10. Once Upon a River, by Bonnie Jo Campbell
When her father is suddenly gunned down next to the Michigan river on which they've long lived, 16-year-old Margo Crane takes off in a flimsy boat, trying to keep going after her whole world collapses. Bonnie Jo Campbell's novel is part sensitive character study, part gritty survival tale both bleak and oddly uplifting. Rob Brunner