“50 Shades of Grey’s” Anastasia may appear awkward. But Alcott’s gawky YA heroine, and others like her, lent hope to this writer—who grew up amid chaos—that she could face anything.
"Mockingjay," which portrays its heroine as desperately learning to live with her pain, may not be a reader favorite, but it's the book this writer most needed growing up in an abusive home.