YA with Big Questions and Big Feelings

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

by Zoulfa Katouh

This book is truly singular. It has familial love, romantic love, resistance, courage, grief, and the embodiment of trauma and fear in the character Khawf. It’s a love letter to Syria that is a must read for everyone! Zoulfa Katouh’s second novel is coming out next year, and I really cannot wait to be moved by her words once more!

A love letter to Syria and its people, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a speculative novel set amid the Syrian Revolution, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility. Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Salt to the Sea.

Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life. 
 
Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe. 
 
But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.  
 
Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are—not a war, but a revolution—and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria’s freedom.

Brighter Than the Sun

by Daniel Aleman

For anyone who’s ever struggled with responsibilities and questions that seem too big for a young person to handle, this is a book for you. Sometimes we are given tasks that we don’t feel up for. But this book will leave you with feelings of hope and brightness.

A timely and thought-provoking story about a teen girl shouldering impossibly large responsibilities and ultimately learning that she doesn’t have to do it alone from the award-winning author of Indivisible. 

Every morning, sixteen-year-old Sol wakes up at the break of dawn in her hometown of Tijuana, Mexico and makes the trip across the border to go to school in the United States. Though the commute is exhausting, this is the best way to achieve her dream: becoming the first person in her family to go to college.
 
When her family’s restaurant starts struggling, Sol must find a part-time job in San Diego to help her dad put food on the table and pay the bills. But her complicated school and work schedules on the US side of the border mean moving in with her best friend and leaving her family behind. 

With her life divided by an international border, Sol must come to terms with the loneliness she hides, the pressure she feels to succeed for her family, and the fact that the future she once dreamt of is starting to seem unattainable. Mostly, she’ll have to grapple with a secret she’s kept even from herself: that maybe she’s relieved to have escaped her difficult home life, and a part of her may never want to return.

Love Times Infinity

by Lane Clarke

Did someone say big feelings and big questions? Lane Clarke is the queen of this. She starts off by bringing up that age-old college essay question: WHO ARE YOU? How does one answer that?!?! Our protagonist Michie contains multitudes. I sobbed reading this book. You will too. Lane’s next novel comes out in 2026, and I’m counting down!

This heartfelt coming of age story follows Michie, a high school junior who begins to grapple with big questions of love, purpose, and family while working on something that could change her life.

High school junior Michie is struggling to answer the question of who she is for her scholarship essays, the only chance she has at making it into Brown as a first-generation college student. The essay prompts would be hard for anyone, but since Michie’s been estranged from her mother since she was seven, her concept of family has long felt murky.

Enter new kid and basketball superstar Derek de la Rosa, an instant crush who sends Michie’s focus into a tailspin. At their teacher’s suggestion, Derek enlists Michie as a tutor to help him catch up in Spanish class, turning life upside down. Because Derek? He is very cute, very talented, very popular, and very much has his eye on Michie, no matter how invisible she believes herself to be.

When Michie’s mother unexpectedly reaches out to make amends, and with her scholarship deadlines looming, Michie will have to decide if she wants to reopen old wounds or close the door on her past once and for all. And as she spends more time with Derek, she will have to figure out how close she can risk getting to him, and how much of her heart she is willing to share. Because while Michie may not know who she is, she’s starting to realize who she wants to become, if only she can take a chance on Derek, on herself, and on her future.

The Wolves are Waiting

by Natasha Friend

Natasha Friend is one of my all-time favorite YA authors, starting with when I read Perfect in high school. In this book, she grapples with the question of what do you do when a person who is your hero… might be wrong? Can you find the bravery inside yourself to stand up and change the story?

From award-winning author Natasha Friend comes a compelling investigation of sexual harassment and the toxic and complicit structures of a small college town.

Before the night of the Frat Fair, 15-year-old Nora Melchionda’s life could have been a Gen-Z John Hughes movie. She had a kind-of boyfriend, a spot on the field hockey team, good grades, and a circle of close friends. Of course there were bumps in the road: she and her lifelong BFF Cam were growing apart and her mother was trying to clone her into wearing sensible khakis instead of showy short skirts. But none of that mattered, because Nora always had her dad, Rhett Melchionda, on her side. Rhett was not only Nora’s hero, but as the Athletic Director of Faber College, he was idolized by everyone she knew.   

