Books like 'Things We Know by Heart'
Readers who enjoyed Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance realistic grief season-summer drama family high-school angst sad
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November Blues by Sharon M. Draper
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen November Nelson loses her boyfriend, Josh, to a pledge stunt gone horribly wrong, she thinks her life can't possibly get any worse. But Josh left something behind that will change November's life forever, and now she's faced with the biggest decision she could ever imagine. How in the world will she tell her mom? And how will Josh's parents take the news? She's never needed a friend more... -
Under a Different Sky by Lindsey Iler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMy life is a mess. I'm walking around with a black eye. My position on the hockey team is questionable at best, and if that’s not bad enough, I think I'm falling for my dead girlfriend's best friend. Every day, it's a fight to feel alive, and yet, I drink to numb the pain. Everyone is standing back, watching me fall apart. Everyone except Hannah... -
Differently Normal by Tammy Robinson
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEvery family has its issues. For Maddy, life is all about routine. It has to be, to keep her autistic sister happy and healthy. With just Maddy and her mother as Bee’s full time carers, there’s no time in Maddy’s life for complications like friends, let alone a boyfriend... -
This is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn by Aidan Chambers
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSubtitled The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn this is the story of Cordelia from the time she is 15 until she is 20. She is pregnant and plans to give this account to her daughter on her 16th birthday so that they can share their youth together... -
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A Rose for Melinda by Lurlene McDaniel
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTold in letters, journal entries, e-mails, doctors’ reports, and instant messages, the heartbreaking story of an aspiring ballet dancer battling leukemia. From: Melinda Skye To: Readers Subject: Jesse Hi! I can’t believe it. What a surprise from Jesse... -
Olivia by Lori L. Otto
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen devastating news brings an abrupt end to a romantic rendezvous, Livvy Holland struggles to accept the death of one of her closest mentors. Livvy’s artwork has always been an expression of her emotions, and avoiding the pain she feels from her recent loss makes painting seem impossible. Her inspiration gone, she devotes her attention to the future she’s planning with Jon Scott... -
Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSparks fly between two teens as they grapple with grief, love, and the future.Eighteen-year-old Amelia Griffin is obsessed with the famous Orman Chronicles, written by the young and reclusive prodigy N. E. Endsley. They’re the books that brought her and her best friend Jenna together after Amelia’s father left and her family imploded... -
Falling for Hadie by Komal Kant
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“Sometimes there is a single moment that changes your life forever.” Hadie Swinton is giving up on boys. After a disastrous relationship, she is convinced that all males are the same—arrogant, self-assured, and complete jerks. Lincoln Bracks is giving up on his old life. After moving to a new town to escape the problems plaguing him, he is set against ever getting close to anyone again... -
Love, Lucas by Chantele Sedgwick
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen Oakley Nelson loses her older brother, Lucas, to cancer, she thinks she’ll never recover. Between her parents’ arguing and the battle she’s fighting with depression, she feels nothing inside but a hollow emptiness. When Mom suggests they spend a few months in California with Aunt Jo, Oakley isn’t sure a change of scenery will alter anything, but she’s willing to give it a try... -
Saving Wishes by G.J. Walker-Smith
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFor Charli Blake, being seventeen is a tough gig.She's been branded a troublemaker, her reputation is in tatters and she's stuck in Pipers Cove, a speck of a town on the coast of Tasmania. Thankfully, it's temporary. Her lifelong dream of travelling the world is just months away from becoming reality... -
Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn aspiring film writer tells about her troubled teen years in the Chicago suburbs when she and her friends tried to escape the pain of their lives through rock music and drugs... -
My Mistletoe Mix-Up by Judy Corry
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsShe was supposed to kiss her crush under the mistletoe. She didn't expect to kiss his bad-boy twin.When Raven Rodgers finds out her longtime crush is back in town, she's convinced her bad luck with guys has finally changed. That is until she mistakenly kisses her crush's twin brother, Logan Carmichael, who has been her sworn enemy since childhood...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship high-school book contemporary fiction womens-fiction -
Some Other Now by Sarah Everett
