Sarah Skilton is the author of
Bruised, a martial arts drama for young adults; and
High and Dry, a hardboiled teen mystery. At the BN Teen blog
she tagged seven of the best angry YA protagonists, including:
Tessa in Before I Die, by Jenny Downham
“Buttons ping across the room as I slash my coats…I lacerate every pair of trousers. I line my shoes up on the window ledge and cut off their tongues. It’s good. I feel alive.” Feeling alive is important to Tessa, because it’s increasingly rare. She’s been fighting leukemia since she was 12 and now, at 16, the leukemia’s winning. In a fit of rage against the hand she’s been dealt, she rips apart and tosses out the window every item she owns—clothes, books, CDs, a television set—prompting her heartbroken dad to ask, “What happens if anger takes you over, Tessa? Who will you be then? What will be left of you?” An achingly realistic, beautiful book, whose heavy subject matter manages to provide love and even laughter in equal measure.
Read about
another entry on the list.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
