFFENBA
The story of a woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own past.

State of Wonder
By Ann Patchett
F PATCHETT
A researcher at a pharmaceutical company, Marina Singh journeys into the heart of the Amazonian delta to check on a field team that has been silent for two years--a dangerous assignment that forces Marina to confront the ghosts of her past.

These Things Hidden
By Heather Gudenkauf
F GUDENKAU
When golden girl teenager Allison Glenn is released to a halfway house, she is more determined than ever to speak with her estranged sister. Their legacy of secrets is focused on one little boy. And if the truth is revealed, the consequences will be unimaginable for the adoptive mother who loves him, the girl who tried to protect him and the two sisters who hold the key to all that is hidden.

Contemporary Biographies

Try these books if you're looking for:

• Contemporary books
• Biographies
• Social Issues

Losing My Faculties: a Teacher’s Memoir
By Brendan Halpin
BIOGRAPHY HALPIN
In this journal-like memoir, Halprin explains how he became involved in teaching high school English in Boston and two nearby suburbs. As he was finishing grad school in the early 1990s, he applied for positions in the Boston public school system, wanting to teach kids in an urban area in order to change their lives. Here he shares his nine-year roller-coaster ride of life in those schools.

The Stardust Lounge
By Deborah Digges
BIOGRAPHY DIGGES
At 14, Stephen was stealing cars, waving guns around his house, and running with a violent gang. But his mother, poet and memoirist Deborah Digges, did not give up on Stephen. Instead, she took extraordinary steps to save him, even disguising herself and following him on his nighttime escapades, and inviting gang members into her home.

There Are No Shortcuts
By Rafe Esquith
BIOGRAPHY ESQUITH
What's a Los Angeles middle-school teacher to do when charged with a bunch of fifth and sixth graders, none of whom speak English at home and most of whom are eligible for free lunches? If you're Esquith, you have them read Twain, perform Shakespeare, play classical guitar and study algebra. You take them camping and to concerts and the theater. Part memoir, part manual, but primarily a call for action, Esquith's book is explicitly directed to parents and "concerned citizens" as well as teachers.

There Is No Me without You
By Melissa Greene
362.732 GRE
Journalist Greene sheds light on the AIDS epidemic in Africa by focusing on Haregewoin Teferra, an Ethiopian widow who has opened her heart and her home to her hundreds of her country’s AIDS orphans.