One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

Under the Mesquite

Guadalupe Garcia McCall · 224 pages

Throughout her high school years, as her mother battles cancer, Lupita takes on more responsibility for her house and seven younger siblings, while finding refuge in acting and writing poetry. Includes glossary of Spanish terms.

Out of the Dust

Karen Hesse · 235 pages

"Dust piles up like snow across the prairie. . . ." A terrible accident has transformed Billie Jo's life, scarring her inside and out. Her mother is gone. Her father can't talk about it. And the one thing that might make her feel better -- playing the piano -- is impossible with her wounded hands. To make matters worse, dust storms are devastating the family farm and all the farms nearby. Wh

Far from You

Lisa Schroeder

Lost and alone...down the rabbit hole. Years have passed since Alice lost her mother to cancer, but time hasn't quite healed the wound. Alice copes the best she can by writing her music, losing herself in her love for her boyfriend, and distancing herself from her father and his new wife. But when a deadly snowstorm traps Alice with her stepmother and newborn half sister, she'll face issue

Solo

Kwame Alexander, Mary Rand Hess · 461 pages

Seventeen-year-old Blade, who endeavors to resolve painful issues from his past to navigate the challenges of his former rockstar father's addictions, scathing tabloid rumors, and a protected secret that threatens his own identity.

Identical

Ellen Hopkins · 624 pages

Do twins begin in the womb? Or in a better place? Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family—on the surface. Behind the facade each sister has her own dark secret, and that's where their differences begin. For Kaeleigh, she's the misplaced focus of Daddy's love, intended for a

By the River

Steven Herrick · 232 pages

A fourteen-year-old describes, through prose poems, his life in a small Australian town in 1962, where, since their mother's death, he and his brother have been mainly on their own to learn about life, death, and love.

The Crossover

Kwame Alexander · 240 pages

"A bolt of lightning on my kicks, the court is sizzling, my sweat is drizzling. Stop all that quivering, cuz tonight I'm delivering," raps basketball phenom Josh Bell. Thanks to his dad, he and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court, with crossovers that make even the toughest ballers cry. But Josh has more than hoops in his blood. He's got a river of rhymes flowing through him -- a sick

Starting From Here

Lisa Jenn Bigelow · 290 pages

Sixteen-year-old Colby is barely hanging on with her mother dead, her long-haul trucker father often away, her almost-girlfriend dumping her for a boy, and her failing grades, when a stray dog appears and helps her find hope.

Girl in Pieces

Kathleen Glasgow · 416 pages

Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At 17 she's already lost more than most people do in a lifetime. But she's learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don't have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you. Every new scar hardens Charlie's heart just a lit

Love, Aubrey

Suzanne LaFleur · 272 pages

"I had everything I needed to run a household: a house, food, and a new family. From now on it would just be me and Sammy--the two of us, and no one else."A tragic accident has turned eleven-year-old Aubrey's world upside down. Starting a new life all alone, Aubrey has everything she thinks she needs: SpaghettiOs and Sammy, her new pet fish. She cannot talk about what happened to her. Writing lett

Alice Bliss

Laura Harrington · 306 pages

When Alice Bliss learns that her father is being deployed to Iraq, she's heartbroken. Alice idolizes her father, loves working beside him in their garden, accompanying him on the occasional roofing job, playing baseball. When he ships out, Alice is faced with finding a way to fill the emptiness he has left behind. Matt will miss seeing his daughter blossom from a tomboy into a full-blown teenager.

The Last Forever

Deb Caletti · 328 pages

"After her mother's death, it's all Tessa can do to keep her friends, her boyfriend, her happiness from slipping away. Even the rare plant her mother entrusted to her care starts to wilt. Then she meets Henry. Though secrets stand between them, each has a chance at healing...if first, Tessa can find the courage to believe in forever"-- After her mother's death, it is all Tessa can do to keep her

You Have Seven Messages

Stewart Lewis · 304 pages

The Wrong Side of Right

Jenn Marie Thorne · 416 pages

After her mother dies, sixteen-year-old Kate Quinn meets the father she did not know she had, joins his presidential campaign, falls for a rebellious boy, and when what she truly believes flies in the face of the campaign's talking points, Kate must decide what is best.

Beneath a Meth Moon

Jacqueline Woodson · 188 pages

"A young girl uses crystal meth to escape the pain of losing her mother and grandmother in Hurricane Katrina, and then struggles to get over her addiction"--

Me Since You

Laura Wiess · 368 pages

Fall for Anything

Courtney Summers · 230 pages

Eddie Reeves's father commits suicide, and as she seeks for answers, she meets Culler Evans, a photographer and former student of her father's who may know the secret to her father's death. When Eddie Reeves's father commits suicide, she seeks answers and meets Culler Evans, a photographer and former student of her father's, who may know the secret to her father's death. The plot contains profan

Heartbeat

Elizabeth Scott · 256 pages

Emma's mother is on life support with a living baby growing inside of her. Estranged from her stepfather, the only person she can turn to is her best friend. Then bad-boy Caleb Harrison comes along and reminds her that there just might be life and love after death and grief.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Ann Brashares · 310 pages

Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn't look all that great; they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they're great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they're fabulous. Lena decides they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody kn

The Beginning of After

Jennifer Castle · 425 pages

In the aftermath of a car accident that killed her family, sixteen-year-old Laurel must face a new world of guilt, painful memories, and the possibility of new relationships.

The Year of the Rat

Clare Furniss · 306 pages

I always thought you'd know, somehow, if something terrible was going to happen. I thought you'd sense it, like when the air goes damp and heavy before a storm and you know you'd better hide yourself away somewhere safe until it all blows over. But it turns out it's not like that at all. There's no scary music playing in the background like in films. No warning signs. Not even a lonely magpie. One

Waiting

Carol Lynch Williams

As the tragic death of her older brother devastates the family, teenaged London struggles to find redemption and finds herself torn between her brother's best friend and a handsome new boy in town.

And We Stay

Jenny Hubbard · 224 pages

Sent to an Amherst, Massachusetts, boarding school after her ex-boyfriend shoots himself, seventeen-year-old Emily expresses herself through poetry as she relives their relationship, copes with her guilt, and begins to heal. Sent to a boarding school after her ex-boyfriend shoots himself, 17-year-old Emily expresses herself through poetry as she relives their relationship, copes with her guilt, a

How to Save a Life

Sara Zarr · 341 pages

Jill MacSweeney just wishes everything could go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she’s been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends—everyone who wants to support her. And when her mom decides to adopt a baby, it feels like she’s somehow trying to replace a lost family member with a new one. Mandy Kalinowski understands what it’s like to grow up unwanted—to be raised