The end of the year is quickly approaching. Deciding what books to fill your fall and the last of your TBR with is a lot of pressure, but we’re going for dramatic this month! Follow along as these characters go on high-stakes adventures to save their families, reputations, and dreams in these coming-of-age tales from a variety of settings and realities.
Gita Desai is Not Here to Shut Up by Sonia Patel
Freshman year at Stanford University is a challenge, and 18-year-old Gita Desai is trying to keep up her perfect reputation with her parents. She wants to follow Stanford straight into medical school instead of getting married off by her traditional Gujarati parents.
Everything seems to be going according to plan, until troubling memories from her childhood lead her to abandon her work ethic and start heading out at night. Being the perfect daughter and student might be difficult if she decides to start sharing her real feelings.
If you like: Contemporary, fiction, coming of age, college, realism
Giddy Barber Explodes in 11 by Dina Havranek
Giddy Barber has a lot of responsibility—like planning her career as a mechanical engineer while taking care of her siblings in her overworked parents’ absence.
Turning to the internet for advice, Giddy decides to change her own life with an 11-day plan to change her routine. Her problems are bigger than generalized internet tips, though, and she might not be able to take on her dreams and her families problems on her own.
If you like: Realism, contemporary, coming of age, high school
I Was Told There Would Be Romance by Marie Arnold
Is it really so much to ask that everything was perfect? Fancy Augustine is a Haitian American girl who, at 15 years old, wants the essentials for happiness, perfect looks, perfect boyfriend, and an invite to the part of the year.
Fancy’s bestie Tilly has an invitation to Imani Park’s birthday party and she has a secret boyfriend. Fancy is willing to do anything to catch up to Tilly even if anything includes making a deal with Imani, lying to her crush Rahim, and tanking her schoolwork. This is all going to go according to plan, right?
If you like: Romance, young adult, contemporary, drama
Guava and Grudges by Alexis Castellanos
Ana Maria Ybarra wants to become a world-famous pastry chef, but she’s busy helping her parents run the family bakery, Café Y Mas. As if her dreams didn’t seem far enough out of reach, the Cuban bakery across the street, Morales Bakery, is pulling in customers with their Insta-famous desserts. The Ybarras financial problems seem to grow by the minute.
Culinary school might just be possible if Ana can win the grand prize in a recipe competition, but she’ll have to team up with Miguel Morales to do it. Keeping their Romeo-and-Juliet partnership a secret and pretending she isn’t crushing hard on Miguel make the stakes even higher.
If you like: Realism, contemporary, romance, Romeo and Juliet
Dear Hades by Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat
It’s Greek mythology as Young Adult fantasy! Medusa and Tiresias are 21st-century teens. When they meet through Persephone and Hades’ (yup that Persephone and Hades) dating app, they seem to be the perfect match. It seems that Medusa can’t turn blind prophet Tirseias to stone!
The app isn’t perfect for everyone, though. Mortal enemies are being linked up for dates. Heroes, monsters, and gods are meant to fight, right? Medusa and Tirseias seem perfect for each other, but all of this Greek drama might get in the way of their happily ever after.
If you like: Fantasy, Greek mythology, romance
