From High School to College, We Have the Perfect Book for You

Enter the doors of your imagination and set off on a literary adventure through the alluring world of young adult fiction set inside educational institutions. These books provide readers with an opportunity to recapture the exciting highs, difficult trials, and warm companionship of school life, whether it is on bustling high school campuses or mysterious boarding academies. We'll look at a wide range of books in this carefully picked collection that perfectly encapsulate adolescent experiences, academic endeavors, and the transforming power of education.

A Council of Dolls

by Mona Susan Power

From the mid-century metropolis of Chicago to the windswept ancestral lands of the Dakota people, to the bleak and brutal Indian boarding schools, A Council of Dolls is the story of three women, told in part through the stories of the dolls they carried.…

A modern masterpiece, A Council of Dolls is gorgeous, quietly devastating, and ultimately hopeful, shining a light on the echoing damage wrought by Indian boarding schools, and the historical massacres of Indigenous people. With stunning prose, Mona Susan Power weaves a spell of love and healing that comes alive on the page.

Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl

by Joya Goffney

"A triumph in not just dynamite contemporary fiction but also in critiquing purity culture and the harm it can do." --Buzzfeed

"A compassionate novel that encourages teens to prioritize the control, safety, and comfort of their own bodies." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Monique is a preacher's daughter who detests the impossible rules of her religion. Everyone expects her to wait until marriage, so she has no one to turn to when she discovers that she physically can't have sex.

After two years of trying and failing, her boyfriend breaks up with her. To win him back, Monique teams up with straight-laced church girl Sasha--who is surprisingly knowledgeable about Monique's condition--as well as Reggie, the misunderstood bad boy who always makes a ruckus at church, and together they embark upon a top-secret search for the cure.

Countdown

by M J McIsaac

Myles has it all: he's popular, has an amazing girlfriend and won a full athletic scholarship to a top university. But on the day of his high school graduation ceremony, while he struggles to write his valedictorian speech, Myles receives a text that changes everything. Somehow, through text conversations in the next six hours, Myles has to discover the identity of the person threatening to reveal his darkest secret: his role in a rugby team hazing. And with so much to lose, Myles is willing to do whatever it takes to stop them.

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry

by Joya Goffney

Quinn keeps lists of everything--from the days she's ugly cried, to "Things That I Would Never Admit Out Loud" and all the boys she'd like to kiss. Her lists keep her sane. By writing her fears on paper, she never has to face them in real life. That is, until her journal goes missing . . .

Then an anonymous account posts one of her lists on Instagram for the whole school to see and blackmails her into facing seven of her greatest fears, or else her entire journal will go public. Quinn doesn't know who to trust. Desperate, she teams up with Carter Bennett--the last known person to have her journal--in a race against time to track down the blackmailer.

First-Year Orientation

by Lauren Gibaldi - Eric Smith

Jilly cannot believe her parents keep showing up at all of her orientation events. (Except, yes, she can totally believe that.) Isaac wants to be known as someone other than the kid who does magic and has an emotional support bunny. Lilly is stuck working at the college bookstore during orientation (but maybe new friends are closer than they appear). Hira, meanwhile, just wants to retire from ghost hunting once and for all, but a spirit in the library's romance section has other ideas. 

For their sophomore effort, the contributing editors behind the critically acclaimed Battle of the Bands admit us to opening day at a fictional college, with a collection that makes an ideal high school graduation gift or "summer-before" read. This colorful array of stories spans genres and moods--from humorous to heartfelt to ghostly--tackling with sensitivity, humor, and warmth what it feels like to take those first shaky steps into adulthood.

Hot Dutch Daydream

by Kristy Boyce

No one has ever accused Sage Cunningham of being easily distracted. She has a plan, and she won't be swayed. She'll spend the summer interning in her mentor's lab in Amsterdam, and then she'll be ready for college. All she needs to do to pay for the summer abroad is agree to serve as the au pair for Dr. Reese's three-year-old.

Sage has it all down to a science, but she doesn't anticipate the surprise arrival of Dr. Reese's teenage son. Ryland is spontaneous, flirty, and impulsive--everything Sage isn't. He's a talented artist, but he's desperately in need of someone to keep him focused. And as nannying proves harder than Sage had expected, it turns out she might need help too.

How to Excavate a Heart

by Jake Maia Arlow

It all starts when Shani runs into May. Like, literally. With her mom's Subaru.

Attempted vehicular manslaughter was not part of Shani's plan. She was supposed to be focusing on her monthlong paleoichthyology internship. She was going to spend all her time thinking about dead fish and not at all about how she was unceremoniously dumped days before winter break.

It could be going better.

But when a dog-walking gig puts her back in May's path, the fossils she's meant to be diligently studying are pushed to the side--along with the breakup.

