What would we do if we didn't have families?  How would we learn to rebel?  Every teen has to rebel against his or her family.  It is a natural process.  Otherwise, we would all live at home forever, yet sometimes the family situations that a person face can need more than just natural rebellion.  As the characters in these books have discovered, sometimes it is necessary to break family ties.

When She Hollers by Cynthia Voight

Tish is not taking it anymore.  She has had enough abuse from her step-father, and she has decided to let him know that he cannot hurt her anymore.  That is why she has the knife.  This is a powerful and honest look at sexual abuse and the courage and fear of one girl that has decided to protect herself.  We get to be with Tish as she shows her knife to her step-dad over breakfast, lives in the secret hell he has created for her while trying to hold it together in school, and makes her final stand.  Give yourself some time with this one.  You won't want to put it down.

Tangerine by Edward Bloor

Paul Fisher is not a part of the "Erik Fisher Football Dream", but everyone else in his family and Tangerine County seems to be.  They are so wrapped up in Erik that no one can step back long enough to see that he is a PSYCHO!  But Paul sees it.  He just is too afraid to tell anyone.  Instead, he spends his time playing soccer, thinking about the strange lightning, mosquitoes, and sinkholes that seem to be a part of this new town he has moved to, and trying to remember exactly what happened when he was five that almost destroyed his eyesight.  That is until something happens that will not allow him to sit back any longer.

The Romance Reader by Pearl Abraham

So you like romance novels?  What's the fuss?  Everyone reads them now and again (and if they tell you different, they're lying).  So why does Rachel have to hide her love of them?  Rachel is a Hasidic Jew and is forbidden to read them, but that is the least of her problems.  She has to deal with her angry mother, her dreaming father, the stares from non-Jewish strangers who think she is strange, and an up-coming arranged marriage to someone she does not love.  Rachel is a strong, rebellious girl that refuses to settle and commit to rules and regulations, although this often brings shame to her family.  Will Rachel solve her problems?  Will she be allowed to remain as the rebel she is?  This quick read will keep you guessing and gives you a glimpse into a culture that you may not know much about.

 

Casper, Alabama is a sleepy southern town that is turned upside down by the proclamation of a miracle.  Adrienne Dabney is a visiting artist from New York, who after participating in an artistic sensory deprivation experiment (she locks herself into her house with no light, food, or human company) proclaims she has seen Jesus in her living room chair.  Charity Pittman is one whose life is altered by the event.  Charity is the daughter of the local preacher, who thinks Adrienne is evil, but she is also a friend to Adrienne, a kindred spirit who takes Charity under her artistic wing.  Who is right?  Who is wrong?  This is an excellent read that asks big questions without looking down on those asking them.

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