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis Is Us for teens, this luminous and heartbreaking contemporary novel follows a girl caught between two brothers as the three of them navigate family, loss, and love over the course of two summers. For fans of Far From the Tree, Emergency Contact, and Nina LaCour... -
Heart to Heart by Lurlene McDaniel
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsElowyn Eden and Kassey Messechek are best friends. They share every aspect of their lives. But one thing Elowyn has not yet shared with Kassey is that she checked the organ donor box on her newly acquired driver's license. Kassey only learns of this in a startling and devastating way — when Elowyn's life-giving donor wishes are about to be honoured. Arabeth St... -
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The Other Side of Lost by Jessi Kirby
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsGirl Online meets Wild in this emotionally charged story of girl who takes to the wilderness to rediscover herself and escape the superficial persona she created on social media.Mari Turner’s life is perfect. That is, at least to her thousands of followers who have helped her become an internet starlet... -
Beach House for Rent by Mary Alice Monroe
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe returns to her beloved Isle of Palms to tell the poignant, charming story of two women, one summer, and one very special beach house... -
The Year of Chasing Dreams by Lurlene McDaniel
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Readers will swoon over this story of love despite impossible odds."--Romantic TimesFrom the author of Don't Die, My Love comes this young adult novel that intertwines a family saga with a grand love story. This novel stands alone or can be read as the companion to The Year of Luminous Love and Wishes and Dreams. For fans of Sarah Dessen's The Moon and More and Ann Brashares's Forever in Blue... -
Somebody's Baby by Lurlene McDaniel
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEver since Sloan won a reality singing competition, her music career has taken off. Now she has a manager, a recording contract, and a tour in the works. Her manager warned her that strangers would ask her for all sorts of things, and that she must not respond. But one email stands out—from a young woman who claims to be Sloan’s half sister... -
Shoot The Gap by Jordan Ford
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe final book in a young adult romance series about a small town football team and the girls who win their hearts. Tyler Schumann has always been known as Nelson High’s goofy clown, the guy with the big mouth... -
The Half Orphan's Handbook by Joan F. Smith
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor fans of John Green and Emily X.R. Pan, The Half-Orphan's Handbook by Joan F. Smith is a coming-of-age story and an empathetic, authentic exploration of grief with a sharp sense of humor and a big heart.It’s been three months since Lila lost her father to suicide. Since then, she’s learned to protect herself from pain by following two unbreakable rules:1... -
Ethan Between Us by Anna Myers, Julia Laserna
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEthan is different. He is gorgeous, easy to talk to, and a uniquely gifted pianist. But his musical talent is both a gift and a curse. The doctors label him a schizophrenic, as he claims to have been taught by a long-dead, 19th-century composer... -
The Summer I Saved the World . . . in 65 Days by Michele Weber Hurwitz
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt's the summer before freshman year in high school and Nina decides to follow what someone said at her middle-school graduation: "Be unnoticed, but be remarkable." Her best friend Jorie is focusing on boys, clothes, and popularity, her lawyer parents are diving into a new case, and this is the first summer without her beloved Grandma, so she's is feeling a little lost... -
Four Summers by Nyrae Dawn
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsCharlotte Gates is tired of being Charlie Rae. She loves the lake she was raised on, their rental cabins, and spending her nights under the stars…but inside she yearns for more. After his freshman year, Nathaniel Chase’s family spends their first summer at The Village. From the beginning Charlotte intrigues him... -
Three Things I Know Are True by Betty Culley
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFans of Jandy Nelson and Marieke Nijkamp will love this deeply moving novel in verse about the aftermath of a gun accident. Life changes forever for Liv when her older brother, Jonah, accidentally shoots himself with his best friend Clay’s father’s gun... -
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The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEmily and her mum were always lucky.But Emily’s mum’s luck ran out three years ago when she succumbed to cancer, and nothing has felt right since.Now, the summer before her senior year, things are worse than ever – Emily has wrecked things with her boyfriend, Matt, and her dad is selling the house she grew up in and giving her mum’s belongings away... -
Beach Blondes: June Dreams, July's Promise, August Magic by Katherine Applegate
