IMPORTANT YA BOOKS FEATURING CHARACTERS DEALING WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE
With COVID, existing problems with alcohol and prescription drug abuse have only multiplied. Yet despite the tragic toll of the opioid crisis on young people, few YA novels exist that actually feature characters dealing with substance abuse and recovery.
Why?
Reading books about heroine and pain pill abuse can help save lives by illuminating what the symptoms and behaviors of narcotics abuse looks like. Through the dramatic power of story, someone may recognize that something is wrong in their own life or in the lives of one of their friends or loved ones.
Reading stories through the character’s viewpoint may also grant an additional level of compassion for someone wrestling with addiction. In the best scenario, holding up a fictional mirror leads someone to seek help.
Reading these stories gives important insight into understanding how addiction can take hold of friends, siblings, children, or other loved ones and forever change life for everyone. We need these stories.
Here are 4 important YA books featuring characters dealing with substance abuse that are worth reading.
1. Swallow the Rainbow
“Listen,” I say. “Do you hear?”
“The wind?”
“The trees are applauding.”
”No doubt these are THE BEST LINES I’VE EVER READ.” - Amazon Reviewer
The worst part about the tornado isn’t the car on Savannah Young’s roof. It’s not her missing mom or her missing cat. It’s not the news that the power might not be restored for ten days or the fact that she’s stranded with the neighbors.
She’s out of pain pills. And she doesn’t have any way to reach Toby to get more.
And when withdrawal sets in, she’s going to get very, very sick.
As residents in Savannah’s subdivision come together in the aftermath of this historic severe weather event, Savannah wrestles with her opioid addiction, her grief for surviving the car crash that killed her brother, and her guilt for being The One Who Survived—twice.
Falling in love with the boy next door has never happened under quite such stormy conditions.
"With accessible prose and authentic voice, Khristina Chess weaves together twin catastrophes with empathy and realism." —Kim Cross, author of What Stands in a Storm
2. Heroine
“When I wake up, all my friends are dead. I don’t know when they stopped breathing, or how long I slept while they dropped off one by one.” – Mindy McGinnis
Those are the opening words of Heroine, the compelling novel about the slow slide of Mickey from Catalan from her position as a star student athlete to heroin addict. It begins with a terrible car accident and pain. Determine to make it back on the field, she uses the prescription painkillers to accelerate her recovery.
But then she’s out of pills and needs more.
What’s so compelling about Heroine is Mickey’s slow slide into addiction and her denial about her situation. She justifies every step of the way. The means justifies the ends, every time.
I did not watch my friends die.
I did not leave their bodies cooling in a basement.
I am not an addict.
3. The First True Thing
“People sometimes go with their instincts. They have sympathy. They care about people. I think Martin learned something when he messed up. Like now he really knows he wants to be here. Like he actually knows why he’s here and what this Group is really for.” - Claire Needell
The First True Thing is both a mystery and a book about a teen working through the hard parts of recovery.
The mystery is that Marcelle’s friend Hannah is missing, and Marcelle was the last person to hear from her. What happened? What should she do? And if she tells the truth, the whole truth, what does that mean for her friends?
Working through this dilemma is part of her recovery because lying, hiding, hanging out with people who aren't good for her are all behaviors associated with her drinking.
Books about people in recovery can be hard to read. Addiction makes people choose the wrong thing, and Marcelle does that before she chooses the right thing. Therapy and group can seem dull or even frustrating. However, the ending of her story was satisfying to me because she grew and made the positive steps she needed to make. I felt she was on a good track by the end.
4. Opioid, Indiana
After reading Heroin by Mindy McGinnis, I wanted to find more YA novels about drug use, but this book isn't about that. Despite the title, this book really isn't about drug use at all.
Seventeen-year-old Riggle is living with his uncle and uncle's girlfriend in Indiana because both of his parents are dead. Riggle is definitely dealing with lingering grief and trauma resulting from the ways each of his parents died, and now his uncle--his only remaining relative--is also missing.
Riggle has a great voice and viewpoint. His story is short and tragic, but it ended leaving me with the feeling that something was missing. I wish the book had a different title, or I'd come to it with different expectations.
In addition to these recommendations, you can also find YA Drug & Substance Abuse Novels on Goodreads, but those lists are broad and do not necessarily focus only on viewpoint characters wrestling with addiction.
