Bang by Barry Lyga
Everything I knew I wanted to read on the TAYSHAS list is currently checked out on Overdrive, so I had to look a little farther than I was prepared for at this point. No worries though. I have read this author before, and knew it would likely be a good read. I wasn't wrong.
Sebastian is fourteen years old. It's June and near the end of his freshman year of high school. It also happens to be the tenth anniversary of the day he accidentally shot his four-month-old sister. Sebastian has let this one act when he was a toddler define his life. He has few friends, lives with his mother (who has removed all evidence of his baby sister from the house), and sees his father only twice a year. Before the end of summer vacation, he plans to kill himself. Needless to say, Sebastian is not in a good place. It doesn't help that everyone in his town knows what he did, and that always colors their feelings for him.
So when he meets Aneesa when he is out riding his bike one day after school, it changes things, at least for a little while. She is new to the area and doesn't know what he did. Sebastian and Aneesa start spending a great deal of time together, and Sebastian clearly has feelings beyond mere friendship for her. He even shares his secret about his sister, and it doesn't scare Aneesa off. Even better, the "voice" that tells Sebastian he should kill himself has been all but silenced during this time.
Unfortunately, when school starts back, things change, and not for the better. All those old feelings start to come back, and what really sends Sebastian over the edge is a semester-long assignment for his English class. He doesn't react well.
I won't spoil the end because, as you know, that's not how I roll. This was definitely worth the read.
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