A good book about grief: J.J. Johnson's The Theory of Everything
I didn't expect to like this book very much, but it landed on a bunch of best of 2012 YA booklists and I figured that it was probably a lot less depressing than its premise or more insightful than most YA lit that I groused through last year. Overall, its a really good read and a lot more depressing than I initially thought it would be. The main character's slow tailspin due to her best friend's death felt very true, true to the nature of grief that I've felt and especially faithful to community reaction to a sudden death. I'd recommend it, but, well, I felt like I was attending group therapy for grief. Read it if it piques your interest, but if you think it'll just depress you, definitely give it a pass.