Sometimes, you just need a book with a happy ending. Or a love story (romantic love, friend love, etc). Here are some top picks. Click on the cover to see if we have a copy, or to see if the book is available in e-book form.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Allberetti
Sixteen-year-old, not-so-openly-gay Simon Spier is blackmailed into playing wingman for his classmate or else his sexual identity—and that of his pen pal—will be revealed.
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island’s other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.
Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
A fearful sixteen-year-old princess discovers her heroic destiny after being married off to the king of a neighboring country in turmoil and pursued by enemies seething with dark magic.
Heist Society by Ally Carter
A group of teenagers uses their combined talents to re-steal several priceless paintings and save fifteen-year-old Kat Bishop’s father, himself an international art thief, from a vengeful collector.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Told in the alternating voices of Dash and Lily, two sixteen-year-olds carry on a wintry scavenger hunt at Christmas-time in New York, neither knowing quite what–or who–they will find.
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
High school student Nick O’Leary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart.
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Told in alternating voices, an all-night adventure featuring Lucy, who is determined to find an elusive graffiti artist named Shadow, and Ed, the last person Lucy wants to spend time with, except for the fact that he may know how to find Shadow
Jason and Kyra by Dana Davidson
Handsome and popular Jason tries to come to terms with his irascible, often absent father and his growing attraction to the quiet, studious Kyra.
I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
Skylar Evans, seventeen, yearns to escape Creek View by attending art school, but after her mother’s job loss puts her dream at risk, a rekindled friendship with Josh, who joined the Marines to get away then lost a leg in Afghanistan, and her job at the Paradise motel lead her to appreciate her home town.
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
The summer following her father’s death, Macy plans to work at the library and wait for her brainy boyfriend to return from camp, but instead she goes to work at a catering business where she makes new friends and finally faces her grief.
Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller
Abducted at age five, Callie, now seventeen, has spent her life on the run but when her mother is finally arrested and she is returned to her father in small-town Florida, Callie must find a way to leave her past behind, become part of a family again, and learn that love is more than just a possibility.
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan
High school junior Leila’s Persian heritage already makes her different from her classmates at Armstead Academy, and if word got out that she liked girls life would be twice as hard, but when a new girl, Saskia, shows up, Leila starts to take risks she never thought she would, especially when it looks as if the attraction between them is mutual.
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
When Samantha, the seventeen-year-old daugher of a wealthy, perfectionistic, Republican state senator, falls in love with the boy next door, whose family is large, boisterous, and just making ends meet, she discovers a different way to live, but when her mother is involved in a hit-and-run accident Sam must make some difficult choices.
What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick
17–year-old Gwen Castle is a working-class girl determined to escape her small island town, but when rich-kid Cass Somers, with whom she has a complicated romantic history, shows up, she’s forced to reassess her feelings about her loving, complex family, her lifelong best friends, her wealthy employer, the place she lives, and the boy she can’t admit she loves.
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
While in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and younger brother, seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weighs whether to live with her grief or join her family in death.
Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern
When high school sophomore Jessie’s long-term best friend transforms herself into a punk and goes after Jessie’s would-be boyfriend, Jessie decides to visit “the wild nerd yonder” and seek true friends among classmates who play Dungeons and Dragons.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.
The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanley
Princess Torina, who has the ability to see the future, and her friend Landen, who seeks a sword that belongs to his conquered kingdom, are separated when a treacherous murderer gains power, but from exile each works to restore peace and the rightful rulers.
The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman
June is starting at her sixth school in four years when she meets Wes, who has just broken up with a girlfriend, and although they do not share an instant or intense connection, attraction turns to love and they wonder where it will lead.
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
Three teenagers in Boston narrate their experiences of a year of new friendships, first loves, and coming into their own.
Stoner & Spaz by Ronald Koertge
When sixteen-year-old Bert Bancroft, who has cerebral palsy, no parents, and lives with a doting grandmother, unexpectedly encounters Colleen Minou, a drug addict from the wrong side of town, during a movie, his life is forever changed as they form an unlikely friendship.
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
While working as a film production designer in Los Angeles, Emi finds a mysterious letter from a silver screen legend which leads Emi to Ava who is about to expand Emi’s understanding of family, acceptance, and true romance.
The Chapel Wars by Lindsey Leavitt
Sixteen-year-old Holly’s grandfather leaves her his financially-strapped Las Vegas wedding chapel in his will, along with a letter asking her to reach out to Dax, the grandson of her family’s mortal enemy and owner of the chapel next door, who is both cute and distracting.
Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis
A futuristic retelling of Snow White in which seventeen-year-old Essie, a master at repairing robots and drones on the frozen mining planet Thanda, is pulled into a war by handsome and mysterious Dane after his shuttle crash-lands near her home.
