Books like 'True Biz'
Readers who enjoyed True Biz by Sara Nović also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary literary-fiction coming-of-age lgbtq realistic social-commentary family friendship
-
Finding Billie Romano by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsUSA Today bestselling author wants to take you to Ireland for a story that will leave you wanting more long after you turn the last page... Twenty-five year old Billie Romano is struggling. She is grieving the death of her beloved dad and nothing in her life is going right... -
![Crank Trilogy by Ellen Hopkins]()
Crank Trilogy by Ellen Hopkins
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe heart-wrenching bestselling Crank trilogy shows that addiction is never just one person’s problem. Crank Kristina is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. Then she meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild ride turns into a struggle for her mind, her soul—her life. Glass Crank. Glass. Ice. Crystal... -
![When Aidan Became A Brother by Kyle Lukoff]()
When Aidan Became A Brother by Kyle Lukoff
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsWhen Aidan was born, everyone thought he was a girl. His parents gave him a pretty name, his room looked like a girl's room, and he wore clothes that other girls liked wearing. After he realized he was a trans boy, Aidan and his parents fixed the parts of life that didn't fit anymore, and he settled happily into his new life... -
![Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde]()
Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsRaymond Jaffe feels like he doesn't belong. Not with his mother's new family. Not as a weekend guest with his father and his father's wife. Not at school, where he's an outcast...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship lgbtq literary-fiction realistic social-commentary audiobook -
-
![Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow]()
Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrustrated by a day full of teachers and classmates mispronouncing her beautiful name, a little girl tells her mother she never wants to come back to school. In response, the girl's mother teaches her about the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names on their lyrical walk home through the city...Categorized as:
realistic family friendship social-commentary children-books fiction children poc-mc -
![Where We Belong by Catherine Ryan Hyde]()
Where We Belong by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFourteen-year-old Angie and her mom are poised at the edge of homelessness... again. The problem is her little sister, Sophie. Sophie has an autism-like disorder, and a tendency to shriek. No matter where they live, home never seems to last long. Until they move in with Aunt Vi, across the fence from a huge black Great Dane who changes everything... -
![Hard Land by Benedict Wells]()
Hard Land by Benedict Wells
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMissouri, 1985: Um vor den Problemen zu Hause zu fliehen, nimmt der fünfzehnjährige Sam einen Ferienjob in einem alten Kino an. Und einen magischen Sommer lang ist alles auf den Kopf gestellt. Er findet Freunde, verliebt sich und entdeckt die Geheimnisse seiner Heimatstadt. Zum ersten Mal ist er kein unscheinbarer Außenseiter mehr. Bis etwas passiert, das ihn zwingt, erwachsen zu werden... -
![In the End, It Was All About Love by Musa Okwonga]()
In the End, It Was All About Love by Musa Okwonga
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe narrator arrives in Berlin, a place famed for its hedonism, to find peace and maybe love; only to discover that the problems which have long haunted him have arrived there too, and are more present than ever...Categorized as:
literary-fiction lgbtq social-commentary family fiction contemporary romantic-love book -
![The Hop by Diana Clarke]()
The Hop by Diana Clarke
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the author of Thin Girls, a page-turning feminist novel that tells the story of how a poor girl coming of age in rural New Zealand grows to be a sex icon, the face of a movement, and a mother, all at the same time.Kate Burns grows up wanting attention from her Ma, but her Ma wants only money and Kate learns how to get both...Categorized as:
lgbtq literary-fiction social-commentary coming-of-age fiction contemporary feminism audiobook -
![Rri po te mundesh. Shko nese duhet. by Helga Flatland]()
Rri po te mundesh. Shko nese duhet. by Helga Flatland
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRomanen tar utgangspunkt i tre unge barndomsvenner - Tarjei, Trygve og Kristian - og deres beslutning om å verve seg til de norske styrkene i Afghanistan. Ingen av de tre kommer tilbake... -
![Pieces of You by Tablo]()
Pieces of You by Tablo
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEpik High leader Tablo's short stories weave together the secrets and anxieties of youth, whispering words of solace to a lost generation... -
![I Promise by LeBron James]()
I Promise by LeBron James
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNBA champion and superstar LeBron James pens a slam-dunk picture book inspired by his foundation’s I PROMISE program that motivates children everywhere to always #StriveForGreatness.Just a kid from Akron, Ohio, who is dedicated to uplifting youth everywhere, LeBron James knows the key to a better future is to excel in school, do your best, and keep your family close...Categorized as:
social-commentary realistic family friendship children-books fiction sports children -
![Saturday at the Food Pantry by Diane O'Neill]()
Saturday at the Food Pantry by Diane O'Neill
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMolly and her mom don't always have enough food, so one Saturday they visit their local food pantry. Molly's happy to get food to eat until she sees her classmate Caitlin, who's embarrassed to be at the food pantry...Categorized as:
