If You Like Gayle Forman
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider. After star athlete, Ezra Faulkner injures himself and is no longer in the running for Homecoming King, he finds himself eating lunch at the table for misfits and falling for new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Ezra believes that the important part of life begins after tragedy; but, when more tragedy strikes he has to rethink what is important in his life and just how much he is willing to change. This book is little bit lighter than Forman’s books but still deals with tough topics: tragedy, cheating girlfriends, friendship HS FIC SCH
How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr. This story focuses on two teens: Jill MacSweeny and Mandy Kalinowski. Jill is engulfed in grief after the death of her father and has managed to push away all of her friends and her on again, off again boyfriend. She is furious when her mother announces she is adopting a baby. Mandy is pregnant and wants her baby to have a better life than she had and decides to put her child up for adoption. When Mandy meets Jill’s mom, she is invited to live with them until her baby is born. This book focuses on the emotional lives of two teenagers and while there is a subplot of a romantic triangle, the book is mostly about the trials and struggles of the three women (Jill, her mom, and Mandy). HS FIC ZAR
And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlain Tibensky. Keek’s parents are divorcing. Her mother is off caring for a newborn cousin that might not even make it home. Her best friend betrayed her and she’s fighting with her boyfriend. To add to that chaos, she has come down with the chicken pox and sent to her grandmother’s for the summer without access to the internet and no cellular coverage. With her grandmother’s typewriter and a copy of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, she begins to try and make sense out of all that is going on around her and figure out a way to make it right again. I chose this title because it hits the teen drama mark and is structured in a unique way. We also have The Bell Jar which is Plath’s semiautobiographical novel, originally published in 1963 but still loved enough that even our copy is a bit dog eared. HS FIC TIB
A long shot, because if you love Gayle Forman you have probably read The Lovely Bones. If you have not, run, don’t walk to the library or bookstore and pick this up. Told from the perspective of a girl who was raped and murdered,; it tells the stories of her family and the police detective who tracked her killer. HS FIC SEB
Delirium by Lauren Oliver. In a dystopian universe, Lena Halloway is awaiting the cure, a treatment that will save her from falling in love. When she meets Alex, a boy from the “wilds,” a group of citizens that live out from under the government’s watchful eyes. This book has been compared to both 1984 and Romeo & Juliet. It’s a trilogy; so, if you like it there are more! HS FIC OLI
We Were Liars by e. Lockhart. From Goodreads:
A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
There isn’t much more to say. There is a mystery and a twisted ending.
HS FIC LOC
Theory of Everything by Kari Luna. This is a wacky story about a real girl with real problems. Her mentally ill, brilliant, physicist father disappears and her mother moves them from NYC to Illinois. It is in her new school that quirky, Sophie begins seeing things like panda marching bands and acquires a panda shaman along with real live best gay boyfriend, Finny. There’s everything in this novel: romance, a road trip (actually it’s on a train), a missing father, a new best friend and a girl just trying to figure out her life. I loved this book though I confess I do enjoy quirky main characters. HS FIC LUN
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Saenz
Moving story about a friendship that blossoms between two Hispanic boys in 1987 and grows into something more. Publisher’s Weekly described it as a “tender, honest portrayal of identity.” When I read this book, I was expecting a straightforward story about the romance between two boys; but, the writer manages to paint a much deeper and nuanced story. Beautifully written and a great story. HS FIC SAE