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThree months. Three guys. One amazing summer. Summer Smith is in for the best summer of her life. Between the cold weather and her boyfriendless existence in Minnesota, Summer is ready for sun, sand, and boys in the Florida Keys. And by the end of the first day, she has more than enough to keep her busy: Adam , the senator's son, has looks, power, and all the money in the world... -
Faceless by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Maisie Winters wakes up, she’s in the hospital.The last thing she remembers is running through the hills of her neighborhood one misty morning. Slowly, she puts the pieces together. Before she could make it home, a storm gathered. Lightning hit a power line and sparks rained down, the hot-burning electrical fire consuming her. Destroying her face... -
What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsA searing yet ultimately uplifting young adult novel about a teenage girl's recovery from anorexia.Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth has honed a dangerous skill: starving herself. Even when her parents send her to a treatment center, she can't stop. Then she begins receiving packages from someone she doesn't know... -
The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen it all falls apart, who can you believe in?Everything is going right for Lucy Hansson, until her mom’s cancer reappears. Just like that, Lucy breaks with all the constants in her life: her do-good boyfriend, her steady faith, even her longtime summer church camp job.Instead, Lucy lands at a camp for kids who have been through tough times... -
The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsTravis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life -- boating, swimming, and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies -- he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door... -
The Falling Leaf Never Hates the Wind by Tere Liye
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHe is like an angel to our family. He saved me, my brother, and Mother from destitution and misery of street lives. He provided us with food, shelter, helped to pay for school, and promised a better future for us. He truly is like an angel to our family. He loves us, cares for us, and sets an example without expecting anything at all in return... -
The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a paper kite, for letting go... -
I For You by Orizuka
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSuatu hari dalam hidupku, kau dan aku bertemu. Masih jelas di ingatanku sosokmu yang memukauku. Lidahku jadi kelu, mulutku terkatup rapat karena malu. Setiap malam, bayangmu menari-nari dalam benakku. Ada sejuta alasan mengapa aku begitu memujamu. Kau menyinari relung gelap hatiku. Kau satu-satunya orang yang ingin kurengkuh. Kau yang bertanggung jawab atas segala rindu... -
Some Mistakes Were Made by Kristin Dwyer, Karissa Vacker
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"Heartbreaking, painfully romantic, and deeply human." --Stephanie Garber, #1 bestselling author of CaravalFrom bestselling authors to booksellers and librarians, early readers are obsessed with this debut YA romance pitched as Sarah Dessen meets Adam Silvera, told in alternate timelines and perfect for fans of messy, complicated relationships... -
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The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJust when everything seems to be going wrong, hope and love can appear in the most unexpected places. Summer has begun, the beach beckons and Francesca Schnell is going nowhere. Four years ago, Francesca's little brother, Simon, drowned, and Francesca is the one who should have been watching. Now Francesca is about to turn sixteen, but guilt keeps her stuck in the past... -
Pulled Under by Michelle Dalton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA shy teen befriends an attractive beach town tourist in this refreshing summertime romance, in the tradition of Sixteenth Summer and Seventeenth Summer . In the small town of Pearl Beach, Florida, Izzy Lucas needs only her surfboard and the water to be completely happy. She wants nothing to do with parties, popularity contests, or showing her face around the clichéd touristy hangouts...Categorized as:
coming-of-age friendship high-school realistic season-summer book contemporary fiction -
Letting Go of Gravity by Meg Leder
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTwins Parker and Charlie are polar opposites.Where Charlie is fearless, Parker is careful.Charlie is confident while Parker aims to please.Charlie is outgoing and outspoken; Parker is introverted and reserved.And of course, there’s the one other major difference: Charlie got leukemia. Parker didn’t.But now that Charlie is officially in remission, life couldn’t be going better for Parker... -
Between Two Skies by Joanne O'Sullivan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHurricane Katrina sets a teenage girl adrift. But a new life and the promise of love emerges in this rich, highly readable debut.Bayou Perdu, a tiny fishing town way, way down in Louisiana, is home to sixteen-year-old Evangeline Riley. She has her best friends, Kendra and Danielle; her wise, beloved Mamere; and back-to-back titles in the under-sixteen fishing rodeo... -
