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Top 10 Youth Romances

Longing is the recurring theme in this year’s roundup of noteworthy romances for youth. Some of the characters recount aching crushes; others bitterly mourn a lost love or long for romance and a future that are better than what they have known. Teens of all backgrounds will connect with the young people in the novels listed below and with their honest, captivating, often comic stories about coming together, breaking apart, and dreaming of what’s to come. —Gillian Engberg

Caletti, Deb. Honey, Baby, Sweetheart. 2004. Simon & Schuster, $15.95 (0-689-86765-4).
Gr. 9–12. Sixteen-year-old Ruby and her mother both struggle to overcome heartbreak as they help an elderly friend reunite with a lost love. Ruby’s strong, sure voice narrates this compelling, multigenerational story.

Dessen, Sarah. The Truth about Forever. 2004. Viking, $16.99 (0-670-03639-0).
Gr. 9–12. While coping with her father’s death and her mother’s overwhelming grief, Macy Queen meets Wes, who helps her break through her sorrow. Sharply focused scenes between the teens beautifully articulate their initial wariness and ultimate connection.

Earls, Nick. 48 Shades of Brown. 2004. Houghton/Graphia, $6.99 (0-618-45295-8).
Gr. 10–12. Rather than join his parents in Europe, Dan spends his last year of high school at home, in Australia, living with a college-age aunt and her sexy roommate, on whom Dan develops an all-consuming crush. Dan’s wry, self-deprecating observations about attraction, sex, calculus, and his prospects for the future will captivate older teens.

Flake, Sharon G. Who Am I without Him? 2004. Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, $15.99 (0-7868-0693-1).
Gr. 6–12. Ten short stories speak with rare insight about growing up as a young black woman and navigating family, friends, school, and, especially, boyfriends. Far from idealized romances, the characters’ quests for love raise honest, raw questions about race, abuse, and poverty.

Herrick, Steven. Love, Ghosts, and Facial Hair. 2004. Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse, paper, $6.99 (0-689-86710-7).
Gr. 9–12. Aspiring 16-year-old poet Jack falls for soulful Annabel, and their romance helps soothe Jack’s grief over his mother’s death seven years earlier. Herrick’s direct, sensitive story continues in A Place like This (2004).

Kantor, Melissa. Confessions of a Not It Girl. 2004. Hyperion, $15.99 (0-7868-1837-9).
Gr. 7–12. During her senior year at a tony Manhattan private school, Jan wrestles with usual precollege-application anxieties while harboring fierce crushes on the wrong guys. Kantor peppers her breezy, humorous narrative with lively dialogue and Jan’s hilarious romantic fantasies.

Nilsson, Per. Heart’s Delight. Tr. by Tara Chace. 2003. Front Street, $16.95 (1-886910-92-8).
Gr. 9–12. The anonymous 16-year-old male narrator of this Swedish import warns, “This is no gushy, sentimental, happy teenage love story.” It is, however, a realistic, suspenseful account of the thrilling highs and devastating lows of first love.

Shreve, Susan. Under the Watsons’ Porch. 2004. Knopf, $15.95 (0-375-82630-0).
Gr. 5–8. After 14-year-old Tommy, a foster kid, moves next door to 12-year-old Ellie, she falls fast and hard, despite Tommy’s increasingly risky behavior. Writing in Ellie’s convincing voice, Shreve describes first romance with unusual sensitivity and depth.

Whitney, Kim Ablon. See You down the Road. 2004. Knopf, $15.95 (0-375-82467-7).
Gr. 9–12. Sixteen-year-old Bridget, who has grown up in a family of gypsylike Travelers, loves her betrothed, Patrick, but she longs to leave her “life of everyday scams.” A fascinating novel that asks provocative questions about love, family tradition, and independence.

Wittlinger, Ellen. Heart on My Sleeve. 2004. Simon & Schuster, $15.95 (0-689-84997-4).
Gr. 9–12. College-bound seniors Chloe and Julian eagerly embark on a long-distance romance, but they struggle to sort out the differences between e-mail personas and reality. Teens will easily connect with the poignant comedy, the characters’ shifting desires, and the multiple voices, created entirely through letters and electronic correspondence.

(Booklist/ September 15, 2004)