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Realistic Fiction YA
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Updated November 23, 2024
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Champaign Teen Team
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Conditions of a heart
Mangle, Bethany
Paper Book
Two starred reviews! "Achingly touching, heartfelt, and true, Brynn's story of reinvention and self-discovery resonates on every page. A book to savor and hold dear." --Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces and The Agathas<...
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And then there was us
Carter, Kern
Paper Book
Coi is just eighteen years old, but has already survived years of physical and verbal abuse from her mother. After being kicked out of her mother's house at age fourteen, Coi has lived with her father, and together they've created a peaceful life. That peace ends suddenly when her mother dies. While...
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Dispatches from parts unknown
Bliss, Bryan
Paper Book
"The feel-good novel of the year." --ALA Booklist (starred review) Julie knows it's unusual that a professional wrestler runs a constant commentary on her life that only she can hear. But grief can be awfully funny sometimes. National Book Award nominee Bryan Bliss delivers a thought...
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Another first chance
Couch, Robbie
Paper Book
They Both Die at the End meets You've Reached Sam, in this "superb...thought-provoking" (Booklist, starred review) speculative young adult novel from New York Times bestselling author Robbie Couch that explores all the different ways love can live on after...
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The notes
Con Morse, Catherine
Paper Book
A reserved Chinese American teen at a Southern performing arts boarding school comes into her own under the tutelage of a glamorous new piano teacher. A moving coming-of-age-novel from a debut novelist aboutfirst love, adolescent angst, and academic pressures. "Compellingly readable....
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The ping-pong queen of Chinatown
Yang, Andrew (Young adult novelist)
Paper Book
Perfect for fans of Ben Philippe and Mary H. K. Choi, this charming, insightful YA novel follows two high school students who form a complicated, ground-shifting bond while filming a movie. High school junior Felix Ma wants to prove to his parents that he's not a quitter. After crashing...
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With love, Miss Americanah
Igharo, Jane
Paper Book
With Love, Miss Americanah--the Young Adult contemporary romance debut from Jane Igharo--sees a teenager move from Nigeria to America and navigate her senior year with the help of classic teen movies and a new crush, all while working through grief and the rigid expectations of her...
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Ultraviolet
Salazar, Aida
Paper Book
Sometimes life explodes in technicolor. In the spirit of Judy Blume, award-winning author Aida Salazar tells it like it is about puberty, hormones, and first love in this hilarious, heartwarming, and highly relatable coming-of-age story. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Kwame...
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This is me trying
Marie, Racquel
Paper Book
Perfect for fans of Nina LaCour, This is Me Trying is a profound and tender YA contemporary novel exploring grief, love, and guilt from author Racquel Marie. Growing up, Bryce, Beatriz, and Santiago were inseparable. But when Santiago moved away before high school,...
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Daniel, deconstructed
Ramos, James.
Paper Book
A nerdy high schooler learns to embrace his main-character energy in this witty and heart-healing ode to movie tropes, meet-cutes, and LGBTQ+ love. Photographer and film buff Daniel Sanchez learned a long time ago that the only way to get by in an allistic world is to mask...
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The lightning circle
VanSickle, Vikki
Paper Book
After having her heart broken, seventeen-year-old Nora Nichols decides to escape her hometown and take a summer job as an arts and crafts counsellor at an all-girls' camp in the mountains of West Virginia. There, she meets girls and women from all walks of life with their own heartaches and triumphs...
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Ariel crashes a train
Cole, Olivia A.
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Exploring the harsh reality of OCD and violent intrusive thoughts in stunning, lyrical writing, this novel-in-verse conjures a haunting yet hopeful portrait of a girl on the edge. ...
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Breathing underwater
Nash, Abbey Lee
Paper Book
With one word, Tess's world could be completely undone- Epilepsy. Tess lives for swimming- the feel of the pool's rough edge on her toes, the snap of cold water on her skin, and the push of her limbs ever forward. In the water, she's truly alive. Until tragedy...
