A younger sister has a difficult time adjusting to life after her older sister has a mental breakdown.

Liz says:

“Through beautifully written free verse poems, Sones recounts the year that her sister was diagnosed as a manic depressive.!”

Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen-year-old diagnosed with 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.

Liz says:

“Holy Cow! It’s hard even to comprehend how to describe this masterpiece. Crazy, epic, fun, funny, tragic, ironic are just a few words that come to mind. This is for a reader who likes a long book that goes off in wild tangents. For those who decide to sink their teeth into this treasure, you will not be disappointed .”

When her sixteen-year-old sister is hospitalized for depression and her parents want to keep it a secret, fourteen-year-old Elena tries to cope with her own anxiety and feelings of guilt that she is determined to conceal from outsiders.

Liz says:

“Told with extraordinary directness, this is the story of the impact of Depression on an entire family. With a true economy of words, Schumacher deftly portrays each multi-dimensional character allowing for complicated emotions and relationships.”

Marcelo Sandoval, a seventeen-year-old boy on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, faces new challenges, including romance and injustice, when he goes to work for his father in the mailroom of a corporate law firm.

Liz says:

“Having attended a special school for his whole life, Marcelo’s father decides that Marcelo should go to public school for his senior year of high school. Marcelo loves his school and is especially attached to a program there that allows him to work with horses. He makes a “deal” with his mom that if he goes to work at his father’s law firm for the summer and gives an honest try at working in the “real world” he can then choose which school he will go to. Over the course of the summer, Marcelo experiences many challenges and encounters injustice and dishonesty. Marcelo’s unflinching goodness and unique sense of the world make this a powerful story with the lasting effect of new understanding and empathy.” (Received 5 starred reviews).

When she is almost sixteen years old, Rosemary decides she is sick of being overweight, mocked at school and at Heavenly Hair–her mother’s beauty salon–and feeling out of control, and as she slowly loses weight, she realizes that she is able to cope with her mother’s cancer, having a boyfriend for the first time, and discovering that other people’s lives are not as perfect as they seem from the outside.

Liz says:

“This story has the magic of being able to make you laugh and cry from one page to the next. Tackling tough issues of self-image and self-esteem with unflinching reality and humor, Supplee has written a delightful book that is sure to be a winner with 7th and 8th grade girls.”

Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend’s death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

Liz says:

“Anderson is one of my favorite authors but I have to say that I can only recommend this book to a very limited audience. Wintergirls deals very realistically with the physical and emotional devastation of eating disorders; there is no sugar-coating or easy answers found in this story. If you or someone you know is suffering from anorexia or bulimia, you will want to read this as a cautionary tale.”

While traveling to each corner of the country to build a whirligig in memory of the girl whose death he caused, sixteen-year-old Brian finds forgiveness and atonement.

Liz says:

“This is an unforgettable book that will touch your heart and really make you think about the power of forgiveness and redemption even in the face of great tragedy.”

In 1990, thirteen-year-old John “Spud” Milton, a prepubescent choirboy, keeps a diary of his first year at an elite, boys-only boarding school in South Africa, as he deals with bizarre housemates, wild crushes, and embarrassing parents.

Liz says:

“This hilariously irreverent book offers an uproariously funny look at post-Apartheid South Africa through the eyes of one of the most lovable characters ever created.”

Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family’s struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.