With the beloved book The Sun Is Also a Star now a hit movie, we’ve compiled a list of similar books blossoming with coming-of-age dreams and young love. Because if you’re like us, you just can’t get enough of Nicola Yoon’s beautiful story, The Sun Is Also A Star.
Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott
Stella’s failing lungs have kept her in and out of the hospital her entire life. She’s on the transplant list and must stay away from anything and anyone who might threaten her position. Will is nearly 18 and his birthday can’t come soon enough. That’s when he can make his own medical decisions, and go out and see the world before it’s too late. But when the pair meet, the six feet that they must safely stay apart suddenly feels too far. What if they risked it? What if they moved just one foot closer to just five feet apart?
I Love You Like That by Heather Cumiskey
Heartbroken teen Hannah Zandana is doing her best to recover after the death of her former boyfriend Deacon. What Hannah doesn’t know is that Deacon didn’t die after all and has just woken up in an unfamiliar hospital outside of his hometown. While Hannah struggles to handle her struggling parents and emotionally support herself and her young sister, Deacon is trying his best to stay alive now that he’s been placed in the middle of a federal undercover sting operation. If both teens can survive their perilous circumstances, they may just be able to find love with one another once again.
You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins
You Bring the Distant Near is the story of five women across three generations, each with their own hopes, dreams and struggles. From friendship and first loves to the desperate need to preserve identity and culture, they connect through the things that together, make them stronger.
Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina
It’s 1977 in New York City, and Nora Lopez is living among the time’s infamous chaos – arson, a city-wide blackout and the Son of Sam serial killer. At home, things are just as chaotic as her mother struggles to keep the family afloat, and her brother Hector grows more volatile by the day. The only glimmer of hope is the cute boy at the deli who makes Nora feel alive. But is it safe to see him with a killer on the loose?
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
Julia dreams of going to college and finding her place in the world. But when her older sister Olga dies, her dreams suddenly evaporate. Instead, Julia bears the weight of holding the family together while she is constantly berated by her mother for her failures. After all, it was Olga who was the perfect daughter… or was she? As Julia slowly uncovers secrets of Olga’s life, she discovers it may never have been what it seemed.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
In this winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, we meet Xiomara Batista who is unheard and misunderstood in her Harlem neighborhood. Her mother is constantly pulling her toward the ways of the church, but her heart pulls her in different directions – like toward the boy in her bio class, and to the slam poetry club she’s been invited to join. As she struggles to find the courage to follow her heart, she learns that some things are worth the risk.
American Street by Ibi Zoboi
Fabiola’s family sought out a better life when they moved to America. But shortly after leaving Haiti, her mother is detained by the U.S. immigration, and Fabiola is alone in a new country, at a new school living in her cousins’ west-side Detroit home. But when a surprising romance happens just as she is finding her place, she’s faced with an impossible choice. Can she pay the price for the American dream?
*Disclosure: The links above are affiliate links. These picks are editorially selected, but if you purchase, She Reads may get something in return. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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