Permanent Connections — Sue Ellen Bridgers

This powerful novel, named to the Amercian Library Association's Top 100 Countdown -- The Best Books for Young Adults -- is about a teenaged boy who has been moving through high school in New Jersey, trying to mask his unhappiness with a haze of drugs and alcohol. Now, forced to spend a semester helping relatives in rural North Carolina, he feels trapped. Even falling in love doesn't stop him from going on a final, self-destructive spree. But the crisis makes him realize his actions don't exist in a vacuum -- and that permanent connections can offer comfort even to those who feel utterly adrift.