Programming note: I’ll be taking the next two weeks off while I do some traveling but I’ll be back on September 29th!
It’s early September and in my mind, the perfect time to pick up a contemporary YA novel. Here in New York City, it still feels like summer but back-to-school season is in full swing, from the lure of fresh notebooks to a general organizational ardor in the air to the displays of pumpkin-themed items already overflowing the shelves at Target. (I bought a pumpkin chai candle two weeks ago but I’m holding out until October 1st to light it.) A good YA contemporary, whether it captures one transformative summer or the anticipation of a fresh start in the fall, can be the perfect read for this time of year. I grew up during the first great YA explosion in the 2000’s and I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the genre, even if I read a lot less of it than I once did.
My taste in YA leans toward the light-hearted but deeply felt, like a teen comedy at its very best but I’ve occasionally dipped into deep angst and one of my all-time favorites is a gut punch of a book. I’m always looking for an appealing protagonist with a strong voice, a playful sense of humor, a bit of teenage mess, and maybe a sweet love story or two. Here are ten of my go-to contemporary YA recommendations:
Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett
This enemies-to-lovers romance finds former best friends Zorie and Lennon stranded in the wilderness after a camping trip gone wrong and making their way both out of the woods and back towards each other. I’ve enjoyed quite a few of Bennett’s YA rom-coms but Starry Eyes is my favorite, not only for the sparkling chemistry between Zorie and Lennon but for its thoughtful look at family dynamics and wonderful sense of place. I’m not even a camping enthusiast but this had me wanting to head to the Sierras immediately.
Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi
Two estranged sisters are brought back together when one of them is diagnosed with uterine cancer. This book sliced through me in the most brutal, brilliant way and is like reading someone’s guts spilled out on the page. (Definitely check content warnings before picking this one up.) Choi’s writing is distinctive and sharp—this also happens to be one of the best indictments of the US healthcare system I’ve ever read—and plunges the reader into the book completely. I emerged from it dizzy, scraped raw, and deeply impressed by her talent.
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
A beautiful story about swimming up from the wreck, as protagonist Violet is sent back to the small Maine town her family founded after her brother attempts suicide and finds her own healing searching for a legendary shipwreck, and an ode to Twelfth Night. It deals with hard things with such empathy and compassion, features a lovely, tender sapphic romance, and explores the complicated yet loving dynamics of families both biological and found. Perfect if you’ve also spent a production of Twelfth Night vaguely hoping that Olivia and Viola end up together instead.
Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales
Darcy Phillips has been successfully running an anonymous relationship advice business, until star swimmer Alexander Brougham finds her out and enlists her help in getting his ex-girlfriend back. This one is teenage mess at its very best. Darcy is a fallible but deeply lovable protagonist with a great narrative voice that feels very authentic. The romance is a delight from start to finish, as Darcy and her love interest go from verbal sparring to tentative friendship to falling for each other, and there’s a lovely sister relationship as well.
This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang
Shy Eliza Lin finds herself Internet famous after her totally fictional essay about meeting the love of her life goes viral. Enter fake dating with Caz Song, the famous actor in her class at an elite international school. Eliza and Caz are adorable together and the mutual pining is excellently done. A subplot with Eliza’s long-distance best friend and her reflections on the meaning of home bring an additional depth and sense of wistfulness to the book and the Beijing setting really comes to life. (Side note: I'd love more recommendations for YA set outside the US if anyone has them!)
When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord
A big-hearted, joyous read about Broadway hopeful Millie and the summer she spends searching for her mother after she finds her dad’s 2003 Live Journal…and three women who could potentially be her mom. I loved this one with every last bit of my theater kid heart, from exuberant Millie to the rivals-to-lovers plotline with buttoned-up stage manger Oliver to the love for theater that pours off every page. It’s glittery and delightful and possessed of a soft, mushy heart that spoke to my equally soft one.
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
A month before graduation, Chloe Green’s nemesis kisses her and promptly disappears. So Chloe decides to find her. Just so she can finally beat Shara for valedictorian. Not because she likes her. One of my favorite things about McQuiston’s writing is their ability to write smart people who are terrible at flirting, which is a character dynamic that delights me to no end. This is also a really wonderful portrait of friendship and thoughtful look at what it’s like to be a queer teenager in the South. There’s also a secondary romance that I would read a whole book about, if McQuiston is ever so inclined.
Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills
When Claudia accidentally eavesdrops on the breakup of her school’s power couple, Paige and Iris, she sets off a chain of events that lead her to a school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an unlikely new friendship, and a tentative romance. This is one of my all-time favorites and happens to have everything I want in a YA contemporary. There’s a wonderfully flawed, relatable, lovable protagonist. There’s a goofy, adorable love interest. There’s the complexity of friendships old and new. There’s even a school play. This may not be the splashiest book around but it’s one of the loveliest and truest. I want to hug it every time I read it.
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Longtime academic rivals Rowan and Neil team up on the last day of school to win their high school’s epic scavenger hunt and over the course of 24 hours, discover they might not be enemies after all. I first read this book in the summer of 2020, when I desperately needed a shot of happiness, and fell for Solomon’s writing immediately. She’s so good at crafting compelling main characters that you root for and feel for from the first page. It’s also a love letter to Seattle, as Rowan and Neil race over the city completing the scavenger hunt; a pitch perfect love story; and a tribute to romance novels. I am yearning for this to be made into a movie.
If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
A very loose modern reimagining of The Taming of the Shrew, featuring spiky queen bee Cameron, who sets out on a mission to make amends with everyone she’s wronged in an attempt to win over her crush. This is smart, funny, and sharp and so voice-y that it’s like Cameron’s right there in the room with you while you’re reading, quips, vulnerabilities, and all There’s great banter and really well-written romantic and platonic relationships. Reading this feels like watching one of my favorite 90's teen comedies, only with better gender politics, and I’d also highly recommend Always Never Yours by this duo.
Currently reading: Knockout by Sarah MacLean, which I’m loving. Give me a chaotic heroine and strait-laced hero any day.
What’s bringing me joy lately:
Over the long weekend, my boyfriend and I planned a day around taking the NYC ferry around Brooklyn and Queens and got lucky enough to have perfect weather for it. We went to a new-to-me bookstore (Word in Greenpoint, highly recommend), got dinner at Casa Enrique in LIC (also highly recommend), and took the ferry back at night for the views of the NYC skyline.
The new album from Olivia Rodrigo. It’s messy and angsty and speaks right to my inner dramatic teenager.
Trying out some new workouts via YouTube. I’ve been doing cardio aerobics classes that have me dancing around my living room, a little off the beat but having a great time.
Foolish Hearts is soooo good!!! I will read anything Emma Mills💜
Fantastic recs! Adding the ones I haven't read to by wish list.