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No going back
Flores-Scott, Patrick
Paper Book
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection "Powerful.... The excellent pacing and heart-wrenching exploration of redemption will sweep readers up." --Kirkus Reviews "A page-turning, highly readable story." --...
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The door is open : stories of celebration and community by 11 Desi voices
Khan, Hena
Paper Book
Discover stories of fear, triumph, and spectacular celebration in this warm-hearted novel of interconnected stories that celebrates the diversity of South Asian American experiences in a local community center. Discover stories of fear, triumph, and spectacular...
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The wrong way home
O'Shaughnessy, Kate
Paper Book
Twelve-year-old Fern believes she's living a noble life--but what if everything she's been told is a lie? This is a huge-hearted story about a girl learning to question everything--and to trust in herself. Fern's lived at the Ranch, an off-the-grid, sustainable community in...
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Here I am
Grimes, Shaunta
Paper Book
An honest, uplifting story about learning to live in the body you're born with. When seventeen-year-old Marcella Boucher asks Lou Duncan to her high school's "reverse prom" she expects a few snickers. After all, no one else knows that outside school the...
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Mid-Air
Williams, Alicia
Paper Book
Longlisted for the National Book Award A tender-souled boy reeling from the death of his best friend struggles to fit into a world that wants him to grow up tough and unfeeling in this stunning illustrated middle grade novel in verse "full of vulnerability and hope" (...
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Stay with my heart
Bhuiyan, Tashie
Paper Book
From the author of Counting Down with You and A Show for Two comes a new YA contemporary about a girl who accidentally sabotages an up-and-coming local band and falls for the guitarist while secretly trying to make up for her mistake. Liana Sarkar lives...
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The misdirection of fault lines
Gracia, Anna
Paper Book
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants goes to the French Open in an emotionally honest and openhearted novel for fans of Yamile Saied Mendez and Mary HK Choi. Three teen girls compete at an elite tennis tournament for a shot at their dreams-if only they knew what their dreams were...
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Chronically Dolores
Van Wagenen, Maya
Paper Book
Maya Van Wagenen, bestselling author of Popular, tells Dolores's story with humor, heartache, and an occasional bit of telenovela flair. "A striking fiction debut." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "An insightful, funny, and realistic coming-of...
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Kyra, just for today
Zarr, Sara
Paper Book
From award-winning author Sara Zarr comes a gorgeously crafted and deeply personal story about a young girl, her alcoholic mother, and the hope that ties them together. Krya has always felt like she's a bit too much. Too tall. Too loud. Too earnest. But she's okay with that, because...
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Ellie Haycock is totally normal
Schreiber, Gretchen
Paper Book
The Breakfast Club meets Five Feet Apart in this big-hearted novel from debut author Gretchen Schreiber. Ellie Haycock has always separated her life into sections: Ellie at home and Ellie at the hospital. At home, Ellie is a proud member of her high school's...
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The someday daughter
O'Clover, Ellen
Paper Book
Perfect for fans of Rachel Lynn Solomon, Mary H. K. Choi, and Alex Light! From the critically acclaimed author of Seven Percent of Ro Devereux comes another heartrending and nuanced novel about family, love, and the cost of ambition. "A compelling, beautifully drawn exploration into...
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Maybe it's a sign
Shen, E. L.
Paper Book
An uplifting middle-grade novel about loss, luck . . . and deep-dish chocolate chip cookies--perfect for fans of King and the Dragonflies and The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise. Seventh-grader Freya June Sun has always believed in the Chinese superstitions...
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Dead girls don't say sorry
Ritany, Alex
Paper Book
What does it mean when your best friend is dead and your instinct is relief? A stunningly immersive debut about toxic friendships, grief, romance, and new beginnings. Friendship, at least for me, has never been anything but complicated. Before- One year...
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