Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

How I Found:  Should I admit that  I have never read any of his other books?  Not having done so, I decided to give it a whirl.  I liked his style from the beginning, but it took me a few chapters to really get into it. Then, I read the rest of the book in 3 hours.  Woah.  I don't remember the last time I did that; I honestly just could not put it down.  Once the teens started discussing art and Davis started using quotes to frame his blog, I was hooked.  Ava's struggles with anxiety were so real, it made it impossible not to empathize, and if for no other reason, I hope this is another teen sensation because of that.  In one of her most lucid moments she thinks, "You're both the fire and the water that extinguishes it. You're the narrator, the protagonist, and the sidekick. You're the storyteller and the story told. You are somebody's something, but you are also your you." This is something everyone, child, teen, or adult, needs to come to terms with, anxiety-ridden, or not.
Why You Might Read:  It's a quick one, once you get going, but it is also beautifully expressed and relatable even if you are far beyond the age-range of the characters.  By the end, you'll feel compassion, sympathy, and maybe even an understanding about an all-too-common mental issue that many who do not suffer from would prefer to deny.  Plus, with a title like this, you might just want to uncover the mystery therein--it's all about the stories we tell, the ones we choose to believe, and the ones we create of our own lives.