Top Ten Tuesday {11}

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over at The Broke and the Bookish. They'd love to share their lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week they will post a new top ten list that one of our bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Top Ten Books Tackling "Tough" Issues (social, cultural, etc.):

1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - This book will always, always be on my list. Censorship is at the core of the story, but it's about someone who is willing to dare to think for himself and step outside the invisible box of censorship.

2. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson - As some of you know, eating disorders hit close to home for me (very much so). Written in a powerful voice that's all too familiar and real, this book is a true and accurate portrayal of how an ED consumes both the mind and body. (beware - it can be triggering)

3. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - More than anything, this book is about the true nature of family and survival in the midst of a war raging around them in volatile Afghanistan.

4. Amen, Amen, Amen by Abby Sher - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder drives this story as a young girl tries to cope with her grief by praying hour after hour every day. Without the prayers, she's certain her world will fall apart.

5. Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar - Contemporary fiction at it's finest, this is the story of a girl trying to come to terms with an act of violence that's shaped her into a brand new person and somehow trying to come to terms with the past while dealing with the present.

6. Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington - This is the story of three young girls ripped from their homes because of the colour of their skin, forced to become culturally white and taught that their aboriginal heritage was wrong. The girls escape and fight all odds to return to their home.

7. A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer - Beaten, bruised, broken down to the core, this story of a boy degraded by his own mother to the point where he was an "it" rather than her son rocks you to the core. It's a story of survival and courage.

8. Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers - Bullying has never seemed so real, or tangible or destructive as this portrayal of what girls can and might just do to one another if they feel threatened.

9. The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin - This story of abuse and addiction is hard-hitting and powerful, written in letter form from an older brother to a younger sister as he tries to show her how their past shaped their present.

10. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Lee Dugard - If you don't know the story of Jaycee, you've probably been living under a rock. Kidnapped at 11 years old and kept confined for 18 years by a convicted sex offender, she persevered, raised two daughters and lived to make it home to her family once again. Powerful and emotional, it's for sure a tear-jerker, too.