Smashed by Lisa Luedeke
Katie is about to enter her senior year in high school and life is looking pretty good. She already has a full scholarship to college but she also has a dark secret. If she tells anyone it will turn her life and plans upside down, that is, if it doesn't destroy her first.
Smashed is a cautionary tale about teenage drinking and the consequences. It reminded me of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Told by Katie you feel her pain and just want to give her a hug and let her know she is not alone.
Cracked by K.M. Walton
Victor is tormented and bullied by Bull and the only way out, or at least as far as Victor is concerned, is to take a bottle of sleeping pills. This lands him in a psychiatric hospital. But Bull has his own problems; he lives with an alcoholic mother and a grandfather who uses him as his own personal punching bag. Bull has had enough of his grandfather's abuse and decides to put an end to it and his grandfather. Both Bull and Victor end up at the same hospital where they are forced to work through their issues.
I really liked this book. You feel for both characters. Victor you feel for from the start and you begin to realize Bull is a true victim of his surroundings. There is no happy ending but there is hope and that is why I liked this book.
Smashed by Lisa Luedeke