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
When Paul falls hard for Noah, he thinks he has found his one true love, but when Noah walks out of his life, Paul has to find a way to get him back and make everything right once more.
Every Day by David Levithan
Every morning A wakes in a different person’s body, in a different person’s life, learning over the years to never get too attached, until he wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon.
Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart
When Gretchen Yee, a student at the Manhattan School for Art and Music, wishes she were a fly on the wall of the boys’ locker room, she never expects her wish to come true in such a dramatic way.
Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan
Brilliant fifteen-year-old Josie has a knack for languages, but her sister’s engagement has Josie grappling with the nature of true love, her feelings for her best friend Stu, and how anyone can be truly herself, or truly in love, in a social language that is not her own.
Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger
Ten years after surviving the tornado that killed his parents, Vane Weston, now seventeen, has no memory of that fateful day but dreams of a beautiful girl who, he now learns, is not only real, she is his guardian sylph, who harnesses the power of the wind.
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school’s rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.
Cruel Summer by Alyson Noël
Ditching her best friend to become a member of the popular clique in high school, Colby’s priorities change after spending the summer on a Greek island and sharing an intense relationship with a local boy. Told through letters and journal entries.
If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin
A love story spanning the history of two teenagers’ lives and all the moments when if one little thing had been different, their futures would have been together instead of apart.
The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. But as Jude begins to fall for Emilio Vargas, she begins to wonder if her sisters were wrong.
Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund
Aerin Renning and Dane Madousin struggle as incoming students at the most exclusive academy in the Universe, both hiding secrets that are too painful to reveal, not realizing that those very secrets link them together.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
When Anna’s romance-novelist father sends her to an elite American boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school, she reluctantly goes, and meets an amazing boy who becomes her best friend, in spite of the fact that they both want something more.
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Budding costume designer Lola lives an extraordinary life in San Francisco with her two dads and beloved dog, dating a punk rocker, but when the Bell twins return to the house next door Lola recalls both the friendship-ending fight with Calliope, a figure skater, and the childhood crush she had on Cricket.
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Isla has had a crush on classmate, Josh, since their freshman year at the School of America in Paris. After a chance encounter over the summer in Manhattan, they return to France for their senior year, where they are forced to confront challenges every young couple in love must face.
Gabi, A Girl In Pieces by Isabel Quintero
Sixteen-year-old Gabi Hernandez chronicles her senior year in high school as she copes with her friend Cindy’s pregnancy, friend Sebastian’s coming out, her father’s meth habit, her own cravings for food and cute boys, and especially, the poetry that helps forge her identity.
Just One Wish by Janette Rallison
Seventeen-year-old Annika tries to cheer up her little brother Jeremy before his surgery to remove a cancerous tumor by bringing home his favorite television actor, Steve Raleigh, the star of “Teen Robin Hood.”
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits–smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Cath is a Simon Snow fan. The whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Cath’s sister has grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? Open her heart to someone? Or will she just go on living inside somebody else’s fiction?
Past Perfect by Leila Sales
Sixteen-year-old Chelsea knows what to expect when she returns for a summer of historical re-enactment at Colonial Essex Village until she learns that her ex-boyfriend is working there, too, and then meets the very attractive Dan who works at a rival historical village.
The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Stuck in an elevator during a blackout in New York City, Lucy and Owen manage to escape and spend the rest of the blackout bonding on the darkened streets, a night they remember with longing when their respective lives separate them.
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
Hadley and Oliver fall in love on the flight from New York to London, but after a cinematic kiss they lose track of each other at the airport until fate brings them back together on a very momentous day.
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
In 1959 Virginia, Sarah, a black student who is one of the first to attend a newly integrated school, forces Linda, a white integration opponent’s daughter, to confront harsh truths when they work together on a school project.
Fan Art by Sarah Tregay
Unexpectedly falling in love with his best friend at the end of senior year, Jamie unsuccessfully hides his affections from the giggling girls in his art class who work as matchmakers to bring the couple together.
Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
High school senior and student body president, Natalie likes to have everything under control, but when she becomes attracted to one of the senior boys and her best friend starts keeping secrets from her, Natalie does not know how to act.
A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller
In 1909 London, as the world of debutante balls and high society obligations closes in around her, seventeen-year-old Victoria must figure out just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dream of becoming an artist.
Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt
Remy, a talented, seventeen-year-old auto mechanic, questions his decision to join his girlfriend when she starts college in Pennsylvania after a visiting artist helps him to realize what his family’s home in a dying West Virginia mountain town means to him.
How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler
Seventeen-year-old Sugar Magnolia Dempsey is tired of leaving friends behind every time her hippie parents decide to move, but her plan to be unpopular at her new Austin, Texas, school backfires when other students join her on the path to “supreme dorkdom.”