If You Still Recognize Me

by Cynthia So

This summer, Elsie is finally going to confess her feelings to her longtime--and long-distance--crush. Ada's fanfics are to die for, and she just gets Elsie like no one else. That is, until Joan, Elsie's childhood best friend, literally walks back into her life and slots in like she never left. Like she never moved away to Hong Kong and never ignored Elsie's dozens of emails and letters.

Then Ada mentions her grandmother's own long-lost pen pal (and maybe love?), a woman who once lived only a train ride away from Elsie's Oxford home, and Elsie gets the idea for the perfect grand gesture. But as her plan to reunite the two older women ignites a summer of repairing broken bonds, Elsie starts to wonder if she, too, can recover the things she's lost…

If You'll Have Me

by Eunnie Eunnie

"Super sweet and totally heartwarming!"--Alice Oseman, bestselling author of Heartstopper and Loveless

Momo Gardner is the kind of friend who's always ready to lend a helping hand. She's introverted, sensitive, and maybe a little too trusting, but she likes to believe the best in people. PG, on the other hand, is a bit of a lone wolf, despite her reputation for being a flirt and a player. Underneath all that cool mystery, she's actually quick to smile, and when she falls for someone, she falls hard. 

An unexpected meet-cute brings the two together, kicking off the beginning of an awkward yet endearing courtship--but with their drastically different personalities, Momo's overprotective friend, and PG's past coming back to haunt her, Momo and PG's romance is put to the test.

Last Summer on State Street

by Toya Wolfe

Named a Best Book of Summer by Good Housekeeping, Chicago Magazine, The St. Louis Post Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, Veranda, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Publishers Weekly, and more!

"[A] powerful novel.... Tragic, hopeful, brimming with love, Wolfe's debut is a remarkable achievement."--New York Times Book Review

Felicia "Fe Fe" Stevens is living with her vigilantly loving mother and older teenaged brother, whom she adores, in building 4950 of Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes. It's the summer of 1999, and her high-rise is next in line to be torn down by the Chicago Housing Authority. She, with the devout Precious Brown and Stacia Buchanan, daughter of a Gangster Disciple Queen-Pin, form a tentative trio and, for a brief moment, carve out for themselves a simple life of Double Dutch and innocence. But when Fe Fe welcomes a mysterious new friend, Tonya, into their fold, the dynamics shift, upending the lives of all four girls.

Lying in the Deep

by Diana Urban

After being jilted by her ex-boyfriend and best friend, Jade couldn't be more ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime--11 countries in 4 months, all from the luxurious Campus on Board ship--and to wedge an entire globe between her and the people who broke her heart.

But when Jade discovers the backstabbing couple are also setting sail, her obsession with them grows and festers, leading to a shocking murder. And as their friends begin to drop like flies, Jade and her new crush must race to clear her name and find the killer they're trapped at sea with....before anyone else winds up in body bags.

My Flawless Life

by Yvonne Woon

At the most elite private school in Washington, DC., whenever anyone has a problem that they need to go away, they hire Hana Yang Lerner.

Hana is a fixer. She knows who to call, what to say, and how to make sure secrets stay where they belong--buried. She can fix anything. Except her own life, which was destroyed when her father, senator Skip Lerner, was arrested for an accident that left one woman nearly dead.

Now Hana's reputation is ruined and her friends are gone. So when she gets a job from an anonymous client called "Three" to follow her former best friend, Luce Herrera, Hana realizes this might be her way of getting back her old life.

Promise Boys

by Nick Brooks

A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award 2023 Honoree

"Thrilling, captivating, and blade-sharp." --Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying

The prestigious Urban Promise Prep school might look pristine on the outside, but deadly secrets lurk within. When the principal ends up murdered on school premises and the cops come sniffing around, a trio of students--J.B., Ramón, and Trey--emerge as the prime suspects. They had the means, they had the motive . . . and they may have had the murder weapon. But with all three maintaining their innocence, they must band together to track down the real killer before they are arrested. Or is the true culprit hiding among them?

Promposal

by Raechell Garrett

High school senior Autumn Reeves has been waitlisted at her dream school. Determined to move to the top of the list, she must find a way to stand out. When a promposal she planned for a friend has half the senior class asking for her help, a brilliant business idea that will look great on her application is born: Promposal Queen.

Autumn has no clue how to start a business, so she joins the Young Black Entrepreneurs group and finds herself face-to-face with Mekhi Winston, the boy whose unexpected freshman-year kiss--a kiss that meant everything to her and nothing to him--cost Autumn her best friend. He's the only person with the experience to help her, but how can she possibly trust him?

The Sharp Edge of Silence

by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum

WHO WILL YOU BE AT LYCROFT PHELPS?

This is the question all Lycroft applicants want to be asked. It means they've been accepted to one of the most prestigious private high schools in the nation.

Over 150 years is plenty of time for traditions to bake into the campus's bricks and ivy. Ceremonies. Athletic rivalries. Secret societies. Pranks taken too far. But navigating it all will make Charlotte (perfect, straight-A student), Max (scholarship kid and STEM whiz), and Quinn (artist, dreamer, Lycroft legacy) question all they thought they knew about themselves...and the school.

