10 Best Life-changing Young Adult Books about Choices and Struggles
Escaping from the humdrum regularities of life and diving into the world of fiction can present the kind of catharsis we all occasionally need. Now, what if this escape pod could also inspire redefining perspectives and provoke meaningful self-reflection? Well, let's drive off the beaten path for a while and venture into a galore of young adult books that vividly portray trials, tribulations and the ultimate triumph of youth. These are not just stories; these are narratives about making choices and confronting struggles, philosophies forged through the formidable fires of life. As we flip through their pages, we inevitably mirror these crises, decisions, and victories in our personal journeys. The strength of the characters becomes our strength. Their choices urge us to reflect on ours. These young adult novels are infused with extensive wisdom, the consequentiality of choices, and true resilience. Every turn brings forth a life-changing insight, an awakening. And guess what? We're about to embark on this wild roller coaster ride, thoroughly immersing ourselves into the depth of each book. Here, we introduce ten exceptional young adult books that will transform how you view life, decisions, and battles. Tie your seatbelts and get ready for a spectacular journey of literary exploration!
『Burned』
Seventeen-year-old Pattyn, the eldest daughter in a large Mormon family, is sent to her aunt's Nevada ranch for the summer, where she temporarily escapes her alcoholic, abusive father and finds love and acceptance, only to lose everything when she returns home.
Author | Ellen Hopkins |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
Release Date | Sep 10, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
『It's Kind of a Funny Story』
Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job—Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That's when things start to get crazy. At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he's just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away.
Author | Ned Vizzini |
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Price | $7.99 |
Publisher | Disney Electronic Content |
Release Date | Sep 25, 2010 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Astonishing Colour of After』
A New York Times bestseller. 'This brilliantly crafted novel portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor. A very special book' - JOHN GREEN, author of The Fault in Our Stars Life, loss, love and art explode in a kaleidoscope of emotions as one girl must learn the truth about her family's past in order to bring peace to the present. For fans of John Green, Jennifer Niven, Jandy Nelson and Nicola Yoon. Leigh Chen Sanders is sixteen when her mother dies by suicide, leaving only a scribbled note: 'I want you to remember'. Leigh doesn't know what it means, but when a red bird appears with a message, she finds herself travelling to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. Leigh is far away from home and far away from Axel, her best friend, who she stupidly kissed on the night her mother died - leaving her with a swell of guilt that she wasn't home, and a heavy heart, thinking she may have destroyed the one good thing left in her life. Overwhelmed by grief, Leigh retreats into her art and into her memories, where colours collide and the rules of reality are broken. The only thing Leigh is certain about is that she must find out the truth. She must remember. With lyrical prose and magical elements, Emily X.R. Pan's stunning debut novel alternates between past and present, romance and despair, as one girl attempts to find herself through family history, art, friendship, and love.
Author | Emily X. R. Pan |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Orion Children's Books |
Release Date | Mar 22, 2018 |
Source | Google Books |
『Hate List』
For readers of Marieke Nijkamp's This Is Where It Ends, a powerful and timely contemporary classic about the aftermath of a school shooting. Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets. Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends, and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life. Jennifer Brown's critically acclaimed novel now includes the bonus novella Say Something, another arresting Hate List story.
Author | Jennifer Brown |
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Price | $9.99 |
Publisher | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
Release Date | Sep 01, 2009 |
Source | Google Books |
『Malibu Rising』
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today • From the author of Carrie Soto Is Back, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo . . . “Irresistible . . . High drama at the beach, starring four sexy, surfing siblings and their deadbeat, famous-crooner dad.”—People ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Time, Marie Claire, PopSugar, Parade, Teen Vogue, Self, She Reads Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, the family drama that ensues will change their lives forever. Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva. The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time for him to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth. Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there. And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone. By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come rising to the surface. Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind.
Author | Taylor Jenkins Reid |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Ballantine Books |
Release Date | Jun 01, 2021 |
Source | Google Books |
『North of Beautiful』
As he continued to stare, I wanted to point to my cheek and remind him, But you were the one who wanted this, remember? You're the one who asked-and I repeat-Why not fix your face? It's hard not to notice Terra Cooper. She's tall, blond, and has an enviable body. But with one turn of her cheek, all people notice is her unmistakably "flawed" face. Terra secretly plans to leave her stifling small town in the Northwest and escape to an East Coast college, but gets pushed off-course by her controlling father. When an unexpected collision puts Terra directly in Jacob's path, the handsome but quirky Goth boy immediately challenges her assumptions about herself and her life, and she is forced in yet another direction. With her carefully laid plans disrupted, will Terra be able to find her true path? Written in lively, artful prose, award-winning author Justina Chen Headley has woven together a powerful novel about a fractured family, falling in love, travel, and the meaning of true beauty.
Author | Justina Chen |
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Price | $8.99 |
Publisher | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
Release Date | Feb 01, 2009 |
Source | Google Books |
『Wild Awake』
In Wild Awake, Hilary T. Smith's exhilarating and heart-wrenching YA debut novel, seventeen-year-old Kiri Byrd has big plans for her summer without her parents. She intends to devote herself to her music and win Battle of the Bands with her bandmate and best friend, Lukas. Perhaps then, in the excitement of victory, he will finally realize she's the girl of his dreams. But a phone call from a stranger shatters Kiri's plans. He says he has her sister's stuff—her sister, Sukey, who died five years ago. This call throws Kiri into a spiral of chaos that opens old wounds and new mysteries. Like If I Stay and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Wild Awake explores loss, love, and what it means to be alive.
Author | Hilary T. Smith |
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Price | $9.99 |
Publisher | Harper Collins |
Release Date | May 28, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
『Before I Fall』
After she dies in a car crash, teenaged Samantha relives the day of her death over and over again until, on the seventh day, she finally discovers a way to save herself.
Author | Lauren Oliver |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Harpercollins Childrens Books |
Release Date | Oct 25, 2011 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Alchemist』
"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky." Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams." Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over a million and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's charming fable, now available in English for the first time, will enchant and inspire an even wider audience of readers for generations to come. The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist. The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.
Author | Paulo Coelho |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Harper Collins |
Release Date | Apr 25, 2006 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Perks of Being a Wallflower』
Charlie struggles to cope with complex world of high school as he deals with the confusions of sex and love, the temptations of drugs, and the pain of losing a close friend and a favorite aunt.
Author | Stephen Chbosky |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
Release Date | Aug 14, 2012 |
Source | Google Books |
In conclusion, going through this list is like embarking on an emotional journey that not only heart-touches your life but imprints an indelible mark on your consciousness as well. Although it can be tough to pick up a book and confront the harsh realities of life, these wonderful narratives guide you through, bringing healing, growth, and maturity in the gentlest way possible. Remember, each choice, each struggle shown in these novels reflect our daily challenges. They teach us one important thing; it's okay to stumble, it's okay to make mistakes, because it's all part of growing up. No matter how difficult the path may seem, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. So go ahead, pick a novel from this list, immerse yourself in its storytelling and let it transform you. After all, a good book isn't just a tool to kill time, but a secret door to understanding life itself.
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