Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
Thirteen Reasons Why By Jay Asher; you have a girl who is completely broken, bitter and full of anger. Her voice binds you from the very first page. Hannah is the girl who committed suicide. You cannot walk away from this book without being profoundly affected. I think about it often, even now.
Stolen By Lucy Christopher; a young girl taken away from an airport by a man that is far from the typical stereotype that comes to mind when you think of a kidnapper. We are taken through a harrowing tale of the relationship this young girl shares with her kidnapper. Astonishing and unforgettable.
The White Oleander By Janet Fitch; raw and gritty it has it all. Drug use, alcohol abuse, absence of a mother and father, sexual abuse and foster homes. It shows how peers can influence you, but also shows without a role model, guidance, love and care what can become of a young girl who may not have stood much of a chance when growing up the hard way, but survival is possible for anyone who truly craves it. And she wants it aright. With time she becomes the girl that has learned to not get attached, to move on fast in order to maintain the one thing that is important to her; survival.
The Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath; this book tells the story of a women suffering from depression, a condition which ultimately takes over her life. It's haunting because we now know that many events and individuals from the book are similar to her own. We know she battled the condition and we know how it ended. It's a tragedy, but it was also a breakthrough for countless people out there who were, and still are going through this. It created awareness in showing that this is something real, it is life changing, and it needs to be treated.
Fall for Anything By Courtney Summers; ever lost someone you loved? Haven't? Read Fall for Anything, hear Eddie out and you will never forget the pain and anguish this girl feels. The mystery and unexpected death of her father makes her obsessed in wanting to know what caused him to take his life. Here is a girl who is overwhelmed by grief and can't understand why she can't have her father back. Why he never left anything behind that would have given a clue or had meaning for her and her already broken mother. This is a girl who is desperately trying to put the pieces together, but alongside the reader must learn, that sometimes there are no answers.
Boys Don't Cry By Malorie Blackman; we've read about teenage pregnancies. But how many of you have read a book about a teenage boy who is forced to raise a baby the day his results are due when his ex girlfriend unexpectedly knocks on his door, gives him the child that is apparently theirs, promises she will be back and never returns. Now that's what I call tough love. A very memorable read.
Never Let Me Go By Kazuo Ishiguro; although it's built around a dystopian world, it's the way that the concept affects the characters that is the reason this book makes the list. The individuals have been told from the day they were born what their purpose in life will be. What they can't eat or do. They are not given a choice, that choice and free will is taken from them and abused. They are conformed to think a certain way and manipulated to such an extent that escaping or questioning doesn't even come to mind.
A Thousand Splendid Suns By Khaled Hosseini; it's about; war, love, loss, a relationship between two women in the most unlikely of situations which is placed bare in this book. It may make a depressing read, but it's real, and the book itself is eye opening and amazing.
Before I Die By Jenny Downham; you have cancer, and you have a few months to live. How does a 16 year old girl live with that? Well Tessa makes a list of all the things she wants to do before she dies. And she is determined. Beautiful and evocative Before I Die will make you not only appreciate life but hurt for a girl you wish you knew for a moment longer.
North Of Beautiful By Justina Chen Headley; we all have our flaws, but what about when that flaw has scarred one side of your face? You loose all self esteem and all self worth. You think you're lucky that the good looking guy pays you any attention. It's the journey that Terra takes which interests me. The journey of self discovery that ultimately helps her and her mother come face to face not only with her abusive father but with the real beauty that exist in all of us
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