Sickness and Struggles
From mental disorders to chronic diseases, these teen books don’t shy away from showing all of the things that can go wrong in the life of a teenager.
 Lexapros and Cons – Aaron KaroRealizing that his OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) is out of control, seventeen-year-old Chuck Taylor, who wants to win his best friend back and impress a new girl at school, tries to break some hardcore habits, face his demons–and get messy. |
 By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead – Julie Anne PetersAfter enduring constant bullying, high school student Daelyn, who has repeatedly attempted suicide, again makes plans to kill herself, in spite of the persistent attempts of an unusual boy to draw her out. |
 Scars – Cheryl RainfieldFifteen-year-old Kendra has not felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, and copes with the pressure by cutting herself. |
 The Complete History of Why I Hate Her — Jennifer Richard JacobsonWanting a break from being known only for her sister’s cancer, seventeen-year-old Nola leaves Boston for a waitressing job at a summer resort in Maine, but soon feels as if her new best friend is taking over her life. |
 Wintergirls – Laurie Halse AndersonEighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend’s death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder. |
 Things I Know About Love – Kate Le VannSeventeen-year-old Livia Stowe has spent the last year struggling with leukemia, but now that she’s in recovery she takes a trip to New Jersey from England to celebrate. |
 After Ever After — Jordan SonnenblickJeffrey’s cancer has gone into remission, but that’s not the end of it. Treatment is nothing compared to what happens after you’ve been cured…Being a cancer survivor can be a life sentence all its own. |
 Willow — Julia HobanSixteen-year-old Willow, who was driving the car that killed both of her parents, copes with the pain and guilt by cutting herself, until she meets a smart and sensitive boy who is determined to help her stop. |
 Shakespeare Bats Cleanup – Ron KoertgeWhen a 14-year-old baseball player catches mono, he discovers that keeping a journal and experimenting with poetry not only helps fill the time, it helps him deal with life, love and loss. |
 Don’t Die My Love – Lurlene McDanielWhen Luke, a high school star football player, cannot shake the flu, his girlfriend persuades him to see a doctor and they learn that his illness is serious. |
 A Blue So Dark — Holly SchindlerAs fifteen-year-old Aura struggles alone to cope with her mother’s schizophrenia, she wishes for a normal life, but fears that her artistic ability and genes will one day result in her own insanity. |
 A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness – Thirteen-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill–an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss. |
 The Fault in our Stars – John Green – Sixteen-year-old Hazel, a stage IV thyroid cancer patient, has accepted her terminal diagnosis until a chance meeting with a boy at cancer support group forces her to reexamine her perspective on love, loss, and life. |
 Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl - by Jesse Andrews - Seventeen-year-old Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia. |
 Probability of Miracles – Wendy Wunder - Having spent several years in and out of hospitals for a life-threatening illness, pragmatic sixteen-year-old Cam is relocated by her miracle-seeking mother to a town in Maine known for its mystical healing qualities. |
 Second Chance Summer – Morgan Matson - Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit–everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled–but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains. |
