Young adult novel boy travels through hell to find his girlfriend

I read this about 20-25 years ago. It was about a man who decides to travel through hell to rescue his girlfriend. It is a YA book, amazingly enough! I remember him getting to the gates and figuring out a way to get in and rescue her. For some reason I think it started with a "P". Purgatory... something maybe??
I know that this isn't much to go on but I've been trying to figure this out for many years now and am still coming up empty. Thanks either way!

You might try searching for a YA of the story of Orpheus - which is a man who went through Hell (Hades, actually) to rescue his wife (or girlfriend - don't remember).

Wife

Something like this happens in Robert Heinlein's Job: A Comedy of Justice.

That's not really all that YA, though. You've got the whole orgy interlude.

...without diligent attention to safe sex methods, to boot.

The Orpheus and Eurydice myth. He can get her out of Hades as long as he does not look back during the journey out of Hades. Of course, he does look back for some reason. Doy.

I just found a YA book called Nightsong by Michael Cadnum that absolutely fits the bill. But, go figure, it was published in 2006!

Here's another book with this plot aspect, though it's too recent to be the one you're seeking, and not YA:

Happy Hour in Hell