Top Ten Tuesday #9 - Top Ten Books Dealing With Tough Subjects

Tuesday, May 14, 2013


This week's topic is Top Ten Books Dealing With Tough Subjects. There are many, many good Issue books, but these are the ones that really got to the heart of me.

#1. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson



I read this book years ago, and it still remains a novel that brings to my knees, metaphorically. It's simple, powerful, and so well-written. Anderson can write, and though she has many novels, this will always remain her best.

#2. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein




We are a sensational team.

Oh, Elizabeth Wein, you know how to break a heart. With just a phrase, be it "Kiss me, Hardy" or "fly the plane, Maddie" or even "I have told the truth." you can convey so much. This book, to me, is about true friendship, real love, honor, and sacrifice. It's brutal and beautiful and so hard to read, from the casual mentions of torture, to the lengths these two girls will go to for one another.

#3. Vaclav and Lena by Haley Tanner



I read this book over a year ago, but I think about it weekly, still. It made my heart hurt. This book... wow. For just being 272 pages, this is a lot of book. My heart grew three sizes (Oh, Vaclav) and I was entirely charmed by this story. This was beautiful and the ending was particularly poignant and moving.

#4. Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith

 Things you earnestly believe will happen while your parents are away:

1. You will remember to water the azaleas.
2. You will take detailed, accurate messages.

Things that actually happen:

1. A stranger calls who says he knew your sister.
2. He says he has her stuff.
3. What stuff? Her stuff.
4. You tell him your parents won’t be able to—
5. Sukey died five years ago; can’t he—
6. You pick up a pen.
7. You scribble down the address.
8. You get on your bike and go.


Hilary T. Smith is a force to be reckoned with. This book is made of Tough Subjects - death, murder, grief, family alienation, drugs, mental issues... and for the most part, this is an author that carries them off so humanly.  Wild Awake is a whirlwind of a novel and if I can ever coherently discuss it, the review will come. And it will be glowing.

#5. If I Stay/Where She Went by Gayle Forman




Both If I Stay novels are listed but really, Where She Went was more of a Tough Subject read for me. Adam is wrestling with human issues, whereas Mia's struggles in book one were more.. supernatural? His sadness, ambivalence and depression are horrifically sad to read about because you know he used to be different than how he is now.

#6. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien



I had to read this book as part of an AP class in high school and it haunts me. The sadness, the boredom, the humanness and the inhumanity of what these men went through... I had to read certain sections for class, but it was my choice to read the entire thing. It's resonated with me ever since.

#7. If I Lie by Corrine Jackson




The military and vets are close to home for me; my brother is a two-time Marine veteran. I loved how much depth and thought went into If I Lie. It made me think, it made me cry, and it brought up certain things that need to focus more on in daily life.

#8. Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz

In the wake of the post-9/11 sniper shootings, fragile love finds a stronghold in this intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer.It's a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives.




Hannah Moskowitza, you are a liferuiner. And I mean that in the best of ways. It is one of the biggest sorrows of my life that I will never be able to write as well as this woman does. The strength of her characters, their struggles and small triumphs... brought me to tears. Not many books have taken on snipers, especially ones that targeted American citizens, but Moskowitz has no fear.

#9. Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares





Growing up doesn't just stop when you hit a certain age. It's a lifelong process, and Brashares takes her adult characters on as many risks and struggles as she did when they were teens. Life is not always perfect or happy, and Sisterhood Everlasting isn't afraid to do what you least expect.

#10. If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch



Neglect and abuse are hard to read about. And Murdoch spares no punches in this look into the difficult lives of Carey and Jenessa. It's an ultimately uplifting novel, but there are darker themes and events that take place.

Honorable mention: Without Tess by Marcella Pixley, The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison, How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr


  1. GREAT list -- so many I want to read -- where to start? (I think Code Name Verity will be first...)

    1. Yes! Read CNV first. It's so good and I would love to hear what you thought. I'm dying for Wein's forthcoming book - it's called Rose Under Fire, about and American airwoman and it takes place in Ravensbrück.

  2. I read The Things They Carried in high school too, and that was one of the few books that has stuck with my after all these years.
    Code Name Verity and If I Stay both did a number on me as well.
    I CAN'T WAIT for Wild Awake. I feel like I've been looking forward to it for forever.

  3. I haven't seen so many of these titles on other lists when they SHOULD be. Gone, Gone, Gone is a masterpiece, I loved Wild Awake, and CNV is totally a tough book to get through. Great list, Jessie!(:

  4. Great picks! If I Lie is on mine also(:


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