No empire-line dresses, no three-headed aliens, no smug vampires, no goblins, and no talking rabbits. Real characters making tough decisions about life right now.
	The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie (2008)
	Go ask Alice by Anonymous (1971)
	Junk by Melvin Burgess (1996)
	Lion by Saroo Brierley (2013)
	The chocolate war by Robert Cormier (1974)
	Moonrise by Sarah Crossan (2017)
	The happiest refugee by Anh Do (2010)
	Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (2010)
	The fault in our stars by John Green (2012)
	Deadly, unna? by Phillip Gwynne (1998) First book in the Deadly, unna? series
	The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon (2003)
	Butter by Erin Lange (2012)
	One of us is lying by Karen M. McManus (2017) First book in the Bayview High series
	Monster by Walter Dean Myers (1999)
	A monster calls by Patrick Ness (2011)
	A child called It by Dave Pelzer (1995) First book in the A child called It series
	Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (2012)
	Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (2012)
	The catcher in the rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)
	Simon vs the homo sapiens agenda by Becky Albertalli (2015) First book in the Simon series
	Thirteen reasons why by Jay Asher (2007)
	The perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999)
	Winter town by Stephen Emond (2011)
	Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates (2002)
	Lottery by Patricia Wood (2007)