Struck

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth, 2012 Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

     Mia Price and her family moved to Los Angeles where lightning rarely strikes. Mia is a lightning addict. She has risked her life and the lives of people around her in her pursuit of the strike's thrill.
     An earthquake caused by massive lightning strkes reduces the massive city to a minefield of rubble and refugees. The beaches become cities of displaced and the shattered downtown becomes a hazard. Two factions rise to power, both share strange powers and believe Mia the key to success.
     But Mia wants nothing to do with either the Followers or Seekers. She wants to believe the handsome but enigmatic Jeremy and trust him when he says he wants to protect her from his fellow Followers. She wants to protect her younger brother who makes a decision to fight with the Seekers. Mostly Mia just wants life to return to a semblance of normal.
     When she becomes the answer to the city's impending disaster, Mia makes a stand ignoring those who claim to have her best interests at heart and forges her own path. Maybe the girl who's been struck by lightning is the only one to solve its problems.
     The romance plot has moments where it could be realistic, but the relationship between Mia and her family - her PTSD-stricken mother and rebellious brother - is multi-faceted and creates a depth in Mia that her relationship with Jeremy does not have. Struck was written for older teen readers, though the themes of independence and self-reliance transcend age.