Staff Pick Angst

In honor of this month's "teen angst" display in the chapter book room, here are some of our favorite angsty choices, beyond, of course, such classics as The Catcher In the Rye, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Go Ask Alice.

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
Bookseller: Rachel
Genre: coming-of-age, high school
Suggested reading level: ages 13 up

TC is obsessed with the Red Sox and new girl Alé; his brother Augie is crazy about musicals and Andy the football jock. Together, they'll make their freshman year a wild ride of love and rule-bending. Told through journal entries and IMs, this beautiful book will play your heartstrings like a fiddle.

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
Bookseller: Katie
Genre: realistic fiction
Suggested reading level: ages 12 up

This groundbreaking novel is by turns breathtaking -- as Liza and Annie's quirky friendship deepens into first romance -- and heart-wrenching, when the outside world's discovery of their relationship creates terrible consequences for the girls and those they care about.

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
Bookseller: Bindy
Genre: realistic fiction
Suggested reading level: ages 11 up

Bridget Jones-esque diary of Brit teen Georgia Nicholson. Laugh-out-loud funny, Georgia insists on sympathy from her readers as she navigates life with her demonic cat, infantile sister, intolerable parents, and questionable mates and snoggers.

The Kayla Chronicles by Sherri Winston
Bookseller: Michelle
Genre: for fans of Carolyn Mackler, Confessions of Georgia Nicholson books
Suggested reading level: ages 9 up

Aspiring journalist and freshman feminist Kayla is goaded into overcoming her shyness to write an expose of the "girly" bias of a popular dance team, only to make the team and discover there are many kinds of girls, and many ways to be an aware, sassy woman and wear cute shoes.

Paper Towns by John Green
Bookseller: Katie
Genre: realistic contemporary fiction
Suggested reading level: ages 15 up

Q’s been infatuated with Margo, the girl next door, since childhood. When Margo enlists Q’s help on a night of pranks, he doesn’t realize it’s her last night in town. Margo’s disappearance (and his desperate race to find her) prompts Q to wonder whether we can ever truly know one another.