• Catalog
• My Account

Tearjerkers (Teen)

Have a tissue or two handy when reading these young adult books.

The fault in our stars by John Green

Despite the medical miracle that has bought her a few more years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, but when Augustus Waters suddenly appears at the Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be rewritten

Thirteen reasons why : a novel by Jay Asher

When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death

The lovely bones by Alice Sebold

In the first chapter of this haunting novel, 14-year-old Susie Salmon looks down from heaven and describes the horrifying events of her murder. As time goes on, Susie continues her curious observations while her family struggles to cope with the pain of her death. Her younger sister grows tougher and more mature, her mother goes to desperate lengths to ease the suffering, and her father begins a perilous quest to bring the killer to justice

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash

If I stay : a novel by Gayle Forman

While in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and younger brother, seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weighs whether to live with her grief or join her family in death.

The Outsiders by S Hinton

The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society

Between shades of gray by Ruta Sepetys

In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death while she fights for her life, vowing to honor her family and the thousands like hers by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil. Based on the author's family, includes a historical note

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Elsewhere is where 15-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn 16, not 14, again. She wants to get her driver's license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she's dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn't want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

In all the years she has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house, Grace has been particularly drawn to an unusual yellow-eyed wolf who, in his turn, has been watching her with increasing intensity

The sky is everywhere by Jandy Nelson

In the months after her sister dies, seventeen-year-old Lennie falls into a love triangle and discovers the strength to follow her dream of becoming a musician.

Harry Potter and the deathly hallows by J Rowling

Burdened with the dark, dangerous, and seemingly impossible task of locating and destroying Voldermort's remaining Horcruxes, Harry, feeling alone and uncertain about his future, struggles to find the inner strength he needs to follow the path set out before him

Before I fall by Lauren Oliver

After she dies in a car crash, teenage Samantha relives the day of her death over and over again until, on the seventh day, she finally discovers a way to save herself

All the bright places by Jennifer Niven

"Told in alternating voices, when Theodore Finch and Violet Markey meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school--both teetering on the edge--it's the beginning of an unlikely relationship, a journey to discover the "natural wonders" of the state of Indiana, and two teens' desperate desire to heal and save one another"

Okay for now by Gary D Schmidt

While Doug struggles to be more than the thug that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds and unlikely ally in Lil Spicer, as they explore Audubon's art

We were liars by E Lockhart

Spending the summers on her family's private island off the coast of Massachusetts with her cousins and a special boy named Gat, teenaged Cadence struggles to remember what happened during her fifteenth summer

Love letters to the dead by Ava Dellaira

When Laurel starts writing letters to dead people for a school assignment, she begins to spill about her sister's mysterious death, her mother's departure from the family, her new friends, and her first love.

The book thief by Markus Zusak

Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors

The boy in the striped pajamas : a fable by John Boyne

Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence

Dreamland : a novel by Sarah Dessen

After her older sister runs away, sixteen-year-old Caitlin decides that she needs to make a major change in her own life and begins an abusive relationship with a boy who is mysterious, brilliant, and dangerous

Just breathe : you can't see the future yet, but It's there. just hang on by Cammie McGovern

Jamie is suffering from severe depression, and David manages to keep his cystic fibrosis under the radar, but when their paths cross during a hospital visit, the two develop a friendship over origami that soon begins to deepen.

Early departures by Justin A Reynolds

"Jamal's best friend, Q, doesn't know that he died, and that he's about to die again. He doesn't know that Jamal tried to save him. And that the reason they haven't been friends for two years is because Jamal blames Q for the accident that killed his parents. But what if Jamal could have a second chance? A new technology allows Q to be reanimated for a few weeks before he dies permanently. And Q's mom is not about to let anyone ruin this miracle by telling Q about his impending death. So how can Jamal fixeverything if he can't tell Q the truth?"--

Thirteen doorways, wolves behind them all by Laura Ruby

When Frankie's mother died and her father left her and her siblings at an orphanage in Chicago, it was supposed to be only temporary - just long enough for him to get back on his feet and be able to provide for them once again. That's why she is not prepared for the day that he arrives for his weekend visit with a new woman on his arm and out-of-state train tickets in his pocket. Now Frankie and her sister, Toni, are abandoned alongside so many other orphans, two young, unwanted women doing everything they can to survive. And as the embers of the Great Depression are kindled into the fires of World War II, and the shadows of injustice, poverty, and death walk the streets in broad daylight, Frankie must find something worth holding on to in the ruins of this shattered America - every minute of every day spent wondering if the life she's able to carve out will be enough. I will admit I do not know if it will be. But I will be watching, waiting to find out. That's what ghosts do. -- Jacket.

How to make friends with the dark by Kathleen Glasgow

Tiger, sixteen, has been pushing away from her overprotective mother, but when her mother dies suddenly, Tiger must learn to live despite the fact that she feels she is surrounded by darkness.

Opposite of always by Justin A Reynolds

After falling for Kate, her unexpected death sends Jack back in time to the moment they first met. He soon learns that his actions have consequences when someone else close to him dies.

Three things I know are true : a novel by Betty Culley

Five months after Liv's older brother, Jonah, accidentally shot himself, Liv is the one who takes care of Jonah, and she has not spoken to Jonah's best friend, Clay, whose father owns the gun, even though she knows Clay is suffering, too.

Recipient of the National Medal, the nation's highest honor for libraries.