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2015 YA Novels in Verse: A Book List

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Every April I like to do a big round-up of novels in verse. It’s a format I enjoy quite a bit, and I tend to pick up as many verse novels as possible.

Back in 2013, I wrote a genre guide to verse novels for those who want to become more acquainted with it, as well as some standout titles in the format. I updated it a little bit last year with this roundup of 2014 novels in verse, and earlier this month, I talked about verse and how it’s a subversive form (and feminist as such) as part of Emma’s “Poetically Speaking” series.

Let’s take a look at the YA books out in 2015 that fall under the category of verse novels. Some of these are written entirely in the format, and others interweave verse into more traditional prose. All descriptions are from WorldCat, and if I’ve missed any from traditional publishers, let me know in the comments.

Audacity by Melanie Crowder (available now): A historical fiction novel in verse detailing the life of Clara Lemlich and her struggle for women’s labor rights in the early 20th century in New York.

All We Have Is Now by Lisa Schroeder (July 28): Since she ran away from home Emerson has been living on the streets of Portland, relying on her wits and her friend Vince to get by, but as a meteor approaches North America they meet Carl, who tells them he has been granting people’s wishes–so what will they do if this is their last day on Earth, and, more important, what will they do if it is not?

 

One by Sarah Crossan (September 15): Despite problems at home, sixteen-year-old conjoined twins Tippi and Grace are loving going to school for the first time and making real friends when they learn that a cardiac problem will force them to have separation surgery, which they have never before considered.

Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen (June 2): In 1993 in New York City, high school senior Mira uncovers many secrets, including that her father has a male lover.

 

A Heart Like Ringo Starr by Linda Oatman High (available now): Her family runs Stevens Brothers Funeral Home. Which is ironic, since Faith Hope Stevens is not long for this world. Unless someone dies. Unless there is a match. Staying alive will mean a heart transplant. Faith copes with wit and nerve. She’s also a little pissed off. She will never grow old. She will never have a boyfriend. Then one shocking day everything changes. 

The Lost Marble Notebook of Forgotten Girl & Random Boy by Marie Jaskulka (available now): Forgotten Girl, a fifteen-year-old poet, is going through the most difficult time of her life–the breakup of her parents, and her mom’s resulting depression–when she meets Random Boy, a hot guy who, like her, feels like an outcast and secretly writes poetry to deal with everything going on in his life. In The Lost Marble Notebook of Forgotten Girl & Random Boy, the couple’s poems come together to tell their unique love story. The two nameless teenagers come from opposite sides of the tracks, yet they find understanding in each other when they lay bare their life stories through the poetry they write and share with each other. Through verse, they document the power of first kisses, the joy of finally having someone on their side, the devastation of jealousy, and the heartbreaking sadness of what each of them is simultaneously dealing with at home and hiding from the world. Finally they have someone to tell and somewhere to tell it in their marble notebook. This is the powerful story of two imperfect teens in first love who find solace in poetry.

  

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger (May 12): In a dystopian future where gender selection has led to girls outnumbering boys 5 to 1 marriage is arranged based on a series of tests. It’s Sudasa’s turn to pick a husband through this ‘fair’ method, but she’s not sure she wants to be a part of it. 

Traffick by Ellen Hopkins (November 3): Five teenagers struggle to find their way out of prostitution. Sequel to Tricks. 

 
Dating Down by Stefanie Lyons (available now): Seventeen-year-old aspiring artist Samantha Henderson, eager to learn about life and to get away from her father’s political campaigns and her stepmother, refuses to give up on her new boyfriend, “X,” even after he proves to be trouble, damaging her friendships and introducing her to drugs.

Get Genrefied: Westerns

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Introduction

For this month’s genre guide, we’re focusing on Westerns. Classic Westerns that most people are familiar with are usually characterized by their setting: the American frontier in the 18th and 19th centuries. They’re often high on action and feature an abundance of cowboys, outlaws, sheriffs, and settlers. They’re also known for often problematic depictions of American Indians. Popular authors for adults include Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, Elmer Kelton, and Larry McMurtry.

