Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott.

This is one of the most gripping and brutal novels for teens I have ever read.  It is the story of Alice, who was abducted as a 10-year-old by Ray, who has sexually and emotionally abused her for five years.  Alice knows that if she tries to escape, her entire family will be killed.  Now Ray has started starving her to try to maintain her childlike body, not allowing her to get over 100 pounds.  His violence is also increasing as are his death threats.  Alice has long wanted to die, but death eludes her time and again though she wishes for it often.  Ray now wants a new little girl to join them, so Alice is allowed to head to a park and start scouting for what she can only hope will be her replacement.

This is a book that makes you want to scream.  It’s depictions of the horrors of Alice’s life are so plainly laid out, unflinchingly documented, and horribly vivid.  Scott’s writing can be poetic at times, underlining the brutality and desperation of the book.  Her pacing is perfection, leaving readers gasping for air as the oppressive nature of the story becomes too much.  This is a book that you will set down, only to return to immediately.  It is a book that will linger in your mind, enter your dreams, and change the way you see.  It is a book that is brutal truth that we often turn away from.  It is suffocating, dreadful, horrific and supremely, magically human all at the same time.

Heart-wrenching in its honesty, this book will appeal to many teens.  Hand it to the fans of A Child Called It.  Appropriate for ages 16-18.