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Most realistic (ie, not fantasy) YA novels with single-word titles are awesomely depressing. Moreover, they are frequently about hot-button social issues and are not uncommonly in verse.
Sold, by Patricia McCormick. Child prostitution is bad. In verse.
Cut, by Patricia McCormick. Self-mutilation is a serious issue.
Skinny, by Ibi Kaslik. Anorexia is sad.
Massive, by Julia Bell. Anorexia is still sad.
Smack, by Melvin Burgess. Heroin is bad.
Willow, by Julia Hoban. If you kill your entire family in a car crash, you will need lots of therapy.
Shooter, by Walter Dean Myers. Don't shoot up the school.
After, by Amy Efaw. Don't throw your baby in a Dumpster.
Exposed, by Susan Vaught. The internet is evil.
Trigger, by Susan Vaught. Suicide sucks.
Glimpse, by Carol Lynch Williams. Child prostitution is especially bad when your own mother pimps you out.
Crank, by Ellen Hopkins. Crystal meth is bad. In verse.
Glass, by Ellen Hopkins. Crystal meth is still bad. In verse.
Burned, by Ellen Hopkins. Mormons are sexist. In verse.
Identical, by Ellen Hopkins. Incest is wrong and creepy, especially if it involves a father and only one of his identical twin daughters. In verse.
Impulse, by Ellen Hopkins. Suicide, attempted murder, bipolar disorder, abortion, cutting, child abuse, drug addiction, an affair with your high school teacher, and prostitution are all bad, but not bad enough to provide fodder for a single book on each. In verse.
Only counter-example I can think of offhand: Prom, by Laurie Halse Anderson, about the prom.
Sold, by Patricia McCormick. Child prostitution is bad. In verse.
Cut, by Patricia McCormick. Self-mutilation is a serious issue.
Skinny, by Ibi Kaslik. Anorexia is sad.
Massive, by Julia Bell. Anorexia is still sad.
Smack, by Melvin Burgess. Heroin is bad.
Willow, by Julia Hoban. If you kill your entire family in a car crash, you will need lots of therapy.
Shooter, by Walter Dean Myers. Don't shoot up the school.
After, by Amy Efaw. Don't throw your baby in a Dumpster.
Exposed, by Susan Vaught. The internet is evil.
Trigger, by Susan Vaught. Suicide sucks.
Glimpse, by Carol Lynch Williams. Child prostitution is especially bad when your own mother pimps you out.
Crank, by Ellen Hopkins. Crystal meth is bad. In verse.
Glass, by Ellen Hopkins. Crystal meth is still bad. In verse.
Burned, by Ellen Hopkins. Mormons are sexist. In verse.
Identical, by Ellen Hopkins. Incest is wrong and creepy, especially if it involves a father and only one of his identical twin daughters. In verse.
Impulse, by Ellen Hopkins. Suicide, attempted murder, bipolar disorder, abortion, cutting, child abuse, drug addiction, an affair with your high school teacher, and prostitution are all bad, but not bad enough to provide fodder for a single book on each. In verse.
Only counter-example I can think of offhand: Prom, by Laurie Halse Anderson, about the prom.
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(I was Linda.)
Altho I still think the book is not Awesomely Depressing because we are distanced from Linda and never really identify with her, even when Jill gets teased by the same way - the message I got was Jill's aggressive and crafty approach was The Right Way to Deal with Teasing,* which makes it more a Problem Book for me (i.e. in those novels the Problems are Slobbed), which is reinforced by the book being in first person. If it'd been in 3P I think Linda might have gotten a bit more sympathy, but as it was written she's more like Teri in Catalyst, an object lesson for the Real Heroine to learn from.
(Catalyst! I bet that qualifies as Awesomely Depressing. Early parental death AND incest are both bad.)
*Which also fit in with the advice I got for being severely teased all through middle school: Don't just stand there and take it! Don't cry! Stand up to them! It's your fault! &c &c.
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There's an interesting similarity to how society treats sexual violence against women for me - 'if you weren't vulnerable they wouldn't pick you,' 'if you knew how to act they would go after someone else,' 'if you stood up to them it would stop,' &c &c. The responsibility is on the person being abused, not the abusers being held responsible for their behaviour. (US elementary school children I knew were like freakin' inmates in Oz with their violent hatred for 'snitches.')
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//face in hands
(Yeah, it always boggled me that a kid who can't stop OTHER KIDS BEING CRUEL TO HER is somehow defective in Real Kid-ness. That was certainly the message I got.)
'Cue years of therapy!'
Man, it's too bad we can't retroactively sue them, like in Vonnegut.
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In my experience, there is only one thing which actually stops bullying, and that's a strictly enforced school anti-bullying policy. Individual efforts by bullied kids are completely useless.
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BINGO
RIGHT
'In my experience, there is only one thing which actually stops bullying, and that's a strictly enforced school anti-bullying policy'
Wow, are there actual schools that have those now? Granted I grew up in the permissive seventies, but the idea seemed to be 'let the little darlings work it out amongst themselves, they have to get ready for the big bad cruel world anyway' and some of the reports I've seen in papers since seem to indicate that parents flip out when their kids are disciplined for bullying. But maybe that's media bias.
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