Wadleigh Memorial Library

Anderson, Laurie Halse.  Speak.
YA F And
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda’s freshman year in high school. 

Asher, Jay.  Thirteen Reasons Why.
YA F Ash
When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah’s voice recounting the events leading up to her death.   

Dessen, Sarah.  Dreamland.
YA F Des
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.     

Flinn, Alex.  Breathing Underwater.
YA F Fli
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.     

Lynch, Chris.  Inexcusable.
YA F Lyn
High school senior and football player Keir sets out to enjoy himself on graduation night, but when he attempts to comfort a friend whose date has left her stranded, things go terribly wrong.   

Stratton, Allan.  Leslie’s Journal.
YA F Str
A young adult look at a teen world that reverberates with the emotions of a relationship gone wrong. Stratton examines an adolescent girl’s deep need for affirmation as a sexually attractive being and how the need can lead to unimaginable consequences.

Tashjian, Janet.  Fault Line.
YA F Tas
When seventeen-year-old Becky Martin, an aspiring comic, meets Kip Costello, she is caught in a mentally and physically abusive relationship.

Chaltas, Thalia.  Because I Am Furniture.
YA F Cha
The youngest of three siblings, fourteen-year-old Anke feels both relieved and neglected that her father abuses her brother and sister but ignores her, but when she catches him with one of her friends, she finally becomes angry enough to take action.   

Dessen, Sarah.  Lock and Key.
YA F Des
When she is abandoned by her alcoholic mother, high school senior Ruby winds up living with Cora, the sister she has not seen for ten years, and learns about Cora's new life, what makes a family, how to allow people to help her when she needs it, and that she too has something to offer others.   

Haddix, Margaret Peterson.  Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey.
YA F Had
In the journal she is keeping for English class, sixteen-year-old Tish chronicles the changes in her life when her abusive father returns home after a two-year absence.     

Hopkins, Ellen.  Identical.
YA F Hop
Sixteen-year-old identical twin daughters of a district court judge and a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, Kaeleigh and Raeanne Gardella desperately struggle with secrets that have already torn them and their family apart. 

Jones, Patrick.  Chasing Tail Lights.
YA F Jon
Seventeen-year-old Christy wants only to finish high school and escape her Flint, Michigan, home, where she cooks, cleans, cares for her niece, and tries to fend off her half-brother, a drug dealer who has been abusing her since she was eleven. 

Klass, David.  You Don’t Know Me.
YA F Kla
Fourteen-year-old John creates alternative realities in his mind as he tries to deal with his mother's abusive boyfriend, his crush on a beautiful, but shallow classmate and other problems at school.    

Koertge, Ronald.  Margaux with an X.
YA F Koe
Margaux, known as a "tough chick" at her Los Angeles high school, makes a connection with Danny, who, like her, struggles with the emotional impact of family violence and abuse.  

Maccready, Robin.  Buried.
YA F Mac
When her alcoholic mother goes missing, seventeen-year-old Claudine begins to spin out of control, despite her attempts to impose order on every aspect of her life.

Oates, Joyce Carol.  Freaky Green Eyes.
YA F Oat
Fifteen-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.     

Parker, Robert B.  Chasing the Bear.
YA F Par
Spenser reflects back to when he was fourteen years old and how he helped his best friend Jeannie when she was abducted by her abusive father.