Sorry to crash your board, but I recommend teen books for a living and wanted to recommend:
- MAKE LEMONADE and TRUE BELIEVER by Virginia Euwer Wolff
- JAZMIN'S NOTEBOOK by Nikki Grimes
- anything by Walter Dean Myers: MONSTER, THE DREAM BEARER, or FALLEN ANGELS
- HUSH by Jacqueline Woodson
- books by Beverly Naidoo
All the suggestions you have already are excellent. I love Sharon Flake especially.