Five must-read teen angst novels
It's the worst time of your life.
No one understands you, everything's changing and you wish that everyone would just go away and leave you alone.
Welcome to the world of being a teenager.
Hopefully by the time we've reached university we've grown out of the sulky silences and the explosive arguments.
We can look back fondly on those books which helped us to realise that we are not alone.
1. Voices by Sue Mayfield
This novel cleverly incorporates another of Shakespeare's teenage heroines, The Tempest's Miranda, with a modern day storyline about the plight of Isabel Bright.
Whilst on holiday in Scotland Isabel's sister throws a message in a bottle into the ocean begging for any decent guys to contact her little sister who has recently been scorned by her ex and school hunk, Jamie.
Voices follows Isabel as she discovers a new friend in Duncan from the cut-off Isle of Rimsay in the Hebrides and performs opposite her on-again, off-again boyfriend in The Tempest all surmounting in a tumultuous ending.
This is a great book for any girl who has lost her faith in the male species and wants to regain it.
2. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
Boy Meets Boy is a forerunner in gay teenage fiction.
Set in America it follows the trials and tribulations of a group of friends, and new boy, Noah.
It not only appeals to LGBT teenagers, but to anyone who has loved, lost and loved again.
Paul, the protagonist and narrator has the same fears as anyone with a crush:
"Now I fear he's humouring me. There's nothing cool about being a sophomore. Even a new kid would know that."
Read Boy Meets Boy for an insight into teenage life in the U.S.
It does give a rose-tinted gloss over the acceptance of sexuality.
However it is sensitively and humorously written and it makes for an enjoyable read for teenagers and adults anywhere. 12»
