Young Adult
Contemporary young adult fiction about teens struggling with mental illness, addiction, abuse, incarceration, homelessness, and other tough stuff.
A number of these books have been nominated for and/or won literary awards.

Between the Cracks 4-6
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Between the Cracks 1-3
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Pain
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Tamara’s Teardrops 1-4
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June, Into the Light, Between the Cracks #6
(Book #6) June Simpson has lost everything. Her family, the love of her life, and now her freedom.
And it’s her own fault.
Drugs have taken her health and what little happiness remained in her life, and now, incarcerated after a failed attempt at armed robbery, June is forced to detox and to face the reality of the misery and abuse she has perpetrated on those closest to her, especially her children.
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Gem, Himself, Alone
Teenage Gem, alone on the street, has survived abuse, institutionalization, and captivity. He has lost everything and everyone he ever loved, but is finally free to build a life.
There is only one person he can count on, and that is himself.
Gem buries his past the best he can, joins up with the Rippers gang for protection, and does what he has to in order to survive.
But Riker, a vice cop, makes it his business to take away the precious freedom Gem has earned and put him behind bars.
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Toxo
Raising Caleb had never been easy, but things got exponentially worse when DFS made an unexpected appearance and decided he was in danger, something Riley would never have predicted in a million years.
Now Caleb really is in danger.
Gabriel and Renata are working together once more to determine whether an injustice has been done and to get Caleb into a safe situation. But Andrew Searle is on the case, and it’s his job to see that they don’t succeed.
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Vanishing Teardrops
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Tortured Teardrops
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Two Teardrops
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Ronnie, Between the Cracks #5
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Endless Change
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