Since a major function of adolescent literature is to provide reality checks for the reader's self-image, YA novels about teens who struggle through mental illnesses can be useful if they present an accurate picture of deviant behavior.

Recently there have been a number of books in which young adults who are overwhelmed by their problems commit suicide, starve themselves, or just plain act weird. Most of the authors of these books seem to have made at least some responsible efforts to research the symptoms and prognosis of the unhealthy behavior they are depicting.

This reviewer, however, has been intrigued (and a bit disturbed) to notice a difference between the plot structure of the books with a female protagonist and those with a male as the main character. The boys carry through with their willful self-destruction in a determined even heroic way, leaving their girlfriends to agonize over their...