There is nothing sweeter than a first love. It comes in all shapes and sizes—whether it’s the person you’ve been best friends with for years or the new kid who just started at school—but it’s always exciting. I find books about first love to be hopeful and sometimes even painful, but it’s an experience that most people will go through during their lives so it helps to have company. YA books are full of stories like this, so I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorites.
11 Stories of First Love You Definitely Don’t Want To Miss
1. Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson in March 2019!
In this moving story that’s perfect for fans of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, two teens fall in love with just one minor complication—they can’t get within a few feet of each other without risking their lives.
2. Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett
After an awkward first encounter, Daniel and Birdie soon realize that they are now co-workers on the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel. Lovers of mysteries themselves, the two quickly embark on a hunt for clues as they begin to unravel the identity of a world-famous reclusive author who may be meeting someone at the hotel. Can they guess who he is before he stops visiting?
3. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
Lara Jean’s love life gets complicated in this New York Times bestselling “lovely, lighthearted romance” (School Library Journal) from the bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series.
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once?
4. Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch
When travel plans go awry, Addie suddenly finds herself on a whirlwind tour of the Emerald Isle, trapped in the world’s smallest vehicle with her brother Ian and his admittedly cute, Irish-accented friend Rowan.
5. A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard
Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life and the condition has made her feel invisible. But Rhys, the new boy at school, sees her. He’s deaf, and her knowledge of basic sign language means that she’s assigned to help him acclimate.
6. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime.
7. Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett
When a group camping trip goes south, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.
8. Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
After she doesn’t get accepted to the art school of her dreams, Kiko takes a leap of faith and accepts an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west.
9. Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines
West Ashby and Maggie Carleton both have their secrets. As West’s pain becomes too much to handle, he knows he needs to talk to someone—so in the dark shadows of a post-game party, he opens up to the one girl who he knows won’t tell anyone else.
10. Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee
Tash’s amateur web series has been nominated for a Golden Tuba award, meaning her cyber-flirtation with a fellow award nominee suddenly has the potential to become something IRL—if she can figure out how to tell said crush that she’s romantically asexual.
11. The Last Words We Said by Leah Scheier
All the Bright Places meets If I Stay in this heart-wrenching, romantic novel about a tight-knit group of teen girls coping with a devastating loss and what happens when your best friend is also your first love…and your first heartbreak.