Realistic Fiction For Teens

"It took all of two paragraphs for me to fall head-over-heels in love with this story. Naive, plucky Margot was perfection, New York City brimmed loud and clear from the pages, and I absolutely adored the love story. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while."—Jenna Evans Welch, New York...

Afghan-American Mafi’s sophomore year gets a whole lot more complicated when she accidentally exposes family secrets, putting her family back in Afghanistan in danger in this smartly written YA debut. Sixteen-year-old Mafi Shahin is well-aware that life is not always fair. If it was fair, her...

“A writer to be reckoned with.” —Kathleen Glasgow, author of Girl in Pieces and You’d Be Home Now A heartbreaking, hopeful, and timely novel about facing family secrets, healing from trauma, and falling in love, from the award-winning author of How It Feels to Float George’s life is...

A debut young adult novel that’s Pride & Prejudice with a dash of magic, about a booksmart teen who spends the summer in Mexico City, meets two very cute boys, attempts to learn Spanish, and uncovers a family secret that changes her life forever. Lola Espinoza is cursed in love. Well, maybe...

A gorgeous contemporary romance about two ex-best friends, Cass and Syd, on a life-altering road trip following the reunion tour of the Darlas—the band Cass’s mom was in when she died. Perfect for fans of Nina LaCour, Mary H.K. Choi, and Jandy Nelson. After their high school graduation...

Acclaimed author Gloria Chao creates real-world magic in this luminous romance about teens who devote themselves to granting other people's wishes but are too afraid to let themselves have their own hearts' desires—each other. Liya and Kai had been best friends since they were little kids, but...

In the sequel to Tracy Andreen's debut romantic comedy So, This Is Christmas, we follow Finley and Arthur back to Barrington Academy for a swoony semester. Perfect for fans of Tell Me Three Things and Anna and the French Kiss! Finley and Arthur are back at boarding school and neither quite knows...

From the award-winning author of A Heart in a Body in The World comes a gorgeous and fiercely feminist young adult novel. When a teen travels to Hawaii to track down her sperm donor father, she discovers the truth about him, about the sunken shipwreck that’s become his obsession, and most of...

A tender and heartfelt queer YA novel about the multiplicities of grief, deeply held family secrets, and finding new love. Isaac Griffin has always felt something was missing from his life. And for good reason: he's never met his dad. He'd started to believe he'd never belong in this world, that...

Finding her voice takes on a whole new meaning when fourteen-year-old Azar Rossi sets out to win her local Battle of the Bands contest in this heartfelt and hilarious contemporary YA. Fourteen-year-old Azar Rossi’s first year of high school has mostly been silent, and intentionally so. After...

Seoul, Korea. In this glittering city where the latest trends are born, Melody finds herself swept away by luxury, romance, and family drama... but is this a place she could ever call home? Thanks to a tiny transgression after school one day, Melody is shocked to discover that her parents have...

A girl rewrites sex education, one viral post at a time, in this fiercely honest and delightfully awkward novel from the award-winning author of Words on Bathroom Walls. Phoebe Townsend is a rule follower . . . or so everyone thinks. She’s an A student who writes for her small-town school...

A sweet and nerdy contemporary YA novel set in the world of marching band perfect for fans of Late to the Party, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega and Kate in Waiting. "As a former band kid, “well behaved” kid, “ideal Catholic” kid, figuring-myself-out kid, It Sounds Like This shines with its...

“If you're a fan of rivals-to-lovers, look no further!”—Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys Heated competition leads to even hotter romance in this YA summer rom-com for fans of Sandhya Menon and Emma Lord! Seventeen-year-old, high-achieving Kavya Joshi has...

"A powerful, poignant story about a girl rewriting her story on her own terms. Jo Beckett's journey of sexual and emotional agency is at once tender, painful, hilarious, and courageous." —Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces An emotional and empowering novel...

“With an iconic heroine, delightful banter and a deeply felt message, this debut proves many times over that Jesmeen Kaur Deo is an invaluable new voice. TJ Powar Has Something to Prove is rife with insight and rich with rom-com joy, often on the same page.” — Emily Wibberley and Austin...

A suspenseful and gut-wrenching story of an unhoused teenager struggling to survive a criminal scrapping ring while unraveling a dark family history Josh's father has gone missing without a trace, and Gran's ready to call social services. If Josh wants to keep himself and and his little brother...

For fans of Becky Albertalli and Julie Murphy, this beautifully raw coming-of-age story follows bi, fat surfer girl Casey who turns to journaling to navigate what it means to crush on your two best friends at the same time. Ten years ago, the Scar Squad promised each other nothing would tear...

Ten bestselling, critically acclaimed authors deliver a fresh novel of interconnected stories that follows a group of young adults over the course of a few wild, transformative hours at an epic house party! The biggest event of the year is happening, and you’re invited! Join us for Florence...

A sunny YA romance about a road trip and life’s unexpected turns from the author of Give Me a Sign. Iris doesn’t trust the odds. Not when she has a 1 in 4 chance of inheriting the same vision diagnosis as her sister, Amelia. When Iris travels to the east coast to help Amelia drive her things...