Heartbreaking Reads That Are Also Beautiful and Soul-Sustaining by Lee Littlewood on Creators.com

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Heartbreaking Reads That Are Also Beautiful and Soul-Sustaining

These novels for teens depict all sorts of family tragedy but are also hopeful with equal amounts of strength, resilience and even humor.

"The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green; Dutton/Penguin; 318 pages; $17.99.

This New York Times bestseller, which was highly anticipated on Twitter and online, lives up to all the mass hype. It's the raw, irreverent tale of a teen girl with cancer who's bought time with a tumor-shrinking medical miracle. Green's novel is brilliant. Heroine Hazel is sarcastic with a witty self-deprecating humor that helps her get through meetings at the Cancer Kid Support Group. Things look up when a gorgeous new patient, Augustus Waters, joins the group.

"The Fault in Our Stars" is a love story, too, about two teens helping each other through the most personal and humiliating experiences as cancer patients. It goes even deeper than that, with universal themes about leaving a mark on the world and of living life to the fullest. With an unexpected twist ending that's heartbreaking but also triumphant, Green's funny, poignant novel hits the way teens think squarely on the head.

"See You at Harry's" by Jo Knowles; Candlewick Press; 310 pages; $16.99.

Aimed at a slightly younger audience, this absorbing novel tells the story of 12-year-old Fern. She feels somewhat invisible in a busy family with an older sister and brother and three-year-old "surprise" brother, Charlie. Her mom and dad are busy. Mom meditates and concocts vegetarian meals, and Dad is in charge of the family restaurant, Harry's.

All is well with the rumblings of sibling teasing and the hubbub of big-family craziness, until tragedy strikes and young Charlie dies after hitting his head on the pavement while in Fern's care. Penned beautifully with heartbreaking reactions and text that hurts, Knowles' sensitive tale eventually shows signs that life must go on as the family slowly heals and school dances and hugs from Mom happen again.

Kids who've gone through hard times will take away hope and light from "See You at Harry's."

"Unraveling" by Elizabeth Norris; Balzer and Bray/HarperCollins; 464 pages; $17.99.

My 17-year-old's favorite read of the year, "Unraveling," is an absorbing novel she and her friends could not put down.

Written amazingly from a teen perspective, the gripping story tells of Janelle Tenner, hit by a pickup truck and killed two days before her junior year. Except that she's still alive, with a loner from high school by her side.

Janelle then must solve big puzzles as she unravels clues from her FBI agent father's files. Why there is a clock counting down to something? And why is Ben suddenly in her life? Janelle eventually realizes that the pair is in a parallel universe, and that she needs to find an answer to Ben's secrets in order to save the world.

Teen love, intense drama, exciting mystery and a lovely San Diego backdrop make "Unraveling" a must-read for teens this summer.

"The Probability of Miracles" by Wendy Wunder; RazorBill/Penguin; 360 pages; $17.99.

Another tale of a 17-year-old cancer patient, this one named Campbell Cooper, Wunder's "wonder" gracefully balances humor and bittersweet drama, with plenty of laughter and crying thrown in. In "The Probability of Miracles," Cam and her younger sister accompany their Disney hula dancer mother on a road trip to Maine where it's rumored that miracles happen. But when a mysterious envelope arrives in the mail, Cam realizes she's got to chase life while she can.

With romance, plenty of dream-chasing adventure and life wonderment thrown in, Wunder reminds readers that there are miracles in everyday life, but only if you look for them.

"If Only" by Carole Geithner; Scholastic Press; 328 pages; $16.99.

"If Only" is the realistic, heart-wrenching, yet hopeful, tale of a 13-year-old girl trying to deal with the death of her beloved mother from cancer. Her dad is stricken with his own grief, and people at school just don't know the right thing to say. Eventually, Corinna finds support, has a crush on a boy in the school band, and even finds her mother's diary that reveals secrets to help her heal.

A godsend of a read for other middle schoolers dealing with trauma, "If Only" is a wonderful book — sensitive and thoughtful but most of all, hopeful.

To find out more about Lee Littlewood and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.