Authors I have recently discovered for older teens: 

David Sedaris- is a comedian, author, and American humorist. He has published five essay collections including Naked (1997), best seller, and Holidays on Ice (1997). I read  his short story i like guys from Naked last week and I was captured by his satiric language and tongue-in-cheek humor. He is an author worth noting for his beautiful non-fiction in which he recounts instances in humorous ways while still emphasizing poignant moments. He was named “Humorist of the Year” by Time magazine in 2001 and currently resides in France with his life partner, Hugh.  

Kathyrn Harrison- is a renowned author with a sordid past. Born while both of her parents were eighteen in 1961, Harrison grew up under the care of her grandparents. She says “college was a period of upheaval for me; I experiment with drugs; I lived with far less self-discipline and academic focus than I had before.” (website, kathyrnharrison.com) A disturbing incestuous relationship with her formerly estranged father developed during her junior year of college. She now lives in New York City with her husband Colin, two children, and several pets. Her non-fiction piece Renewal drew me in to her vivid and almost colloquial writing style. Her twelfth novel, While They Slept, was published in March 2008. 

  Mona Simpson- The long-lost sister of Apple-guru CEO Steve Jobs, Simpson is both a novelist and essayist. Speaking of disturbing sexual relationships with fathers, Mona Simpson’s Lawns, a short story (fiction) published in the Iowa Review, tells the story from the point of view of a wayward college student who has been taken advantage of by her father since her childhood. Simpson’s piece was remarkably convincing for an essay and she has been lauded for her exceptional writing abilities. Her novel, Anywhere But Here, was adopted onto the silver screen in 1999. Interestingly enough, her husband Richard Appel is a writer for The Simpsons and used Simpson’s name for Homer Simpson’s mother.