Dear Cassie by Lisa Burstein
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Dear Cassie is one of those books that just squeezes at your heart. Makes you wish parents would be parents. Cassie has gotten herself into a little bit of trouble which lands her at Turning Pines camp which is for teens that are in trouble. (Her parents needed a camp, called pull her head out and parent up) Cassie is a lost soul in a lot of ways just looking for someone to love her and want her. She is close with her brother but he has his own life too. Her dad is off at war and her mother is drunk on the couch not coping with him being away. I liked how the author didn't sugarcoat Cassie she is a little more than just rough around the edges, and boy does she have a mouth on her. She is not all bad by any means she just has these tall thick walls up, and you can see why. A friend that lies and gets her in this mess to begin with and parents that aren't there for her, and a guy who is a total jerk. Aaron the jerk guy plays on her being naive and wanting for love and attention and well catastrophic events will fallow and leave her more broken than she already was.
While at Turning Pines, Cassie starts to understand herself a little and tries to put her past in perspective and move forward. It is a slow and painful process. She meets Ben there and he too has a dark edge to him that she wants to stay away from, but seems drawn to. He is very patient and understanding, and over the coarse of their stay Cassie finally opens up to him, and through this begins the healing process. Their's is a light romance, with a lot of heart.
This is not a light fluffy read. It is about a girl who is trying to figure out who she is and what she wants out of life.

mature teens
clean read , heavy issues, lots language