The lovely bones

Sebold, A. (2002). The lovely bones. Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Company.

An moving story of Susie and her family after a tragic loss of their beloved one. 

The story is most intriguing, as it is told by 14-year-old Susie who was murdered but now from her heaven watch her family and friends grieve, suffer and even fall apart without her.

Susie follows the loves of her family and friends as they struggle to cope with the devastation they are left with after her murder. Her father is consumed with guilt at having failed to save her. Her mother drifts away from her husband.In watching her family on Earth and recounts the memories she had before, Susie comes to understand the life she and her family are robbed of.

How to build a house

Reinhardt, D. (2008). How to build a house. New York, NY : Wendy Lamb Books.

Harper is in flight.

She badly needs a fresh start from emotional devastation brought upon by her father's divorce from her stepmother, Jane, the only mum she has ever known and consequently by her loss of Tess, her step-sister. She decides to escape by joining a volunteering programme to build a house for a family in Tenesseee who lost their home in a tornado. While she is helping a family to pick up pieces of their life after a tornado and move on forwards, Harper also comes to terms with her father's divorce and its consequent emotional devastation.

What makes me interested is the structure of the story. It is broken down into smaller parts referred to here and home, following Harper's stream of consciousness.  

My Sister's Keeper

Picouldt, J. (2004). My sister's keeper. New York,NY : Atria Books.

A thought provoking story of 13-year-old Anna.

Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate, her older sister. Since she was born, Anna has undergone through countless surgeries and transfusions to keep Kate alive. She has never questioned about her life and her role in her family as her sister's keeper until she makes a decision that will tear her family apart and most likely lose her beloved sister. She sues her parents to get medical emancipation when she is expected to donate a kidney to Kate.

A very engaging story with a suprise ending.

If you want to know about the author's thoughts on My Sister's Keeper, click to this link.
http://www.jodipicoult.com/my-sisters-keeper.html

Our Secret, Siri Aang

Kessler, Crisitina. (2004) Our secret, Siri Aang. New York, NY : Philomel Books.

A story of a courageous twelve year old Masai girl. Namelock, who  comes to have many secrets that she cannot tell anyone.

She comes across a mother black rhino in labour and helps her to give birth. She vows to protect them and visit them as often as possible and keep them secret.

She starts to bleed but she keeps it secret too until it is noticed by her mum.

She wishes to go to school and learn to wirte her own name and how to do maths.

Once she decides she will go through her initiation and accepts the traditional way of life as a Masai girl/woman, she wants to vist and say good bye to the rhinos, only to find the mother rhino was killed by poachers. To keep her vows to them and also want to find Siri Aang, Namelock starts her journey to the bush to search for the poachers and bring justice to them, which leads her to a horrifying discovery that could completely shatter her foundation.

You can find the author Cristina Kessler's Behind the Books video and listen to her about how the book was written on this link. http://www.cristinakessler.com/Books_7.htm

Along for the ride

Dessen, S. (2009). Along for the ride. New York, NY: Viking.

This is a story of Auden who visits her father's new family before she starts university, make friends with local girls and boys and falls in love with Eli, a boy who has to overcome the traumatic loss of his best friend.

While she is challenged by new friends, conflicts between her father and step-mum and new responsibilities of being a big sister to Thisbe, she comes to realise what she has missed so far: to have a care-free childhood. With the help of Maggie and Eli, she can face the challenges and finally feel more assured about who she is and who she would like to be in her relationship with her parents and the others.

Through the main characater Auden, a sensitive girl who has pre-matured before her age, due to her immature and self-centred parents and their unhappy marriage and divorce, Dessen makes us think about the role of parents, the importance of happy childhood, lost opportunities, etc.

Sarah Dessen is a well renowned, prolific writer of YA novels. You can find more information on her and her books on her blog  http://sarahdessen.com/blog/ .