So many great 2011 titles have been coming my way. Here are two that deal with tough issues, but hold out the possibility of hope.  In the interest of full disclosure, I must mention that I know both authors personally.  However, I like to think that my opinion is unbiased and that both books are well-worth checking out.

Jesse Karp's debut YA novel is the futuristic thriller Those That Wake.  Mal, a young man currently living in foster care, searches for his missing brother Tommy. Laura, a high school student from Stony Brook, is puzzled when her parents no longer recognize her. Set in a  Manhattan of the future, the city seems to have changed to a cold unfeeling place, where people disappear and no one cares.  These two teens begin a quest to uncover the truth. The action scenes are among the most powerful and graphic ones that I have encountered.  Fight sequences had me literally gripping the book cover. It's that intense.

As she did with Freeze Frame, Heidi Ayarbe has an incredible way of getting inside a young teen's head. Compulsion introduces readers to Jacob Martin, the star of the high school soccer team, the player  that will bring Carson City High School the winning championship, and the athlete who will impress college recruiters. He has the magic. He also suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Prime numbers and clocks are his coping mechanisms, helping him to remain sane in a world that he can't control. The tightly constructed chapters reveal Martin's inner dialog as he talks himself through the pain of high school life for a teen with OCD. Jake's struggle continues to haunt me.