I have to admit, I’ve put off writing about Westerns for a while because I just don’t read them that often. I’m not the only one: Western reading hit its zenith in the 1960s and has been dropping off ever since. Anecdotally, we’ve significantly reduced the number of Western titles for adults at my library because they’re simply not being read as often as they used to be. There’s a bit of a bias against them as being old, dusty, and irrelevant. Even the covers of newly-published Westerns set in contemporary times have a very retro feel.

That doesn’t mean there’s not a readership for them. When you find westerns in YA, they’re usually not marketed as such (probably at least in part because of the bias I mentioned above). Instead, they fall under the umbrella term of historical or contemporary fiction, and the selling point is the adventure or a specific part of the setting (the Oregon Trail, for example), rather than the Western setting in general. This makes searching for YA Westerns a bit more difficult since they’re usually not physically delineated in the bookstore or library (then again, neither is historical fiction). Subject headings are your friend: Frontier and pioneer life, West – History – Fiction, and Overland journeys to the Pacific are a few that would net results.

Despite its decline in popularity, there are a number of authors doing fresh and interesting work with the genre today, particularly for teens. They’re helping to diversify the genre (Stacey Lee) and expand its definition (Moira Young). Genre crossover happens frequently, such as with Patricia C. Wrede’s Frontier Magic series. Teens interested in stories about brave young women and men tackling dangerous situations, exploring unknown lands, and surviving on their own in a harsh setting would be interested in YA Westerns, though they may not know to ask for them specifically.

Resources

  • The Hub has a couple of good posts discussing YA Westerns, including reading lists.
  • The Western Writers of America is an organization dedicated to promoting the literature of the American West, and their definition is expansive. They give out the Spur Awards annually, including one for juvenile fiction.
  • Women Writing the West is an organization that promotes Westerns by and about women and girls. They also offer an award, the WILLA, that recognizes the best published stories each year about women and girls set in the American West, including a Children’s/Young Adult category.
  • The 2001 Popular Paperbacks committee selected 22 Westerns for teens.
  • Historical Novels has a list of YA books set in the American Old West organized by topic. Most of these titles are older (early 2000s and before).

Books

Below are a few books published within the last five years, a few forthcoming titles, and a few that are a bit older but still circulate well among teens. I’ve also thrown in a few middle grade titles that may appeal to younger teens. Descriptions are from WorldCat and links lead to our reviews when applicable. Any we missed? Any diverse titles in particular to add to the list? Let us know in the comments.

Wanted by Heidi Ayarbe
Seventeen-year-old Michal Garcia, a bookie at Carson City High School,
raises the stakes in her illegal activities after she meets wealthy,
risk-taking Josh Ellison.

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman (September 2015)
When her father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious
journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine,
eighteen-year-old Kate Thompson disguises herself as a boy and takes to
the gritty plains looking for answers–and justice.

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson (September 2015)
A young woman with the
magical ability to sense the presence of gold must flee her home, taking
her on a sweeping and dangerous journey across Gold Rush–era America.

Relic by Renee Collins
After a raging fire consumes her town and kills her parents, Maggie
Davis is on her own to protect her younger sister and survive the best
she can in the Colorado town of Burning Mesa. Working in a local saloon, Maggie
befriends the spirited showgirl Adelaide and falls for the roguish
cowboy Landon. But when she proves to have a particular skill at
harnessing the relics’ powers, Maggie is whisked away to the glamorous
hacienda of Álvar Castilla, the wealthy young relic baron who runs
Burning Mesa. 

Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook
Told in their separate voices, eighteen-year-old Will who has aged out
of foster care, and fifteen-year-old Zoe whose father beats her, set out
for Las Vegas together, but their escape may prove more dangerous than
what they left behind.

The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt
Traces the hard life, filled with losses, adversity, and adventure, of
Amos, son of a trapper and dowser, from 1833 when his mother dies giving
birth to him until 1859, when he has grown up and has a son of his own.

