How to Save a Life

Happy Teen Read Week! Are you ready to vote for the Teen Top Ten? The 2013 winners will be announced October 22!

 Because you have probably been reading many of 2013's top ten nominees,I wanted to tell you about a nominee from last year.(Topic and story so NOT so last year.) 
 How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr is a story that sticks with you---in a good way!

Jill is wrecked. Her dad recently died. She’s stopped communicating with her friends, family and boyfriend. Her mom, who should be mourning with Jill, is busy planning to adopt a baby from a teen she met online. It gets worse. Jill despises teen mom Mandy and soon Mandy will be moving in with them until the baby is born!

Mandy on the other hand has never suffered a family crisis because...

Teen Pregnancy

It's one of the most controversial subjects out there. And despite increased media coverage and shows like "Teen Mom," "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," and "Glee," there is often still a reluctance to talk about it.

But talk about it is exactly what these authors have done. I have four books for you: two from the father's perspective, and two from the mother's. (And, before I continue, there are a lot of resources out there for those with questions. You can even start on the library's teen page, right here.)

the first part last by Angela Johnson is told from the perspective of the father. Bobby is an artist, 16, and wants to hang out with his friends and finish high school. But as soon as his baby is born, Bobby has to cope with the reality of being a single dad.

Edgy Reads

I was going to do a best-of-the-year post, but when I looked back at the teen books I read in 2011, I realized that most had something in common: they were pretty dark and disturbing. Dark content in YA literature got a lot of press this year, but in the end, it's a personal decision. If you're searching for books that push the envelope and give you that unsettled, is-this-really-okay-to-read feeling, give these a shot!

• After by Amy Efaw is the raw, unflinching story of the person behind the headlines:  Devon did something terrible, something so bad she can't even quite remember or believe it, even in her cell in juvie, where she has all the time in the world to reflect.