Top Ten Books Dealing With Tough Subjects

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the awesome and wonderful people over at The Broke and The Bookish

This week the topic is: Top Ten Books Dealing With Tough Subjects- These are the hard books to read, the ones that might break you, but could be incredibly written and wonderfully told stories.

This is a book about depression and suicide and how people cope with loss and pain but it is about so much more than that. To take the words right from the description, My Beating Teenage Heart paints a devastatingly vivid picture of both the heartbreak and the promise of teenage life – a life Ashlyn would do anything to recover and Breckon seems desperate to destroy.

UGH – this book. It was heartbreaking. Jackson broaches the topics of bullying and abuse and cheating and lying… and ultimately keeping secrets in If I Lie. There is definitely a ‘gray space between truth and perception’ and this book really makes you realize that what you think you know about something may not be the reality of it. I can’t recommend this one enough.

This book was so heartbreaking. Ethan was abducted from his yard at the age of 7 and 9 years later he is returned to his family. McMann does such a wonderful job of showing the impact of the abduction on his entire family. The end of this book killed us and left us wanting more…a lot more.

I am sure this book will be on everyone’s list. Despite the tough subject of death and cancer, it is one of those books that I recommend to anyone who asks me what they should read. John Green has written some of my most favorite characters in Hazel Grace and Augustus. Hazel Grace and Augustus meet at a cancer support group for kids and he helps her rethink how she approaches life and death. I probably spent an equal amount of time laughing, crying and then swooning for Augustus. I still have not worked up the courage to write an actual review for this book as I know I won’t do this one justice. If you haven’t gotten up the courage to read this one yet, just do it.

Me Before You is going to be on my list of favorites this year. Moyes approaches the topic of assisted suicide and the life of a quadriplegic in a realistic and heartbreaking way. Moyes makes you really look at what your stance might be in a similar situation and how you would react. The characters in this story gripped me from the very start and someday soon I hope to revisit this story. If you haven’t read this one yet, run out and get it today!

This is a wonderfully written story about first love and life and as the description states, Eleanor & Park is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. Eleanor’s life isn’t easy but she is a survivor and Park is one of the bright spots.

Stolen is another book about abduction but what makes it so different is the way it was written. Lucy Christopher created this as a letter the main character, Gemma, writes to Ty, the guy who kidnapped her. It was beautifully written and being able to read the story in her voice allowed me to see how Gemma’s feelings evolved for Ty throughout the novel. We know he did a horrible thing and see through her eyes just how broken he was. There were definite moments in this story that were difficult to read but I encourage anyone to go read this if you can.

The Sky is Everywhere is another one of those books for us that gets recommended whenever someone asks for something to read. Lennie’s sister died unexpectedly and she is struggling with how to deal with the loss. It’s also about falling in love, family, friends, and opening your eyes to others around you…seeing how your actions and reactions can really hurt some of the most important people in your life.

Pretty Girl-13 is another book about abduction but also includes mental illness as the main character, Angie, remembers nothing of the 3 years she was gone. It turns out she has developed multiple personalities which evolved due to something painful that happened when she was young. If you enjoy a book that is considered a “psychological mystery” you may enjoy this one.

If you haven’t read the summary of this book you can tell just from the title that this is going to cover a tough subject. I hesitated to read this based on the subject matter but as I was flipping through books I thought I would read the first few chapters just to see if I should continue…I ended up finishing the book within a day. If you can get past the idea of what is included in this book, you will find a heartbreaking story that puts these kids in a situation that is tragic and destined to end badly.

So … Tell us in the comments… what books are in your top ten that deal with tough subjects?