When you're looking for something different, why not try browsing the young adult section?

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
I really enjoyed Speak when I first started listening. Anderson really seems to understand life from a teen’s perspective, and many of the character’s observations felt real and plausible. At the same time, a copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid came in for me and I started reading that. It also touches on teen issues, but obviously in a funnier way. There’s this scene that I’m making everyone read where the wimpy kid, Greg, is picking on his little brother Manny, trying to scare him with a piece of string that looks like a spider. Manny accidentally swallows the string and freaks out. He tells on Greg and when his mom asks what the size of the piece of string was, a bean, a pea, a nut, Manny goes to the fridge and pulls out an orange—ha! Again, very realistic and relatable (you never make it easy on your older siblings to harass you, you’ve got to get in some jabs too). It’s fun to take a step back sometimes and recall what it was like to be a teen. And I guess what you realize is that it’s hard. Maybe not as hard as your car breaking down and having to do your own taxes, but hard and stressful in its own right. I thought it was neat that I picked up two books with such similar themes, and it made each one more fun to read. I know that this is probably more of a teen entry, as both books are for the younger crowd, but I wanted to talk about them here because young adult books can be amazing (I guess most of you know that with the success Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight). Most are fun to read at any age, and nostalgia, although sometimes bitter, is a powerful emotion that makes these books unique to read as an adult.

If you want some teen angst, click here.
Looking for something a little less angsty? Click here.