Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
Top Ten Books I Recommend to… my 8th grade girls looking for more mature/edgy contemporary romance books to read next
Typically my students start with PERFECT CHEMISTRY (& the rest of the series) by Simone Elkeles because they end up having it recommended by a friend, and after they read and love it, they ask me for more “books like this one.” It’s not always easy to decipher what exactly that means, but I’ve come to realize that in this case they’re usually asking me for a more mature/edgy, realistic contemporary romance book. This year in particular, I’ve had to expand my book knowledge in this subset because I have a core group of girls who are reading tons of books and keep asking for more like these. I can always guide them toward other non-realistic genres for read alikes later, but for now they want the contemps, so here’s my go-to list of next read alikes for this specific request.
*Caution: Know your students well and what they can handle and what their parents would (not) be okay with them reading about before recommending these definitively YA titles. I did not recommend any of these until I had read them first and knew that the particular student reading it would be able to handle the mature content (and it I would rarely recommend to a 7th grader), but there is a reason for each one of these being on this list because they each have valuable messages to offer teen girls along with being engaging reads.
SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL by Trish Doller
WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE by Trish Doller
JUST ONE DAY (& JUST ONE YEAR) by Gayle Forman
JUMPING OFF SWINGS by Jo Knowles
SOME GIRLS ARE by Courtney Summers
SHUT OUT by Kody Keplinger
THOUSAND WORDS by Jennifer Brown
MY LIFE AFTER NOW by Jessica Verdi
RECLAIMED by Sarah Guillory
What would you recommend to readers looking for a mature/edgy contemporary romance book?
Great choices! I definitely agree with the Katie McGarry and Simone Elkeles books! And Jennifer Brown and Jessica Verdi have great books that can actually teach them a lesson as well!
Here's My TTT
Great choices here! Definitely agree about Jumping Off Swings and I really want to read my Life After Now 🙂
Have to say I wasn't keen on Thousand Words at all – but I get why it's on here. I just found it quite bland though, if I'm honest
Brilliant choices. I really like Jennifer Brown. She writes some brilliant books.