Now, Nora would give anything to go back to that life. The life before whatever happened on the golf course. 

She doesn’t want to talk about it—not that she could, because she doesn’t remember anything—and insists that whatever happened was nothing. Cam, though, tries to convince Nora to look for evidence and report the incident to the police. And then there’s Adam Xu, who found Nora on the golf course and saw her at her most vulnerable. She ignores it all, hoping it will all go away. But when your silence might hurt other people, hiding is no longer an option. 

The Wolves Are Waiting begins in the aftermath of an attempted assault, but reaches farther than a story about one single night or one single incident. What Nora and her friends will uncover is a story that spans generations. But it doesn’t have to anymore.

The Truth About White Lies

by Olivia A. Cole

Olivia A. Cole is truly amazing at uncovering questions that must be asked. She begs us to look below the surface of the status quo and wonder why things are the way they are in the first place. Covering topics like gentrification, racism, and privilege, this book will open up avenues for much needed conversation.

For fans of I’m Not Dying with You Tonight, this gripping YA novel digs into the historical and present-day effects of white supremacy and the depths of privilege. 

Shania never thinks much about being white. But after her beloved grandmother passes, she moves to the gentrifying town of Blue Rock and is thrust into Bard, the city’s wealthiest private school. At Bard, race is both invisible and hypervisible, and Shania’s new friends are split on what they see. There’s Catherine, the school’s queen bee, who unexpectedly takes Shania under her wing. Then there’s Prescott, the golden boy who seems perfect…except for the disturbing rumors about an altercation he had with a Black student who left the school. 

But Prescott isn’t the only one with secrets. As Shania grieves for the grandmother she idolized, she realizes her family roots stretch far back into Blue Rock’s history. When the truth comes to light, Shania will have to make a choice and face the violence of her silence.

6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did)

by Tess Sharpe

Here is yet another book that made me cry! Hey, you asked for big feelings! What happens when you keep ALMOST kissing your frenemy? And then you finally… do?

Nina LaCour meets Jenny Han in this beautiful and charming story of six moments that lead to two girls, one kiss, and eventually, three little words that were maybe always true. 

After years of bickering, Penny and Tate have called a truce: they’ll play nice. They have to. Their mothers (life-long best friends) need them to be perfect, drama-free daughters when Penny’s mother becomes a living liver donor to Tate’s mom. Forced to live together as their moms recover, the girls’ truce is essential in keeping everything—their jobs, the house, the finances, the Moms’ healing—running smoothly. They’ve got to let this thing between them go. 

There’s one little hitch: Penny and Tate keep almost kissing.

It’s just this confusing thing that keeps happening. You know, from time to time. For basically their entire teenaged existence.

They’ve never talked about it. They’ve always ignored it in the aftermath. But now they’re living across the hall from each other.

And some things—like their kisses—can’t be almosts forever. 

Told through the two girls’ present and six moments from their past, this dynamic love story shows that sometimes the person you need the most has been there for you all along. 

Wake the Wild Creatures

by Nova Ren Suma

This book is for anyone who wants to challenge society and loves a good mystery. I could not put this book down. It’s eerie! It’s dark! It’s raising alllll the questions, giving me alllll the feels!

This extraordinary, timely, and must-read novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Nova Ren Suma explores freedom and rage as a young woman plots her way back to her hidden mountaintop home after her mother’s arrest for murder.​

Three years ago, Talia lived happily in the ruins of the Neves, a once-grand hotel in the wilds of the Catskill Mountains, with her mother Pola and their community of like-minded women. Some came to the Neves to escape cruel men, others to hide from the law, but all found safety and connection in their haven high above civilization, cloaked by a mysterious mist that kept intruders away. But as their numbers grew, complications followed, and everything came crashing down the night electric lights pierced the forest. Uniformed men arrested Pola, calling her a murderer and a fugitive, and Talia was taken away. 

Now sixteen, Talia has been forced to live with family she barely knows and fit into a world scarred by misogyny, capitalism, disconnection from nature . . . everything the women of the Neves stood against. She has one goal: to return to the Neves. But as Talia awaits a signal from her mother, questions arise. Who betrayed her community, and what is she avoiding about her own role in its collapse? Is it truly magic that keeps the hotel so hidden? And what does it mean to embrace being her mother’s daughter? With the help of an unexpected ally, Talia must find her way to answers, face a mother who’s often kept her at arm’s length, and try to reach the refuge she lost—if the mist hasn’t swallowed her path home.

