Books for a teen having a difficult time?

[AwkwardAsAllGetout]

Dd is 15 and having a difficult time atm, with friendship issues and general low mood. She’s asked me if I can buy her some books, something she hasn’t asked for a long long time so I’m happy to oblige. I know when I was that age I was reading Girl, interrupted, the bell jar, catcher in the rye, Prozac nation, that kind of thing and wallowing in my perceived misery. But I think I want something a bit more hopeful? She’s read lots of John Green which she seems to like, and Wonder is a favourite.

Random suggestions here-

David Nicholls? His latest one Sweet Sorrow is really good, and of course there's One Day.

Chimamanda Ngoze Adichie might fit the bill. Excellently written and thought provoking, feminist and quite empowering endings on the whole. Americana is a good one to start with perhaps.

Has she read the Austens? Not sure if that's her cup of tea but they are engaging and generally uplifting endings.

Dawn o'Porter: Paper Aerplanes
Sophie McKenzie: all my secrets
Paullina Simons: the Bronze Horseman

My DD's faves at 15/16

I Capture the Castle? Or maybe some Nancy Mitford. Some acerbic wit always goes down well with me when I feel fed up and stops me wallowing like “rage against the world” stuff might.

Little Women if not just seen the film
Joy Luck Club - daughters and mothers adjusting to America
Bad Monkey - Carl Hiaasen light fun but always with an ecological conscience
Brideshead Revisited

I enjoyed 'Things a Bright Girl Can Do' by Sally Nicholls. It was in the Teen section of the library. It's about young women and the suffragette movement.

Born Confused, Tanuja Desai Hidier about a teen growing up in the US and dealing with all the things you describe in your OP. It's brilliantly funny and a zippy easy read.

Has she done any Jon McGregor? I think "If nobody speaks of remarkable things" would have blown my mind at that age. But his writing style seems to be a bit marmite, although I love it and that book particularly.

What about 'The Pigman' by Paul Zindel? Loved that as a teenager. Or 'The Outsiders' by SE Hinton, or 'The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole' or 'To kill a Mockingbird' (that was my favourite book at that age) or 'Are you there God? It's me, Margaret' by Judy Blume.

Caitlin Moran? How To Be A Woman is an easy read and she's very much about helping girls to feel ok about being themselves.

I've not read it, but her How To Build A Girl might be worth a look.