Suckerpunch by David Hernandez

Hernandez, David (2008). Suckerpunch. New York: Harperteen. 

Summary: 17-year-old Marcus harbors deep hatred for his father who used to beat up his younger brother, Enrique, before eventually leaving the family.  Upon hearing that their father intends to return to the family, Marcus and Enrique, accompanied by friends, drive from Southern California to Monterey with a gun, planning to scare their father.  

Additional comments: Suckerpunch, the first novel by poet David Hernandez of Long Beach, California, strikes the reader with realistically harsh dialogue, detailed drug and alcohol experiences, explicit sexual fantasies, and violent physical abuse.  A few of the main characters are Latino, but Suckerpunch will appeal to any teen who enjoys a fast-moving plot with a lot of dialogue, who has wrestled with the morality of retribution, and who has suffered from depression, boredom, and anger.

Go ask Alice

Anonymous (1971).  Go ask Alice. New York: Simon Pulse. 

Summary: Based on the diary of a 15-year-old girl who becomes increasingly dependent on marijuana and LSD, runs away from home, tries to break her addiction, suffers a nervous breakdown, and eventually dies from an overdose.  Originally published in 1971 and briefly set in San Francisco, Go Ask Alice provides insight into the 1960's counter-culture movement as well as showing one person's emotional struggle with drug addiction.

Additional comments:  Go Ask Alice is written in a diary format form the point of view of a melodramatic and depressed teen-aged girl. The reader is taken on a psychological journey through the girl's internal conflicts between what she wants to do versus what she ultimately can't resist doing. Though seemingly realistic in the beginning, the book takes on a didantic tone midway through as lack of self-control brings on ill consequences and eventually her self-destruction.   

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Anderson, M.T. (2004). Feed.  Cambridge: Candlewick Press.

Summary:  Set in a fantastical and futuristic version of America, Titus is a teenager who, like the majority of Americans, has a "feed" transmitter in his brain that broadcasts ads, shows, and music, and also networks with other "feeds" so that people can im chat around the clock.  On a trip to the Moon, a stranger hacks his "feed", which puts him in the hospital, exposes him to life without the "feed", and introduces him to Violet, a girl who tries to resist the "feed".

Additional Comments:  A scary vision of corporate America completely taking over every aspect of individual life and personal expression.  In the spirit of Brave New World, 1984, and The Giver, Feed presents an alternate reality and dystopia in which the general public doesn't question the corporate power structure and the mysterious lesions that are breaking out on everyone.