Fierce and lyrical, unsettling and tender, Wake the Wild Creatures marks the long-awaited return of one of the most distinctive voices in young adult literature. 

The Third Daughter

by Adrienne Tooley

Nobody does big questions quite like eldest daughters. It comes with the territory. Elodie has to protect her younger sister, and to do so, must deal with feelings of sadness that seem insurmountable. But sometimes, big feelings can be your superpower.

“Immersive and intense; hand this royal fantasy to readers of Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crowns and Victoria ­Aveyard’s Red Queen series.” —SLJ

A sweeping YA fantasy about legacy, betrayal, sisterhood, and politicizing emotion in the quest for power—all balanced by a slow-burn LGBTQ romance.

For centuries, the citizens of Velle have waited for their New Maiden to return. The prophecy states she will appear as the third daughter of a third daughter. When the fabled child is finally born to Velle’s reigning queen all rejoice except for Elodie, the queen’s eldest child, who has lost her claim to the crown. The only way for Elodie to protect Velle is to retake the throne. To do so, she must debilitate the Third Daughter—her youngest sister, Brianne.

Desperate, Elodie purchases a sleeping potion from Sabine, who sells sadness. But the apothecary mistakenly sends the princess away with a vial of tears instead of a harmless sleeping brew. Sabine’s sadness is dangerously powerful, and Brianne slips into a slumber from which she will not wake. With the fates of their families and country hanging in the balance, Sabine and Elodie hurry to revive the Third Daughter while a slow-burning attraction between the two girls erupts in full force.

A must-read for fans of the BookTok sensations ​Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson, and These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong.

All the Yellow Suns

by Malavika Kannan

This book has everything —activism, art, budding sexuality, life-or-death escapades, a diverse cast, AND a secret society determined to fight against the racism in their school. Not to mention, I. Love. This. Cover.

When a queer Indian American teenager is swept into a life of art, romance, and resistance, she must make up her own mind when it comes to identity, activism, and love in this story perfect for fans of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

Sixteen-year-old Maya Krishnan is fiercely protective of her friends, immigrant community, and single mother, but she knows better than to rock the boat in her conservative Florida suburb. Her classmate Juneau Zale is the polar opposite: she’s a wealthy white heartbreaker who won’t think twice before capsizing that boat.

When Juneau invites Maya to join the Pugilists—a secret society of artists, vandals, and mischief-makers who fight for justice at their school—Maya descends into the world of change-making and resistance. Soon, she and Juneau forge a friendship that inspires Maya to confront the challenges in her own life.

But as their relationship grows romantic, painful, and twisted, Maya begins to suspect that there’s a whole different person beneath Juneau’s painted-on facade. Now Maya must learn to speak her truth in this mysterious, mixed-up world—even if it results in heartbreak.

Between emotional threads of first love and identity, comes a powerful exploration of the crusade for social change within a divided community. 

Hello Sunshine

by Keezy Young

This graphic novel comes out at the end of September, so add it to your TBR now! The mental health discussion is tender and so very needed. It also has queer representation and is steeped in haunting and a bit of horror. I am super grateful for books like these.

In this lush and romantic queer horror graphic novel, a troubled teen disappears from his small town—sending his loved ones on a paranormal journey to bring him home.

Noah is heartbroken. He returns from Bible camp to find that Alex, his secret boyfriend, has had a breakdown and disappeared. He wishes more than anything that he hadn’t left that day.
 
Sky is determined. She’ll stop at nothing to find her childhood friend, even if it means alienating the people she loves.
 
Izzy is ashamed. She knew something weird was going on with Alex, and she didn’t say anything to her boyfriend, Jamie—Alex’s twin brother. If she had, would Alex still be here?
 
Jamie is angry. Angry at Alex for being gone, angry at himself for not noticing something was wrong, and angry at his long-dead mother, Desdemona, who had problems of her own.

But what if there was something more to Desdemona’s demons? Why is Jamie seeing her ghost? And can he get past his hatred of her if it means finding out what happened to his brother?