Formerly Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJane Arrowood, otherwise known as Shark Girl, has been living with just one arm for over a year. Now she’s searching for a new normal. It’s been a year since the shark attack that took Jane’s arm, and with it, everything she used to take for granted. Her dream of becoming an artist is on the line, and everything now seems out of reach, including her gorgeous, kind tutor, Max Shannon... -
Surviving High School by M. Doty
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhat's the secret to surviving your freshman year of high school? Emily Kessler thinks she has it all figured out. She eats, sleeps and trains for competitive swimming. All she has to do is keep her grades high and swim times short -- short enough to live up to her sister Sara's. But walking the crowded maze of unfamiliar high school hallways is like diving headfirst into shark-infested waters... -
Don't Forget Me by Victoria Stevens
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Hazel Clarke is no stranger to heartbreaks, and being sent to live with a father she’s never met is the latest in a string of them. Even the beauty of eastern Australia isn’t enough to take her mind off her mother and the life she had to leave behind in England... -
Access Denied: And Other Eighth Grade Error Messages by Denise Vega
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsComputer whiz Erin Swift is ready to start eighth grade. The Year of Humiliating Events (aka, seventh grade) is behind her and she's ready to rule the school. But eight grade comes with its own set of problems for Erin to navigate, including her first boyfriend, her first break-up, and the fact that her mom has been treating her more like an eight year old than an eighth grader...Categorized as:
realistic coming-of-age friendship family high-school romance young-adult middle-grade -
Never Goodbye by Kerri Williams
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIf you had one chance to be with your soul mate, would you fight for it? Sometimes the hardest fight isn't finding love, sometimes its fighting against the ticking clock of your life. Stalked by the shadow of a foreboding disease, seventeen year old, Harper Kennedy finds herself starting a new life in Albany Missouri... -
Outrunning The Darkness by Anne Schraff
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThemes: Hi-Lo, High school, neighborhoods, family, loyalty, friendship, urban teen fiction, self esteem, teen relationships, unrequited love. Written for young adults, the Urban Underground series confronts issues that are of great importance to teens, such as friendship, loyalty, drugs, gangs, abuse, urban blight, bullies, and self-esteem to name a few... -
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Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCritically acclaimed author Melissa Kantor masterfully captures the joy of friendship, the agony of loss, and the unique experience of being a teenager in this poignant new novel about a girl grappling with her best friend's life-threatening illness.Zoe and her best friend, Olivia, have always had big plans for the future, none of which included Olivia getting sick... -
Happenstance 3 by Jamie McGuire
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBe careful what you wish for. You just might get it all. Now that Erin has learned the truth about the girls who tortured her, and about the boy she loves, she finds her time before graduation dwindling at an alarming and exciting pace. What used to be summer break was now a countdown to her final days in Blackwell... -
I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratings“For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel envy…” Tess is the exact opposite of her beautiful, athletic sister. And that’s okay. Kristina is the sporty one, Tess is the smart one, and they each have their place. Until Kristina is diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly Tess is the center of the popular crowd, everyone eager for updates. There are senior boys flirting with her... -
Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsHalley has always followed in the wake of her best friend, Scarlett. But when Scarlett learns that her boyfriend has been killed in a motorcycle accident, and that she's carrying his baby, she was devastated. For the first time ever, Scarlett really needs Halley. Their friendship may bend under the weight, but it'll never break--because a true friendship is a promise you keep forever... -
The Girl Death Left Behind by Lurlene McDaniel
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsReaders will be touched and inspired by this latest novel from bestselling author Lurlene McDaniel: Beth's world has been torn apart. She cannot figure out how to go on when a car accident claims the lives of her entire family, and she is the only survivor. Things seem to get even worse when she moves in with her aunt and her spoiled cousin, Terri... -
Just Breathe by Cammie McGovern
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the critically acclaimed author of Say What You Will and A Step Toward Falling comes a deeply emotional new novel, perfect for fans of Five Feet Apart and The Fault in Our Stars . David Scheinman is the popular president of his senior class, battling cystic fibrosis. Jamie Turner is a quiet sophomore, struggling with depression...
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