Grace and the Guiltless by Erin Johnson
When Grace’s parents and siblings are murdered by the Guiltless Gang for
their Arizona horse ranch outside Tombstone, she vows to devote her
life to revenge–but the Chiricahua she finds sanctuary with try to
teach her a better way.

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson

After inheriting her uncle’s homesteading claim in Montana,
sixteen-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917 to make a
home for herself and encounters some unexpected problems related to the
war being fought in Europe. | Sequel: Hattie Ever After

Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
In 1845, Sammy, a Chinese American girl, and Annamae, an African
American slave girl, disguise themselves as boys and travel on the
Oregon Trail to California from Missouri. | Read Stacey Lee’s guest post on friendship for our About the Girls series.

The Devil’s Paintbox by Victoria McKernan
In 1865, fifteen-year-old Aiden and his thirteen-year-old sister Maddy,
penniless orphans, leave drought-stricken Kansas on a wagon train hoping
for a better life in Seattle, but find there are still many hardships
to be faced.

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork
Seventeen-year-old Pancho is bent on avenging the senseless death of his
sister, but after he meets D.Q, who is dying of cancer, and Marisol,
one of D.Q.’s caregivers, both boys find their lives changed by their
interactions.

How I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle
A Choctaw boy tells the story of his tribe’s removal from the only land
its people had ever known, and how their journey to Oklahoma led him to
become a ghost–one with the ability to help those he left behind.

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train,
sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works
a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede
Eighteen-year-old Eff must finally get over believing she is bad luck
and accept that her special training in Aphrikan magic, and being the
twin of the seventh son of a seventh son, give her extraordinary power
to combat magical creatures that threaten settlements on the western
frontier. | Sequels: Across the Great Barrier, The Far West

Blood Red Road by Moira Young
In a distant future, eighteen-year-old Lugh is kidnapped, and while his
twin sister Saba and nine-year-old Emmi are trailing him across bleak
Sandsea they are captured too, and taken to brutal Hopetown, where Saba
is forced to be a cage fighter until new friends help plan an escape. | Sequels: Rebel Heart, Raging Star

Booklist: Synesthesia in Middle Grade and YA

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Synesthesia is one of those interesting phenomena that crops up every now and again in fiction for kids and teens. In medical terms, synesthesia is “a condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a color.” It’s the word for when someone says they can feel sounds or taste colors. The most common form is colored hearing: perceiving sounds as colors.

The first encounter I had with it was in R. J. Anderson’s Ultraviolet, which I read a few years ago. I was fascinated by it. I think it’s a difficult condition to understand for those of us who don’t have it, since it deals with the way we perceive the world around us. According to this article from the American Psychological Association, most people who have synesthesia wouldn’t choose to give it up, even though it may cause them some strife. I expect it’s equally strange for synesthetes to consider perceiving the world like I do as it is for me to consider perceiving the world as they do.

For many kids and teens, the path to understanding lies in fiction, so here are a few middle grade and YA titles featuring people with synesthesia. Descriptions are from Worldcat and links go to Goodreads. Do you know of any others? Let me know in the comments.

Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson
Almost seventeen-year-old Alison, who has synesthesia, finds herself in a
psychiatric facility accused of killing a classmate whose body cannot
be found.

One + One = Blue by M. J. Auch
Branded the class loser, twelve-year-old Basil reluctantly becomes
friends with a bossy new girl who, like Basil, has synesthesia and comes
to Basil’s aid when his estranged mother returns and turns his life
upside down.

The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Two eleven-year-old misfits try to solve the mystery of a dead magician
and stop the evil Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais, who are searching for the
secret of immortality.

Starseeker by Tim Bowler
Still troubled by the death of his father two years before, Luke, a
virtuoso pianist, falls in with a local gang who persuade him to burgle
the house of a rich widow–an act that draws him into a mystery that
changes his life forever.

A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
Afraid that she is crazy, thirteen-year-old Mia, who sees a special
color with every letter, number, and sound, keeps this a secret until
she becomes overwhelmed by school, changing relationships, and the loss
of something important to her.

