Crank

I wasn't sure what to expect with this -- I simply picked it up because it was on a list of commonly banned books. Don't let the page count scare you off -- the book is a collection of poems, and so it moves quickly. The poems are all connected, intended to be read in order, and essentially form a monologue as the narrator struggles with drug addiction and myriad other challenges (no spoilers here, but it's a lot for any sixteen-year-old to handle). The ending leaves the reader uncertain, but there's no doubt that the narrator has gone on a critical journey for herself, and each poem left me wanting to know the next step in the story.