Pushing the Limits
October 11, 2010
Should you listen to your parents, or try to press at all the boundaries that you can? What do you do when all your friends are into the bad stuff and you feel like a goody-goody?
You are not alone, even if you feel like you are the only one dealing with these issues. Whenever I feel alone and don't know how to deal, I do what any dorky, book-lover would do: I turn to a book.
Recently, I stumbled across a whole genre of "teen angst" and "how to deal" books. Here are a few that could help you out when you are feeling lost, alone, or like a big dweeb.
Just a warning: these are not nice and happy books. They are REAL, GRITTY, HARD books. Read at your own Risk!
Very LeFreak by Rachel Cohn - What happens when you are that party girl that has to deal with the consequences of her actions? How would you feel if you got locked in a rehab for technology addicts?
Looking for Alaska by John Green - How lucky would you feel if your parents let you go to boarding school just because you wanted to? But what happens when you realize that your roommate and friends are the wrong kind of friends?
Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Saenz - What happens when your life is so horrible that remembering is impossible? What if you are so busy fighting your own monsters that you don't even have time to think about other people's monsters?
Jessica F.
Tags: teens, reading, Books
Comments
Looking for Alaska
I absolutely revere John Green and find his books to be among some of the most realistic teen lit that exists. Looking for Alaska was the first of his books that I read, and it would probably make my top 20 YA books of all time list (and that's really saying something!).
Although I DEFINITELY agree with you that Looking for Alaska is a "teen angst" or "how to deal" book, I don't think that the friends Miles makes at his new boarding school are necessarily the wrong kind of friends. It's true that Alaska, Takumi, and the Colonel (his roommate, Chip) cause some trouble, pulling pranks and drinking while underage (which I do NOT endorse). However, the loyalty that exists among the four friends and the ways in which they help pull each other through some seriously tough issues are powerful. Plus, each of these characters is intensely smart and unique, which I think is a huge factor in choosing quality friends.
The thing about Looking for Alaska that makes it great for helping its readers through their own hard times is how realistically these characters deal with their personal troubles as well as one major traumatic event (I don't want to give too much away). John Green paints a tough but incredible cast of teens who demonstrate that life is not easy. Like we didn't already know that. :)
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