The moment Juli saw Bryce for the first time, she flipped. She fell in love, and she was not subtle about it. Bryce did not feel the same. He would do anything to keep Juli away from him. That is, until Bryce’s grandfather moved in with his family. After seeing how wonderful and kind Juli really is, Bryce flipped too. Will Juli and Bryce finally see each other? Will their middle school romance bud into something more? Read to find out!
Before, she was just a 16 year old rising soccer star. After, she was a rebel in denial wreaking havoc in the Merchant’s School for the Blind. Refusing to come to terms with her life after meningitis, Maggie lands herself with a parole officer. And just when things seem their darkest, she meets Ben, the only person in the world she can see. Maggie bonds with Ben, and realizes just how great life can be. The only question is: how long will it last?
Love Redesigned is an enemies to lovers romance book by Lauren Asher. It follows the story of Dahlia and Julian, two family friends who turned into childhood rivals. After years of no contact, they run into each other after Dahlia comes back to their old town. This sparks their relationship when Julian asks Dahlia to work on a project with him. Throughout the book, their past is revealed and why they stopped talking to each other all those years ago.
November 9 is a fictional novel by Colleen Hoover. It follows the story of Fallon and Ben, who meet the day Fallon is going to move out of the country. They ultimately decide to spend her last day in the state together. They develop a real connection and decide to meet up every November 9th with no communication in between. One day, Fallon discovers a secret that tests their relationship and leads to a shocking discovery.
Rowan and Neil have been competing for everything their whole lives. Student council, best class project, even valedictorian. In the last 24 hours of their senior year, there’s only one thing left to compete for: Howl champion. The book explores the journey of the two teens spending those last 24 hours with each other, where they learn more about each other in that time period than they had in the 12 years they’d been in school together.
We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds is a romantic mystery novel where Avery moves from D.C. to a small southern town and unravels her family secrets, and what it means to fall in love again. This story tackles both racism and homophobia in the United States, weaving a deep mystery. Avery has to reconnect with her tough, hardened Mama Letty. There is a lot of characterization of both Avery and Letty. The other characters help support the novel but feel a little stereotypical without a lot of growth.
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi is a diverse teenage love story dealing with Muslim racism post 9/11. Shirin, a socially excluded hot-headed Muslim girl living in a world thrown against her culture, meets Ocean, a star basketball player and school golden boy. This unlikely romance leads to discrimination, and the two have to deal with a world stacked against accepting others and love. This is a very solid book on diverse representation, as Shirin is an interesting character with a Muslim background.
The live-action The Little Mermaid (2023 version) is a Disney movie based on the original The Little Mermaid. The movie is about Ariel, a mermaid who dreams of living on land with humans. When she falls in love with a human prince, she makes a deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to trade her voice for legs.
Divergent is a fantasy book by Veronica Roth. In the book, the city is divided into five factions, each based on a different talent: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. Beatrice Prior must choose which faction she will belong to for the rest of her life. However, during the aptitude test, she is revealed to be "Divergent," meaning she has an aptitude for multiple factions.
Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh is a drama-written romance that almost reminds you of It Ends With Us as the book grapples with hard topics such as abuse. This book is a duel POV about rugby player Johnny Kavanagh and shy new girl Shannon Lynch. Shannon has had to move school her whole life because of how badly her bullies have treated her throughout her life.