family realistic social-commentary friendship children-books poverty fiction children -
![Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession, John Hopkins]()
Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession, John Hopkins
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLeonard and Hungry Paul are two friends who see the world differently. They use humour, board games and silence to steer their way through the maelstrom that is the 21st century.‘The figure in Munch’s painting isn’t actually screaming!’ Hungry Paul said. ‘Really, are you sure?’ Replied Leonard. ‘Absolutely. That’s the whole thing. The figure is actually closing his ears to block outa scream...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship literary-fiction realistic 21st-century adult anthologies -
-
![My Lame Life: Queen of the Misfits by Jen Mann]()
My Lame Life: Queen of the Misfits by Jen Mann
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Jen Mann has written a hilarious and heartwarming story for fans of Meg Cabot and Rainbow Rowell. My name is Plum Parrish, I'm fourteen, and I'm pretty sure I'm invisible. Not like super power invisible, more like loser invisible. There's a big difference... -
![The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue]()
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhere would I start, and how would it even make sense? How could you understand the year in Shandon Street unless you were there, with us, living it?Rachel Murray is twenty-one years old, platonically infatuated with her housemate James, and less-than-platonically infatuated with her enigmatic, married English professor Dr Byrne... -
![My Maddy by Gayle E. Pitman]()
My Maddy by Gayle E. Pitman
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA child celebrates her Maddy, who is neither mommy nor daddy but a little bit of both, like so many things in nature. Includes note to parents... -
![Jewelweed by David Rhodes]()
Jewelweed by David Rhodes
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWith Jewelweed this beloved author returns to the same out-of-the-way community as Driftless and introduces a cast of characters who must overcome the burdens left by the past. After serving time for a dubious conviction, Blake Bookchester is paroled... -
![On Herring Cove Road: Mr. Rosen and His 43Lb Anxiety by Michael Kroft]()
On Herring Cove Road: Mr. Rosen and His 43Lb Anxiety by Michael Kroft
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOnce an amusing extrovert with a reputation as a prankster, Mr. Rosen is entering his retirement years as a stoic thirty-year converted introvert who has no interest in people, despises change, and is more than content to have his wife navigate his life... -
![Caitlin's Lucky Charm by Lisa Schroeder]()
Caitlin's Lucky Charm by Lisa Schroeder
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFour best friends, one lucky bracelet, and an utterly charming new middle-grade series!Caitlin would stay at summer camp forever if she could. Her new best friends in the world, Hannah, Mia, and Libby are there... -
![The Celebrants by Steven Rowley]()
The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Big Chill for our times, celebrating decades-long friendships and promises--especially to ourselves--by the bestselling and beloved author of The Guncle. It's been a minute--or five years--since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation when their adult lives officially began... -
![Afterglow by Phil Stamper]()
Afterglow by Phil Stamper
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter a summer of life-changing, these four friends are finally ready for senior year.Gabriel is thrilled to create his school's first LGBTQ+ advocacy group, but his long-distance relationship is fading from summer love to something else... Heath feels secure for the first time in years, but with his future riding on a baseball scholarship, each pitch triggers his anxiety.. -
![Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda]()
Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTender and intense, Honeybees and Distant Thunder is the unflinching story of love, courage and rivalry as three young people come to understand what it means to truly be a friend.In a small coastal town just a stone's throw from Tokyo, a prestigious piano competition is underway...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic coming-of-age fiction contemporary 21st-century book adult -
![Like Bug Juice on a Burger by Julie Sternberg]()
Like Bug Juice on a Burger by Julie Sternberg
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsI hate camp. I just hate it. I wish I didn’t. But I do. Being here is worse than bug juice on a burger. Or homework on Thanksgiving. Or water seeping into my shoes. In this sequel to the critically acclaimed Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, Eleanor is off to summer camp...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship realistic animals children children-books contemporary -
-
![The Blue-Haired Boy by Courtney C. Stevens]()
The Blue-Haired Boy by Courtney C. Stevens
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSet before the events of Courtney C. Stevens's debut novel, Faking Normal, this digital short story focuses on Bodee Lennox, otherwise known as the Kool-Aid Kid.Bodee Lennox has secrets. About where he got the four-inch scar on his leg. About the bruises on his back. About what it's really like to live in the Lennox household. These are things he doesn't share with anyone . . -
![Jumped In by Patrick Flores-Scott]()
Jumped In by Patrick Flores-Scott
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSam has the rules of slackerhood down: Don't be late to class. Don't ever look the teacher in the eye. Develop your blank stare. Since his mom left, he has become an expert in the art of slacking, especially since no one at his new school gets his intense passion for the music of the Pacific Northwest—Nirvana, Hole, Sleater-Kinney...Categorized as:
realistic friendship coming-of-age family young-adult contemporary high-school poc-mc -
![Now I'll Tell You Everything by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor]()
Now I'll Tell You Everything by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt's Alice—for the rest of her life! Yes, the very last Alice book, and it reveals every last bit you'd want to know about Alice, including whether she spends the rest of her life with Patrick! "This is the book where Alice, every girl’s girl, turns into every lady’s lady" (VOYA).Alice McKinley is going to college! And everything, from her room to her classes to her friends, is about to change... -
![The Love We Left Behind by Katherine Slee]()
The Love We Left Behind by Katherine Slee
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA heartbreaking, heartwarming story of two best friends—and the choices that could tear them apart.London, 2012. With her adoring fiancé, financial independence and a close-knit group of friends, Erika should have life all figured out—but she can’t shake the feeling that there’s something missing... -
![Misophonia by Dana Vowinckel]()
Misophonia by Dana Vowinckel
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPart coming-of-age tale, part family saga, an extraordinary debut novel set between Berlin, Chicago, and Jerusalem “about being Jewish and German, and all the awkwardness that entails” (The Guardian).It’s the hottest of summers in Chicago, and fifteen-year-old Margarita is spending her vacation as usual, under the not-so-watchful eyes of her aging maternal grandparents... -
![Some Mistakes Were Made by Kristin Dwyer, Karissa Vacker]()
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...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship realistic book contemporary fiction friends-to-lovers -
![Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden]()
Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAll it takes is one missed step for your life to change forever.Luca Mason knows exactly who he is and what he In six months, he’s going to be accepted into the Australian Ballet School, leave his fancy private high school, and live his life as a star of the stage―at least that’s the plan until he falls down a flight of stairs and breaks his foot in a way he can never recover from... -
![Whisper by Chrissie Perry]()
Whisper by Chrissie Perry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsI'm always trying to figure out what's really going on. Always having to fill in the gaps, but never getting all the details. It's like trying to do a jigsaw when I don't even know what the picture is, and I'm missing one of the vital middle pieces... -
![Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha]()
Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor readers of Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s "Secret Daughter" and Nancy Richler’s "The Imposter Bride", a breathtaking novel from Anita Kushwaha about the ties that bind mothers and daughters together and the secrets that tear them apartVeena, Mala and Nandini are three very different women with something in common...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic family coming-of-age fiction contemporary audiobook psychological -
![Since I Laid My Burden Down by Brontez Purnell]()
Since I Laid My Burden Down by Brontez Purnell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhiting Award winner Brontez Purnell’s debut novel is an uninhibited portrait of growing up gay in 1980s exploring art and sex with “more layered insight than the page count should allow” (Hanif Abdurraqib, MTV News ). DeShawn lives a high, creative, and promiscuous life in San Francisco...Categorized as:
lgbtq literary-fiction family social-commentary fiction contemporary poc-author poc-mc -
-
![Don't Forget Me by Victoria Stevens]()
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... -
![First Time for Everything: A Novel by Henry Fry]()
First Time for Everything: A Novel by Henry Fry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsDanny Scudd is absolutely fine. At twenty-seven years old he's finally moved to London and escaped his parents' tiny fish and chip shop, his beloved collection of house plants are thriving and every Monday evening he has a date night with his boyfriend, Tobbs.But Danny's life is thrown into chaos when he discovers at an STI clinic that Tobbs might be cheating on him... -
![Midnight Hour Encores by Bruce Brooks]()
Midnight Hour Encores by Bruce Brooks
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn the RoadSibilance T. Spooner thinks she's one of the world's more promising cellists. The world thinks so too. Given up by her mother on the day she was born, she believes she has almost raised herself--with just a bit of guidance from her unconventional father, Taxi... -
![Sea of Tranquillity by Paul Russell]()
Sea of Tranquillity by Paul Russell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPaul Russell's delicately layered, richly textured novels have won him widespread acclaim as one of the finest contemporary American novelists... -
![Also Known as Elvis by James Howe]()
Also Known as Elvis by James Howe
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSkeezie Tookis navigates a pivotal summer of first crushes and tough choices in this conclusion to the bestselling and acclaimed quartet that began with The Misfits.Skeezie Tookis, also known as Elvis, isn’t looking forward to this summer in Paintbrush Falls...Categorized as:
coming-of-age friendship lgbtq realistic children children-books contemporary fiction -
![The Paragraph Ranch by Kay Ellington]()
The Paragraph Ranch by Kay Ellington