Mondays are Red by Nicola Morgan
When he wakes up from a coma after having meningitis, fourteen-year-old
Luke finds that he has lost control of his senses and his thoughts and
he must fight an inner demon in order to return to his former life.

Get Genrefied: Alternate/Alternative Formats

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Every month, Kimberly and I talk about genres and formats in YA in our “Get Genrefied” series. We’ve tackled everything from high fantasy to thrillers, contemporary/realistic to the graphic novel format. Each month, we love talking back and forth about what topic we want to approach, and we’ve built a nice list of what we haven’t talked about yet.

But this month, I thought I would go back and talk more about a format that I have talked about before. Not because we’re out of ideas, but instead, because it’s a format that got a lot of talk at ALA Midwinter in January from various publishers as being something they’re acquiring and publishing more and more of. That is the alternative format — books that aren’t a traditional narrative structure. Because this isn’t a traditional genre in the same way that urban fantasy or cyberpunk may be, this guide will be a little bit less traditional as well. Alternate format novels take on every genre, and there’s not necessarily an easy, straightforward way to define them. You know what it is when you see it.

Definition

There’s not a singular, solid definition of what a novel in an alternate — or alternative — format is. It’s hard to even say which is the right terminology, alternate or alternative, so for the purposes of this guide, the terms are used interchangeably but mean the same thing.
We’re used to a traditional narrative format when it comes to novels. That doesn’t mean that we expect the same structure with each book, but we expect the story to be composed of lines and paragraphs which flow into chapters of some sort. There’s a linear structure keeping the story together. Alternative formats do away with this linear format we’re used to and instead, they use different methods of story telling. This could be through letters, which make them epistolary novels, through diary entries, through e-mails or instant messages, through Twitter or other social media, through lists, or through mixed media, including novels that are partially traditional narrative and partially graphic novels. 
It could be easily argued that verse novels and novels told through multiple points of view fall under the alternate format umbrella. For me, I don’t know anymore if I agree with that argument. Not because they’re not different, but because there’s a specific term for verse novels (and it’s acknowledged as a format in and of itself) and because the use of multiple points of view isn’t that surprising or different anymore. Multiple points of view still tend to follow the traditional narrative structure, unless they are themselves in an alternate format (say one of the characters tells his or her side of the story through lists or illustrations). This is splitting hairs, of course, and considering either or both as alternate is perfectly reasonable. 
Another kink in defining alternate formats is that it can be tricky to figure out what an end point to the category is. Would alternate format novels also include the sorts of books that feature a digital component to them? Do transmedia works count as alternative formats? It would make sense to say yes to this, though for the purposes of defining alternate formats, as well as keeping this guide tight, I think it’s fair to leave those sorts of books out of the definition because many transmedia works or novels which feature digital components are not entirely dependent on those pieces to tell the story. Often, though not always, that’s bonus content for readers who want to continue digging deeper into the worlds they’re reading. 
So what’s an alternate format then? It’s a book in which non-traditional methods are used to tell the story and those methods are crucial to the understanding of that story. 

Resources

Because alternative formats aren’t a genre in and of themselves, these books are eligible for awards in their appropriate categories. Fiction titles — including graphic hybrids — are as eligible for the Printz, as well as the Morris awards through YALSA, and they’re eligible for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature. Books in alternate formats are eligible for other respective awards and selection lists through YALSA, including the Best Fiction for Young Adults list and the Excellence in Non-Fiction Award, if the work in question is non-fiction (an example of an alternate format in non-fiction may include something like a graphic hybrid memoir). Depending on the genre of the book in an alternate formate, it may also be eligible for various awards, including the Edgar, the Norton Award, and so forth. 
Of course, because these books are eligible across awards and honor lists, it’s not always easy to pull out which titles are written in alternative formats. This is where reading annotations, as well as writing strong annotations, becomes useful. Making note of books featuring something different in structure makes finding them much easier. 
We’ve put together lists and resources in the past: 
  • As part of the 2012 Contemporary YA week, we put together a list of contemporary/realistic YA in alternate formats. This included novels in verse, as well as books told through multiple points of view. As proof of how much we grow as readers and thinkers, I’m not entirely sure I agree anymore that novels told through verse or in multiple points of view are necessarily alternate formats; however, I think they do offer something different, so they’re worth noting here. 
  • Verse novels as rounded up last year and in previous years. 
Around the book world, a few more resources worth having on hand to make finding alternate format YA novels easier:
  • Jennie wrote about a handful of epistolary YA novels at YA Reading List. 

