5 Best Books....about surviving the teen years

Cassandra of Indie Reader Houston hosts a weekly meme called 5 Best Books where participants list what they feel are the five best books on a given topic. This week's topic is about Surviving the Teen Years.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I cannot tell you how much this book meant to me when I was in grade school. And I honestly believe that this is the book which started me on my longstanding love affair with the bad boy (and not the super sensitive type either; I only like my bad boy mildly sensitive). The quality of "broken" became forever coupled with the term "sexy" after this book. Now, on to the Surviving the Teen Years theme.

I don't think any book comes close to The Outsiders regarding this theme. The group of teenagers portrayed in this novel embody the struggle that is teendom. They struggle to define themselves beyond the label of greaser or soc. The intensity of brotherly love, the impetuousness of youth, and the burning desire to mature are expressed wonderfully in this quintessential coming-of-age tale.

Well now that I've regaled you with The Outsiders, the rest of the post may feel a bit 'meh'. That book really epitomizes Surviving Teen Years to me.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding may not seem like a typical novel for this category, but I think I have something of a point here. Technically the novel explores the role civilization has on behavior. By placing a group of teenage boys on an uninhabited island, Golding allows himself to play with man's natural instincts versus his learned behavior from society (and the suppression of those instincts for the benefit of said society). How, you might ask, does this relate to Surviving Teen Years? Well, metaphorically being a teenager is like being trapped on that island. It is a transitional phase between the id and the ego, between living for short-term pleasure and long-term benefit. Lord of the Flies shows readers what happens when people are not able to navigate that transition.

Another strange - but I think relevant - Surviving the Teen Years book is Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks or Anonymous depending on who you ask and who you believe. My copy of Go Ask Alice came down to me from my mother - in three pieces (which I know just made some of you shudder). I still have it, and it's still in three pieces. The story is absolutely heartbreaking as it follows one teenage girl through horrifying drug abuse which results in all sorts of terrifying events.

Gary Paulsen is one of my favorite childhood authors, and his novel Hatchet still sticks in my mind as an adored read. In Hatchet, a boy named Brian has to land a Cessna and survive in the wilderness by himself for over 50 days. Not only does this story have a whole coming-of-age feel due to the dire circumstances the protagonist finds himself in, but also because Brian is struggling with the divorce of his parents and their subsequent "new lives."

While not having quite the same connection to the term "surviving" as the first four, the perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (link to my review) still fits the criteria. This novel is a collection of letters written by a boy using the name of "Charlie", chronicling his first year of high school. Charlie writes about his life: friends, drugs, sex, abuse, dances, family, and football. The presentation in this book is a wee bit dramatic but it's still a damn entertaining read, and definitely brings up issues relevant to surviving the teen years.

So there are five from me. What books do you think capture the idea of Surviving the Teen Years?