The ultimate in teenage rebellion, JD Salinger's first person narrative follows Holden Caulfield's coming-of-age in New York. Caulfield is an unreliable, rebellious narrator (and character) who, while inspirational, is somewhat hard to like thanks to his whining and constant obsession with himself.
'The Catcher in the Rye' was censored, and in some areas banned, upon its initial release as it challenged just about every sociological value going. The novel has also been steeped in further controversy thanks to its links with assassins, notably John Hinckley Jr who tried to kill Ronald Reagan. This is also the book that Mark David Chapman had on his person when he assassinated John Lennon.