5 Great Young Adult Literature Books

I have enjoyed reading ever since I was a little kid. I would stay up past my bedtime, hiding out under my covers with a flashlight, so that I could read the latest Babysitter's Club book. My taste in literature has broadened a lot since then and so I have decided to make a series of articles listing my favorite books from different genres in hopes that someone may find just the right book to buy the bookworm in their life.

Many times when I am looking for an easy read I will browse the young adult section at the library. Many of these books are packed full of drama, what most young adults thrive on, and jump right into the story from page one. Since I am generally impatient when it comes to the start of a book, young adult literature worked out great for me because of could fly through books and finished most of the books I started (normally if I don't like a book within the first few chapters, I'll quit reading it). There are some young adult books that stand out in my mind as great reads for young adult girls.

5. Smack, Melvin Burgess
"Self-absorbed Gemma, 14, bored with small-town life and her parents' strict rules, runs away to Bristol to join ingenuous, artistic Tar, who is fleeing an abusive home. They find lodging with some older youths in a squat until Gemma, and later Tar, moves in with her newfound "soul sister" Lily and boyfriend Rob, who introduce them to heroin. Though constantly insisting that they can quit any time, all become junkies, with the girls turning to prostitution and the boys to drug dealing, until Gemma makes a desperate bid for salvation." -Publishers Weekly

This story was a great read because of the relationship that the reader can build with Gemma. You feel for her, you root for her to change her situation in life, and you cringe every time she injects more drugs into her veins. Many adults may shy away from this book because of its straight forward look at drug use mixed with a underlying romance between Gemma and Tar, but after reading the book, you can tell it is a cautionary tail, not a glamorized look at drug use and abuse.

4. Cut, Patricia McCormick
"Callie faces some difficult emotional hurdles as a "guest" at the residential treatment center where she has been sent because she cuts herself with sharp objects. In a flat, unaffected tone, befitting someone unhappy with her situation, Lewis's Callie explains the daily routines and schedules at Sea Pines, the facility dubbed "Sick Minds" by Callie's roommate. Though she doesn't speak to her fellow guests, or even her doctors at first, listeners are always privy to Callie's feelings and her impressions of her surroundings, be it what the anorexic guests don't eat or how the substance abuse guests cope. Details of her stressful, dysfunctional home life trickle out along the way." -Publishers Weekly

This book touches on a very sad reality for many young adult girls: the pressure they feel to be perfect, and thus the things they turn to deal with this pressure. The book is a gripping read that allows its reader to root for Callie's recovery. This book is great for the young adult girl who loves to read but isn't so into romance novels.

3. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Ann Brashares
"A pair of jeans purchased at a thrift store is the unlikely bond that keeps four best friends emotionally connected during the first summer that they spend physically apart. ...Carmen doesn't think much of the pants she buys for $3.49, until she and her pals discover their magical quality. The jeans which fit each girl perfectly despite their very different body types serve as a surrogate friend for Tibby, Carmen, Lena and Bridget as they wrestle with new issues of first love, jealousy, fear and sadness in the months before their junior year of high school. Each girl has a turn with the pants, then sends them on to the next person in the rotation; by summer's end, when the friends are reunited, the jeans will be the symbol of what the girls have experienced." -Publishers Weekly

This book is great for young adult girls because of the way that is speaks to the benefits of having strong friendships with other girls. This book serves as a great example of how to be a good friend while still being an individual. Each of the female characters in this book has her own unique body shape and personality. A great aspect of this book is that fact that if the young adult girl in your life enjoys this book there are three more in the series and so she will probably continue to read through the rest of the series.

2.Sixteen: Stories About that Sweet and Bitter Birthday, Edited by Megan McCafferty
"Though marketed as an adult title, this collection includes stories by authors generally considered to be writing for young adults, such as Sonya Sones and Jacqueline Woodson, as well as a smattering of adult authors like Steve Almond. The pieces are mostly set squarely in the 16-year-old brain, rather than taking the point of view of an adult looking back fondly on adolescence. Some of the authors, like Sarah Dessen, write somewhat more explicitly here than in their YA titles. Others use the format readers have grown used to-for example, Sones's free verse works as well in the short-story format as in novels. Ned Vizzini's tale is set in an Old West brothel and revisits the theme of parents who just don't understand." -Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD

This book is a great way to support that thing that all parents say at one point or another to their young adult, "I've gone through it too." Many parents tell their young adult that they understand the things they go through because they themselves were there at one point, but how many young adults believe everything their parents tell them? After reading this book, she may be more inclined to believe you. This book is a collection of short stories written by well known authors about the characters' sixteenth year. If you have an impatient reader in your house this book is a great way to get them reading without them having to pay attention long enough to finish a novel.

1. Sloppy Firsts, Megan McCafferty
"When her best friend, Hope, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, 16-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. Jessica is a fish out of water at school, a stranger at home, and now -- with the only person with whom she could really communicate gone -- more lost than ever. How is she supposed to deal with the boy-and-shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad's obsession with her track meets, and her nonexistent love life? Sloppy Firsts is an insightful, true-to-life look at Jessica's predicament, from the dark days following Hope's departure to her hopelessly mixed-up feelings about the intelligent and mysterious bad-boy who works his way into her life." -Amazon.com

There are many women who love this book, and the whole entire series chronicling Jessica Darling's life. Sloppy Firsts is the first chance the reader has to get to know Jessica Darling, and if your young adult reader falls in love with her during the course of this book, she will surely want to continue to follow Jessica's life through the following three books. The ups and downs of Jessica's life make this book a drama-packed easy read.