Keep Those Tissues Handy : Tear Jerkers for Teens
compiled 11/02

FICTION

Hanging on to Max by Margaret Bechard
NEW YA F BECH
When his girlfriend decides to give their baby away, seventeen-year-old Sam is determined to keep him and raise him alone.

Zink by Cherie Bennett
YA F BENN
With the help of a trio of zebras from the Serengeti, sixth-grader Becky faces her battle with leukemia, her family's fears for her, her competition with a hypocritical classmate, and the possibility that she might die.

Among the Hidden by Margaret Haddix
YA SF HADD
In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong.

A Time for Dancing by Davida Hurwin
YA F HURW
Seventeen-year-old best friends Samantha and Juliana tell their stories in alternating chapters after Juliana is diagnosed with cancer.

Secret Sacrament by Sherryl Jordan
YA SF JORD
A disturbing incident when he is only seven years old foreshadows the role Gabriel will play in the relations between his Navorran people and the Shinali, a role which is solidified when he becomes an Elected One and trains to be a Healer.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
YA F KEYE
Mentally retarded Charlie Gordon participates in an experiment which turns him into a genius but only temporarily.

Stones of Mourning Creek by Diane Les Bequets
YA F LES
In Alabama in the 1960s, fourteen-year-old Francie develops a controversial and dangerous friendship with a colored girl her own age.

The Giver by Lois Lowry
YA SF LOWR
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

Tomorrow, When the War Began
The Dead of Night
The Killing Frost
Darkness, Be My Friend
Burning for Revenge
The Night is for Hunting
The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden
YA F MARS
Ellie and her friends return from a week-long camping trip to find that their country is at war, their parents held captive. What else can they do but become guerrilla soldiers, trying to free the people they love?

Girlhearts by Norma Mazer
YA F MAZE
Thirteen-year-old Sarabeth Silver's life is turned upside-down when her mother dies suddenly, leaving her orphaned, confused, and at the mercy of everyone who seems to know what is best for her.

Petey by Ben Mikaelsen
YA F MIKA
In 1922, Petey, who has cerebral palsy, is misdiagnosed as an idiot and institutionalized; sixty years later, still in the institution, he befriends a boy and shares with him the joy of life.

Aimee by Mary Beth Miller
NEW YA F MILL
It seems that everyone, even her own parents, believes that Zoe helped her best friend, Aimee, commit suicide. Zoe is paralyzed by loneliness, guilt, and anger at everyone's suppression of the truth.

Earthshine by Theresa Nelson
YA F NELS
Slim watches over her father, a disarmingly charismatic man, as his struggle with AIDS reaches its climax.

Dancing on the Edge by Han Nolan
YA F NOLA
A young girl from a dysfunctional family creates for herself an alternative world which nearly results in her death but which ultimately leads her to reality.

Golden Compass
Subtle Knife
Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
YA SF PULL
Lyra and Will find themselves at the center of a battle between the forces of the Authority and those gathered by Lyra's father, Lord Asriel.

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
YA F RAWL
A young boy living in the Ozarks achieves his heart's desire when he becomes the owner of two redbone hounds and teaches them to be champion hunters.

Tru Confessions by Janet Tashjian
YA F TASH
Computer-literate, twelve-year-old Tru keeps an electronic diary where she documents her desire to cure her handicapped twin brother and her plan to create a television show.

The Land by Mildred Taylor
YA F TAYL
After the Civil War, Paul, the son of a white father and a black mother, finds himself caught between the two worlds of colored folks and white folks as he pursues his dream of owning land of his own.

NONFICTION

In the Company of Men by Nancy Mace
YA 355.0071 MA
In 1996, The Citadel, a male-only military college, decided to allow women to enter. Nancy Mace, the daughter of the most decorated living graduate of the The Citadel, knew that The Citadel was the place for her. This was definitely a tear-jerker for me, but not for the usual reasons. Nancy Mace is a hero, and her inspiring story brought tears to my eyes.

Dan Eldon : the Art of Life by Jennifer New
070.49 NE
Dan Eldon was raised in Kenya, Africa. He was a free spirit, immensely talented and somewhat unfocused— until he got a job as a photographer in Somalia, documenting the famine. His photos were published worldwide, and his fame was growing when he was killed, at age 22. A powerful biography of a life fully lived, yet cut too short.

Pedro and Me by Judd Winick
YA 362.1969 WI
Pedro set out to educate people about AIDS after discovering he was HIV positive at age 17. Picked to be on Mtv’s The Real World, he became close friends with many of the cast members, especially cartoonist Judd Winick. His death after the end of the RW season inspired Winick to write his sad, but inspiring, story.