The St. Ambrose School for Girls

by Jessica Ward - J R Ward

When Sarah Taylor arrives at the exclusive St. Ambrose School, she's carrying more baggage than just what fits in her suitcase. She knows she's not like the other girls--if the shabby, all-black, non-designer clothes don't give that away, the bottle of lithium hidden in her desk drawer sure does.

St. Ambrose's queen bee, Greta Stanhope, picks Sarah as a target from day one and the most popular, powerful, horrible girl at school is relentless in making sure Sarah knows what the pecking order is. Thankfully, Sarah makes an ally out of her roommate Ellen "Strots" Strotsberry, a cigarette-huffing, devil-may-care athlete who takes no bullshit. Also down the hall is Nick Hollis, the devastatingly handsome RA, and the object of more than one St. Ambrose student's fantasies.

Study Break: 11 College Tales from Orientation to Graduation

by Jake Maia Arlow - Aashna Avachat - Arushi Avachat - Boon Carmen - Ananya Devarajan - Camryn Garrett - Christina Li - Racquel Marie - Oyin Oyin - Laila Sabreen - Michael Waters - Joelle Wellington

What do you do when orientation isn't going according to your (sister's) detailed plans? Where do you go when you're searching for community in faith? How do you figure out what it means that you're suddenly attracted to your RA? What happens when your partner for your last film project is also your crush and graduation is quickly approaching?

Told over the course of one academic year, this collection of stories set on the same fictional campus features students from different cultures, genders, and interests learning more about who they are and who they want to be. From new careers to community to (almost) missed connections -- and more -- these interconnected tales explore the ways university life can be stressful and confusing and exciting and fulfilling.

A Study in Drowning

by Ava Reid

Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. Haunted by visions of the Fairy King since childhood, she's had no choice. Her tattered copy of Angharad--Emrys Myrddin's epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him--is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin's family announces a contest to redesign the late author's estate, Effy feels certain it's her destiny.

But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming. Including Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin's legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them--and the truth may bring them both to ruin.

This Is Not a Personal Statement

by Tracy Badua

At sixteen, Perla is the youngest graduating senior of the hypercompetitive Monte Verde High. Praised--and not-so-quietly bashed--as "Perfect Perlie Perez," Perla knows all the late nights, social isolation, and crushing stress will be worth it when she gets into the college of her (and her parents') dreams: Delmont University.

Then Perla doesn't get in, and her meticulously planned future shatters. In a panic, she forges her own acceptance letter, and next thing she knows, she's heading to Delmont for real, acceptance or not. Soon, Perla is breaking into dorm rooms, crashing classes, and dodging questions from new friends about her lack of a student ID. Her plan? Gather on-the-ground intel to beef up her application and reapply spring semester before she's caught.

Unnecessary Drama

by Nina Kenwood

Eighteen-year-old Brooke is the kind of friend who not only remembers everyone's birthdays, but also organizes the group present, pays for it, and politely chases others for their share. She's the helper, the doer, the maker-of spreadsheets. She's the responsible one who always follows the rules--and she plans to keep it that way during her first year of college.

Her student housing only has one rule: "no unnecessary drama." Which means no fights, tension, or romance between roommates. When one of them turns out to be Jesse, her high-school nemesis, Brooke is determined she can handle it. They'll simply silently endure living together and stay out of each other's way. But it turns out Jesse isn't so easy to ignore.

Where You See Yourself

by Claire Forrest

"Where You See Yourself is an absolutely necessary and affirming addition to YA shelves." -BuzzFeed Books

By the time Effie Galanos starts her senior year, it feels like she's already been thinking about college applications for an eternity--after all, finding a college that will be the perfect fit and be accessible enough for Effie to navigate in her wheelchair presents a ton of considerations that her friends don't have to worry about.

What Effie hasn't told anyone is that she already knows exactly what school she has her heart set on: a college in NYC with a major in Mass Media & Society that will set her up perfectly for her dream job in digital media. She's never been to New York, but paging through the brochure, she can picture the person she'll be there, far from the Minneapolis neighborhood where she's lived her entire life. When she finds out that Wilder (her longtime crush) is applying there too, it seems like one more sign from the universe that it's the right place for her.

Whistleblower

by Kate Marchant

Laurel Cates, a junior at Garland University, has no desire for the spotlight. She's determined to complete her degree with as little fuss as possible. As a writer for Garland's school paper, the Daily, Laurel sticks to well-written fluff pieces. But when she uncovers a scandal involving the school's beloved football coach, Laurel knows she has to expose the truth.Even if her classmates don't believe her.

In the aftermath of the article, Laurel's crush turns into her enemy as Bodie tries to protect the man who has been like a father to him. But as the interactions between the pair deepen, so too do their feelings for each other and an unlikely romance blossoms. Laurel soon realizes her uncompromising values will bring her closer to her desires, and closer to the truth-and closer to finding her voice.