Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor.

Fiction for the 5th and 6th grade girls about real-life situations. This story is developed in an understated style of writing. Mommers ( main character Addie's mother) is not an outright abusive mother. She is a neglectful mother, spending her time watching TV and staying out all night, preparing a huge pot of soup and then forgetting to buy any groceries. Mommers has recently gotten divorced from Dwight who has custody of their two daughters (the Littles). Addie has to stay with Mommers because she is not Dwight's daughter. Dwight comes to visit and bring the girls to see their mother and to see Addie. Her grandfather also tries to help Addie but she hides the truth. Addie tries to live as though her mother is doing what she is supposed to do. Unfortunately, this has happened before and there are flashes of those past times in the story. Eventually Addie's trailer home catches fire and Mommers isn't there.
A very well-written story that does not play on your sympathies but stands on its own stalwart legs, just like Addie, trying to make a way for herself.

Secrets, Lies and My Sister Kate

This wonderful novel by Belinda Hollyer takes the reader on an adventure with two sisters, Mini and Kate. Mini and Kate are sisters and best friends. They have no secrets - or so Mini thought. Mini discovers a family secret that is not only explosive, but threatens the core of her relationship with her sister. Even worse is that Kate knew, but didn't tell Mini. When Kate disappears without a trace, Mini stops at nothing to find her. Kate always knew how to make things better, but now that she is gone, what will Mini do? Mini can't get answers from her parents and with Kate gone, she is forced to rely on her own instincts. If she finds her, will her family ever be whole again or will they be forever broken. This is a great coming of age novel. Recommended for grades 7-12.

Black Box by Julie Schumacher

“I understood unhappiness when it came attached to something…But Dora’s unhappiness—or whatever it was—seemed to exist independently on its own. I pictured stunted, faceless creatures manufacturing it in a cave somewhere, like a toxic gas.” (Black box, p.59) Elena’s big sister Dora is depressed. As her condition worsens, Dora eventually attempts suicide and ends up being hospitalized. As the “steady Eddie” of the family, Elena shoulders the burden of helping her sister and trying to support her very distracted parents as well. While her parents have had the wisdom to set Elena up with a therapist, she receives immediate help from a neighbor boy, Jimmy, whom she knows only slightly. Elena slowly builds her trust of the therapist, but comes to rely more and more on her friendship with Jimmy as the family situation and Dora’s condition spiral out of her control. Schumacher has captured the jerky, quirky writing style of many young adolescents in her moving account of a teenager’s descent into mental illness and its toll on her family. Chapters are rarely longer than three or four pages, but have a strong, forward narrative line that makes Black box not only emotionally affecting, but also compelling. Grades 7-12.