Do you have any good suggestions to add to my list? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter @KhristinaChess.
Why?
Reading books about heroine and pain pill abuse can help save lives by illuminating what the symptoms and behaviors of narcotics abuse looks like. Through the dramatic power of story, someone may recognize that something is wrong in their own life or in the lives of one of their friends or loved ones.
Reading stories through the character’s viewpoint may also grant an additional level of compassion for someone wrestling with addiction. In the best scenario, holding up a fictional mirror leads someone to seek help.
Reading these stories gives important insight into understanding how addiction can take hold of friends, siblings, children, or other loved ones and forever change life for everyone. We need these stories.
Here are 4 important YA books featuring characters dealing with substance abuse that are worth reading.
1. Swallow the Rainbow
“Listen,” I say. “Do you hear?”
“The wind?”
“The trees are applauding.”
”No doubt these are THE BEST LINES I’VE EVER READ.” - Amazon Reviewer
The worst part about the tornado isn’t the car on Savannah Young’s roof. It’s not her missing mom or her missing cat. It’s not the news that the power might not be restored for ten days or the fact that she’s stranded with the neighbors.
She’s out of pain pills. And she doesn’t have any way to reach Toby to get more.
And when withdrawal sets in, she’s going to get very, very sick.
As residents in Savannah’s subdivision come together in the aftermath of this historic severe weather event, Savannah wrestles with her opioid addiction, her grief for surviving the car crash that killed her brother, and her guilt for being The One Who Survived—twice.
Falling in love with the boy next door has never happened under quite such stormy conditions.
"With accessible prose and authentic voice, Khristina Chess weaves together twin catastrophes with empathy and realism." —Kim Cross, author of What Stands in a Storm
2. Heroine
“When I wake up, all my friends are dead. I don’t know when they stopped breathing, or how long I slept while they dropped off one by one.” – Mindy McGinnis
Those are the opening words of Heroine, the compelling novel about the slow slide of Mickey from Catalan from her position as a star student athlete to heroin addict. It begins with a terrible car accident and pain. Determine to make it back on the field, she uses the prescription painkillers to accelerate her recovery.
But then she’s out of pills and needs more.
What’s so compelling about Heroine is Mickey’s slow slide into addiction and her denial about her situation. She justifies every step of the way. The means justifies the ends, every time.
I did not watch my friends die.
I did not leave their bodies cooling in a basement.
I am not an addict.
3. The First True Thing
“People sometimes go with their instincts. They have sympathy. They care about people. I think Martin learned something when he messed up. Like now he really knows he wants to be here. Like he actually knows why he’s here and what this Group is really for.” - Claire Needell
The First True Thing is both a mystery and a book about a teen working through the hard parts of recovery.
The mystery is that Marcelle’s friend Hannah is missing, and Marcelle was the last person to hear from her. What happened? What should she do? And if she tells the truth, the whole truth, what does that mean for her friends?
Working through this dilemma is part of her recovery because lying, hiding, hanging out with people who aren't good for her are all behaviors associated with her drinking.
Books about people in recovery can be hard to read. Addiction makes people choose the wrong thing, and Marcelle does that before she chooses the right thing. Therapy and group can seem dull or even frustrating. However, the ending of her story was satisfying to me because she grew and made the positive steps she needed to make. I felt she was on a good track by the end.
4. Opioid, Indiana
After reading Heroin by Mindy McGinnis, I wanted to find more YA novels about drug use, but this book isn't about that. Despite the title, this book really isn't about drug use at all.
Seventeen-year-old Riggle is living with his uncle and uncle's girlfriend in Indiana because both of his parents are dead. Riggle is definitely dealing with lingering grief and trauma resulting from the ways each of his parents died, and now his uncle--his only remaining relative--is also missing.
Riggle has a great voice and viewpoint. His story is short and tragic, but it ended leaving me with the feeling that something was missing. I wish the book had a different title, or I'd come to it with different expectations.
In addition to these recommendations, you can also find YA Drug & Substance Abuse Novels on Goodreads, but those lists are broad and do not necessarily focus only on viewpoint characters wrestling with addiction.
Do you have any good suggestions to add to my list? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter @KhristinaChess.
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