TGIF: {4} Issue Books

Hey Remarkable Readers,
I haven't done a TGIF in a while and I always enjoy them so I'd like to bring this feature back!  TGIF is hosted by Ginger at GReads! and every friday, she'll have a topic to post about!  Here's this week's:

This Friday's Question:

Issue Books: Which books have you found to be very rewarding when it comes to tackling tougher issues?

My Response:

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

     Colie expects the worst when she's sent to spend the summer with her eccentric aunt Mira while her mother, queen of the television infomercial, tours Europe. Always an outcast -- first for being fat and then for being "easy" -- Colie has no friends at home and doesn't expect to find any in Colby, North Carolina. But then she lands a job at the Last Chance Cafe and meets fellow waitresses Morgan and Isabel, best friends with a loving yet volatile relationship. Wacky yet wise, Morgan and Isabel help Colie see herself in a new way and realize the potential that has been there all along

This book deals with a lot of insecurity for young girls and I think it's an important issue.  It's a great summer read and it has meaning behind it, too.

Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. But in the short time he has left there’s one thing he can do: He can try to help the people he loves live—even though he never will.
It’s probably hopeless.
But he has to try.

Although this isn't really considered an "issues" book, I think it does a great job with fatal diseases and grief.  Austin also spoke about some other issues.  Never Eighteen is one of my favorite books ever and it is so influential.  YOU NEED TO READ IT.

Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin

Kelsey Finkelstein is fourteen and FRUSTRATED. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled – by her impossible parents, her annoying little sister, and life in general. But with her first day of high school coming up, Kelsey is positive that things are going to change. Enlisting the help of her three best friends — sweet and quiet Em, theatrical Cass, and wild JoJo — Kelsey gets ready to rebrand herself and make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny. 

Things start out great - her arch-nemesis has moved across the country, giving Kelsey the perfect opportunity to stand out on the soccer team and finally catch the eye of her long-time crush. But soon enough, an evil junior’s thirst for revenge, a mysterious photographer, and a series of other catastrophes make it clear that just because KELSEY has a plan for greatness… it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is in on it. 
Kelsey’s hilarious commentary throughout her disastrous freshman year will have you laughing out loud—while being thankful that you’re not in her shoes, of course… 

This one just deals with a ton of high school related drama.  Although a lot of it is exaggerated, most of it does ring true.  It was also pretty funny!

Some Other Favorites:

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Pretty Little Liars by Sarah Shepard