Reading List 

Because this could be lengthy, this reading list is limited to books published in the last 4 to 5 years. It’s especially heavy on upcoming titles, as this is a format that’s going to be growing in the next year. Links above will lead you to many excellent backlist titles that fit the alternate format category in YA. I’ve also included forthcoming titles I’m aware of, but if there are any missing, lay them on me in the comments. Likewise, this is a contemporary/realistic heavy list, so genre novels fitting the alternate format definition are ones I’d love to know more about as well. 

These books range from being told as graphic hybrids to play scripts, from art class assignments in narrative non-fiction format (fictionalized) to more traditional diary/epistolary formats. As usual, all descriptions are from WorldCat unless otherwise noted. 

Me Being Me Is Exactly As Insane As You Being You by Todd Hasak-Lowy (March 24): Through a series of lists, a narrator reveals how fifteen-year old Darren’s world was rocked by his parents’ divorce just as his brother, Nate, was leaving for college, and a year later when his father comes out as gay, then how he begins to deal with it all after a stolen weekend with Nate and his crush, Zoey.

The Truth Commission by Susan Juby (April 14): As a project for her “creative non-fiction module” at a school for the arts, Normandy Pale chronicles the work of the Truth Commission, through which she and her two best friends ask classmates and faculty about various open secrets, while Norm’s famous sister reveals some very unsettling truths of her own.

The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson: Convinced he should have died in the accident that killed his parents and sister, sixteen-year-old Drew lives in a hospital, hiding from employees and his past, until Rusty, set on fire for being gay, turns his life around. Includes excerpts from the superhero comic Drew creates.



Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan (March 17): Larger-than-life Tiny Cooper finally gets to tell his story, from his fabulous birth and childhood to his quest for true love and his infamous parade of ex-boyfriends, in the form of a musical he wrote.

The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks: I can’t believe I fell for it. It was still dark when I woke up this morning. As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was. A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete. There are six little rooms along the main corridor. There are no windows. No doors. The lift is the only way in or out. What’s he going to do to me?

Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero: Sixteen-year-old Gabi Hernandez chronicles her senior year in high school as she copes with her friend Cindy’s pregnancy, friend Sebastian’s coming out, her father’s meth habit, her own cravings for food and cute boys, and especially, the poetry that helps forge her identity.

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman: Sixteen-year-old Min Green writes a letter to Ed Slaterton in which she breaks up with him, documenting their relationship and how items in the accompanying box, from bottle caps to a cookbook, foretell the end.

Roomies by Tara Altebrando and Sara Zarr: While living very different lives on opposite coasts, seventeen-year-old Elizabeth and eighteen-year-old Lauren become acquainted by email the summer before they begin rooming together as freshmen at UC-Berkeley.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews: Seventeen-year-old Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaria: When Laurel starts writing letters to dead people for a school assignment, she begins to spill about her sister’s mysterious death, her mother’s departure from the family, her new friends, and her first love.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick: A day in the life of a suicidal teen boy saying good-bye to the four people who matter most to him.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (series): A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here were more than just peculiar.

 

Asylum by Madeleine Roux (series): Three teens at a summer program for gifted students uncover shocking secrets in the sanatorium-turned-dorm where they’re staying–secrets that link them all to the asylum’s dark past.

