Dark Angels and Diamonds in the Rough: Real Required Reading
Explore our curated reading list, 'Dark Angels and Diamonds in the Rough: Real Required Reading.' Featuring compelling real-life stories and fiction, including Katie.com by Katherine Tarbox, Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, these books reveal the grit, resilience, and hidden depths of young people facing tough realities.
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The Outsiders
by S. E. Hinton
Over 50 years of an iconic classic! This international bestseller and inspiration for a beloved movie is a heroic story of friendship and belonging. No one ever said life was easy. But Ponyboy is pretty sure that he's got things figured out. He knows that he can count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. And he knows that he can count on his friends—true friends who would do anything for him, like Johnny and Two-Bit. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up on “greasers” like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect—until the night someone takes things too far. The Outsiders is a dramatic and enduring work of fiction that laid the groundwork for the YA genre. S. E. Hinton's classic story of a boy who finds himself on the outskirts of regular society remains as powerful today as it was the day it was first published. "The Outsiders transformed young-adult fiction from a genre mostly about prom queens, football players and high school crushes to one that portrayed a darker, truer world." —The New York Times "Taut with tension, filled with drama." —The Chicago Tribune "[A] classic coming-of-age book." —Philadelphia Daily News A New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Book A Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book An ALA Best Book for Young Adults Winner of the Massachusetts Children's Book Award
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Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Tish's journal is private and personal--and you won't be able to put it down. Tish writes candidly, and privately, about taking care of her brother, living on-and-off with her violent father, and coping with her irresponsible mother--until finally, she realizes that Mrs. Dunphrey, her new English teacher, might just be her only hope. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults.
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Katie.com
by Katherine Tarbox
The true story of one teenager's experiences in the world of the Internet and the consequences that result from those experiences.
