If You Find Me

by Emily Murdoch

Summary:
Casey can only remember her life in the woods. She takes care of her younger sister, makes them meals out of what little food their mother has left behind each time she leaves, and keeps them clean and out of trouble. Until the day that a man and a woman come in search of them. A man who claims to be Casey's father. Suddenly both girls find themselves living not in a broken down trailer but in a house with a father, stepmother and a stepsister. As their mother's past comes to light Casey is left to struggle with her own secrets, secrets that might destroy the little happiness she and her sister have ever had.

Review:
Murdoch has created an extremely powerful and impressive book. Casey is a strong, resilient character. Both mother to her sister yet fiercely independent, she struggles to rely on someone else to provide for them. It's a haunting story of how mental illness can destroy a family, and an impressive look at how one girl emerges from such pain. A very well written story with a lot of facets to it. Definitely a good read for teens into realistic fiction.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade

Beneath a Meth Moon: an Elegy

by Jacqueline Woodson

Summary:
Nothing could prepare Laurel for the loss of her mother and grandmother.  The last thing they told her as she drove for high ground with her father and brother was that they would see her soon.  But Hurricane Katrina changed all that.  It may be 2 years later, but for Laurel it might as well have been yesterday.  So when her new friend T-Boom offers her a bit of something to take the pain away, she figures it can't hurt.  But when that thing turns out to be meth, it turns out it can do a whole lot more than take away the hurt.  It can take away her entire life.

Review:
Told through Laurel's perspective, the book starts with her living on the streets begging for money so that she can buy her next hit.  We meet Laurel in the throes of drug addiction, where she is aware that her life is only going downhill but she can't find the strength to care about anything but her next hit.  The book attempts to really demonstrate the power drugs like meth have over the lives of those who take them, and the damage these drugs wreck over not only the addicts themselves but anyone around them. 

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 8th Grade

You Know Where to Find Me

by Rachel Cohn

Summary:
Miles and her cousin Laura didn't have much in common anymore.  Most of the time they spent together was when they would get high on pills.  But when Laura purposely overdoses, Miles is forced to confront her own choices.   She must decide whether or not to fight for her own life, or spiral into nothingness like her cousin. 

Review:
You Know Where to Find Me is a dark novel about the repercussions of a suicide.  Interestingly, the book focuses on recreational use of prescription drugs instead of the more typical 'trouble' drugs or alcohol.  Miles is not a character that one is easily sympathetic too, she is closed off from most people in her life and the reader can assume that it is mostly by choice.  The book focuses mainly on the pleasure that she feels being high, and it's hard to believe that no one ever figured out she was using.  Overall it's a decent read but there are better books that discuss this topic out there. 

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th-10th Grade