Chasing Shadows by Swati Avasthi, illustrated by Craig Phillips: Chasing Shadows is a searing look at the impact of one random act of violence. Before: Corey, Holly, and Savitri are one unit– fast, strong, inseparable. Together they turn Chicago concrete and asphalt into a freerunner’s jungle gym, ricocheting off walls, scaling buildings, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. But acting like a superhero doesn’t make you bulletproof. After: Holly and Savitri are coming unglued. Holly says she’s chasing Corey’s killer, chasing revenge. Savitri fears Holly’s just running wild– and leaving her behind. Friends should stand by each other in times of crisis. But can you hold on too tight? Too long? In this intense novel, told in two voices, and incorporating comic-style art sections, Swati Avasthi creates a gripping portrait of two girls teetering on the edge of grief and insanity. Two girls who will find out just how many ways there are to lose a friend– and how many ways to be lost.

Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas (July 2): Ollie, who has seizures when near electricity, lives in a backwoods cabin with his mother and rarely sees other people, and Moritz, born with no eyes and a heart defect that requires a pacemaker, is bullied at his high school, but when a physician who knows both suggests they begin corresponding, they form a strong bond that may get them through dark times.

  

Bright Lights, Dark Nights by Stephen Emond (August 11): Walter Wilcox’s first love, Naomi, happens to be African American, so when Walter’s policeman father is caught in a racial profiling scandal, the teens’ bond and mutual love of the Foo Fighters may not be enough to keep them together through the pressures they face at school, at home, and online.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (September 1): My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world.I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black–black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster. (Description via Goodreads). 

Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral: In a love story told in photographs and drawings, Glory, a brilliant piano prodigy, is drawn to Frank, an artistic new boy, and the farther she falls, the deeper she spirals into madness until the only song she is able to play is “Chopsticks.”

The Rise of Suicide in YA Fiction and Exploring Personal Biases in Reading

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Suicide and depression are two passion topics for me. Part of it is that I’m someone who suffers from depression — something I haven’t talked openly about because it’s very hard to talk openly about — and part of it is that when I was in high school, I knew more than one person who committed suicide. Though none of the people who did were close to me, those deaths still had an impact on me. Maybe what’s most vivid about them is how much silence had to surround them; the school shut down all avenues of grieving or discussion, with the thought that keeping quiet about what happened would prevent it from happening again. Whether or not that’s true or was the right choice is hard to say. 

Having worked with teens in the library, I know too well that suicide is something they experience in their lives, and it’s something that stays with them forever. Though they’re not one in the same, suicide and depression can often go hand-in-hand, so in many ways, it makes sense to talk about them in tandem. 

Last fall, I put together a resource and discussion guide to suicide and depression, which included a hefty reading list. I didn’t think about forthcoming titles much when I put it together, but over the last few months, I’ve noticed a steady increase in the number of YA titles that are exploring suicide head-on. 

It’s interesting to think about publishing trends in YA and what it is that might drive them. Without any research at all, I can call up 4 or 5 YA titles publishing between the start of the year and end of February where suicide is a major — if not the major — theme. While we know contemporary realistic YA has been in an upswing lately, what is it that made suicide bubble up as a common theme? 

My guess, at least in part, is the perennial popularity of Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why has spurred an interest in finding similar titles. Asher’s been a marvelous advocate for teens, and his book has been a staple of bestseller lists for years. 

I’m generally not someone who needs trigger warnings for reading material. Dark books work really well for me, since so often, they’re at an extreme where I don’t feel the need to ever look at my own life or experiences and try to compare. It’s easy to disconnect myself from the story and look at it as story. Other readers are far more sensitive than I am to tough topics, and for them, knowing ahead of time helps them make an informed decision about whether or not a book is the right read for them. It’s not about censorship, but about making an intelligent personal choice. 

But something’s changed recently, and I find myself almost needing to know a book is tackling the topic of suicide before I go into it. Not a trigger warning, per se, but I’ve found this is a topic I’m no longer able to read as easily as I used to. Maybe it’s having seen first hand with teens today how hard it is to deal with. Maybe it’s coming to terms with my reading preferences and habits and understanding this topic isn’t one that is enjoyable to me as a reader. Part of it may also be that my own thoughts and beliefs behind suicide don’t always mirror the way it’s presented in fiction, which comes as a result of being someone who struggles with an illness that has left me with uncomfortable, complicated, and messy feelings on the topic. 