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEVERY WRITER KNOWS YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN. But that's just what is required of West Texas expatriate Dee Bennett-Kaufmann when her mother is badly injured in a mysterious car accident. Single-again “Dr. Dee” has never been on the “A-team” in her trendy East Coast MFA program...Categorized as:
family friendship literary-fiction realistic adult anthologies audiobook contemporary -
![Honey by Isabel Banta]()
Honey by Isabel Banta
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA coming-of-age story that follows the meteoric rise of singer Amber Young as she navigates fame in the late-1990s and early-2000s era of pop music superstardomIt is 1997, and Amber Young has received a life-changing call. It is a chance thousands of girls would die for: the opportunity to join girl group Cloud9 in Los Angeles and escape her small town...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age friendship fiction contemporary young-adult historical-fiction book -
![Exposure by Ava Dellaira]()
Exposure by Ava Dellaira
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA life-changing moment encompasses conflicting truths that echo across time, in this powerful, provocative debut.One night, two people, four sides of a story.In 2004, Juliette Marker, a white college freshman, and Noah King, a Black high school senior, are two lonely souls who enter each other’s orbit, forge a connection, and, after a chance meeting, go home together...Categorized as:
literary-fiction lgbtq friendship family coming-of-age fiction audiobook contemporary -
![How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer]()
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn her dazzling first book Julie Orringer dives into the private world of childhood and immerses us in its fears and longings: the jealous friendships and the bitter sibling battles; the parents that row and the boys that won't dance with you. Then, in a voice that is equally tender and compassionate, she reminds us of those rare, exhilarating moments of victory...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family literary-fiction realistic 21st-century anthologies contemporary drama -
![Bear Necessity by James Gould-Bourn]()
Bear Necessity by James Gould-Bourn
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA heartwarming, poignant, and charming debut novel for fans of Nick Hornby and The Rosie Project, about a father and son overcoming their grief in surprisingly inventive ways.Danny’s life is falling apart. He’s become a single father to eleven-year-old Will—who hasn’t spoken since the death of his mother in a car crash a year earlier—and Danny has just been fired from his construction job... -
-
![Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg]()
Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI had a bad August.A very bad August.As bad as pickle juice on a cookie.As bad as a spider web on your leg.As bad as the black parts on a banana.I hope your August was better.I really do.Written in a lyrical style with thoughtful and charming illustrations throughout, this remarkable debut novel tells a poignant story of friendship and the bittersweet feelings of growing up...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship realistic children children-books contemporary fiction -
![Before the Wind by Jim Lynch]()
Before the Wind by Jim Lynch
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFollowing The Highest Tide, Border Songs, and Truth Like the Sun, Jim Lynch now gives us a grand and idiosyncratic family saga that will stand alongside Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion.Joshua Johannssen has spent all of his life surrounded by sailboats. His grandfather designed them, his father built and raced them, his Einstein-obsessed mother knows why and how they work (or not)... -
![Alice on Her Way by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor]()
Alice on Her Way by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFreedom! It's the moment Alice has been looking forward to for years -- her sixteenth birthday is coming up, and that means getting her driver's licence, with the freedom that entails. And before that important milestone, there's another delicious taste of freedom awaiting Alice and her friends -- a class trip to New York City, promising some serious partying once chaperones have gone to bed... -
![Almost Home by Jessica Blank]()
Almost Home by Jessica Blank
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhy would anyone choose to live on the streets? There is Eeyore, just twelve years old when she runs away from her priveleged home, harboring a secret she's too ashamed to tell anyone. Rusty is a sensitive gay teen who winds up alone when his older boyfriend ditches him in Hollywood. Squid has gone through too many foster homes to count... -
![The Color Project by Sierra Abrams]()
The Color Project by Sierra Abrams
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBernice Aurora Wescott has one thing she doesn't want anyone to know: her name. That is, until Bee meets Levi, the local golden boy who runs a charity organization called The Color Project. Levi is not at all shy about attempting to guess Bee’s real name; his persistence is one of the many reasons why Bee falls for him... -
![Kat and Meg Conquer the World by Anna Priemaza]()
Kat and Meg Conquer the World by Anna Priemaza
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor fans of Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything, Emery Lord’s When We Collided, and Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Anna Priemaza’s debut novel is a heartwarming and achingly real story of finding a friend, being a fan, and defining your place in a difficult world.Kat and Meg couldn’t be more different. Kat’s anxiety makes it hard for her to talk to people...Categorized as:
realistic friendship coming-of-age family young-adult contemporary mental-illness fiction
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