In other words, it turns out this isn’t a topic I can divorce myself and my own experiences from when I’m reading. 

One of the best things about reading and talking about books is being able to put up a lens to your own biases. You discover new pages in your own story and in your own thinking that you didn’t realize were there before. Sometimes, you discover that what you thought you knew about yourself and your reading habits aren’t that at all; sometimes you discover your habits and preferences simply change and evolve as you grow and evolve. Where mental health books are still a deep and heavy part of my reading life — a topic I seek out and am always eager to read, think, and talk about — suicide is my wading zone. I need to know what’s out there, I need to give some of them a chance, but I don’t need to invest all of my time and energy into them when they don’t give back to me. They are, in many ways, like cancer books for me. A good premise can and does change my mind, but ultimately as a theme, it’s one I don’t seek out even though I’m seeing it with more frequency. 

While I’m no longer working in libraries with teens, thinking about how to share these titles with teens never strays from my mind. Last spring when a teen shared that her friend had committed suicide, I knew I needed to pull out books that might help those in the community grapple with their feelings. But rather than develop a “suicide books” display, I pulled together a larger display on hard topics in realistic fiction, which included mental health, sexual assault, eating disorders, suicide, and more. It felt too on-the-nose, too prying, to build around suicide specifically, even though books on suicide were — and are! — exactly what teens sometimes need and sometimes just want. It’s not that the topic is sexy to them, and in many cases it’s not something even relevant to their lives, but rather, it’s fascinating. It’s fresh to them. 

I’m curious if anyone else has noticed this uptick in suicide titles and if so, what do you make of it? What sort of opportunities or challenges do these books, when presented in a trend-like wave, present? More, I’m interested in hearing about your own reading biases and experiences with them — and I’m curious how it is you’re talking with teens about them. 

If you’re curious about specific titles, here are a handful of suicide-themed YA books out in the first few months of the year. Descriptions are from WorldCat, and if you know of others out early this year, feel free to leave them in the comments, too. 

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven: Told in alternating voices, when Theodore Finch and Violet Markey meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school–both teetering on the edge–it’s the beginning of an unlikely relationship, a journey to discover the “natural wonders” of the state of Indiana, and two teens’ desperate desire to heal and save one another

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand: After her younger brother, Tyler, commits suicide, Lex struggles to work through her grief in the face of a family that has fallen apart, the sudden distance between her and her friends, and memories of Tyler that still feel all too real.

When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez: Elizabeth Davis and Emily Delgado seem to have little in common except Ms. Diaz’s English class and the solace they find in the words of Emily Dickinson, but both are struggling to cope with monumental secrets and tumultuous emotions that will lead one to attempt suicide.

I Was Here by Gayle Forman: In an attempt to understand why her best friend committed suicide, eighteen-year-old Cody Reynolds retraces her dead friend’s footsteps and makes some startling discoveries.

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga: Seventeen-year-old Aysel’s hobby–planning her own death–take a new path when she meets a boy who has similar plan of his own.

Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff: After his best friend, Hayden, commits, suicide, fifteen-year-old Sam is determined to find out why–using the clues in the playlist Hayden left for him.

These next two books — which I just finished back to back– have been really enjoyable but both also included suicide in them. Knowing that won’t change your experience with either, since it’s not integral to the plot, but seeing it pop up in consecutive reads when this was already on my mind was jarring.

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman: A teenage boy struggles with schizophrenia. (I hope they end up saying more than that in later descriptions, as this one doesn’t come out until April).

I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios: Skylar Evans, seventeen, yearns to escape Creek View by attending art school, but after her mother’s job loss puts her dream at risk, a rekindled friendship with Josh, who joined the Marines to get away then lost a leg in Afghanistan, and her job at the Paradise motel lead her to appreciate her home town.