Love young adult books but looking for something with slightly older characters? Looking for something in new adult with with a young adult feel? All these books feature characters 18 years or older.
Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi
A girl studying writing in college and a boy working at a café as he hopes to make it big as a movie director exchange numbers–and secrets.
Alex and Eliza by Melissa De la Cruz
Alexander Hamiton (20-22 depending on his actual birth date) meets Elizabeth Schuyler at a ball. And suddenly begins a romance that will stand the tests of the American Revolution.
Where She Went by Gayle Foreman
Mia left Adam and is now attending Julliard. But a chance encounter throws her and Adam back together. Can romance ever be rekindled?
Save the Date by Morgan Matson
Charlie Grant, the youngest of her siblings, is excited to have her family come together again for her sister’s wedding. However, it seems as if everything is going wrong, and it’s up to Charlie and the cute wedding planner’s assistant to save the day. (Charlie is a high school senior, but the love interest(s) are in college, as are a couple of Charlie’s older siblings.)
We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen
Scott and Cath have been best friends through high school, but can their friendship weather their differences when Cath goes off to college and Scott decides to pursue his music instead?
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Cath and her twin sister Wren have always loved the Simon Snow books. Now that they’re off to college and they seem to be growing apart, Cath finds solace in writing Simon Snow fan fiction. But will Cath also find a way to enjoy her college years?
Steelheart (the Reckoners trilogy) by Brandon Sanderson
One day Calamity appeared in the sky and soon after Epics appeared–previously normal people now possessed of superpowers. David watched one Epic–Steelheart–kill his father. Now it’s his mission to kill Steelheart and to end the tyranny of Epics over others.
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior lives in a world divided into factions. Her family servers Abnegation, but Tris, when asked to choose, casts her lot with the bold Dauntless. But everything is not as it seems. Tris has been warned that she harbors a secret that the government would do anything to destroy. Fortunately, she has her new boyfriend, eighteen-year-old Tobias, to help her find her way.
Batgirl, Vol. 1: The Batgirl of Burnside by Cameron Stewart, et al
Barbara Gordon’s age in this volume is a little nebulous. One could easily imagine her as a senior in college working on her thesis or as a grad student. Either way, Barbara participates in all the partying and hook-ups that have become associated with contemporary college culture.
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Nineteen-year-old cab driver Ed Kenned is living life as usual until the day he receives a message. Now he drives around the city doing good for others. But can he turn his own life around?
I’ve been wanting to read Alex and Eliza for a while but just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
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I haven’t read it myself so I unfortunately can’t comment on how good it is.
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The only one of these I’ve read is Fangirl. It’s interesting how people think about age categories for books—I think that Fangirl was marketed as New Adult, but it could certainly be read by YA readers (and they’d probably be able to relate to it).
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I’d forgotten Fangirl is considered NA because I see it categorized frequently as YA. I suppose because NA never took off and it makes sense to shelve it with Rowell’s YA books. Kind of like how all of L.M. Montgomery books get shelved as MG because librarians must assume that is the best place for Anne of Green Gables fans to find her other books. I got The Blur Castle from the kids’ section the other day. Oddly, it is labelled as younger MG even though it is an adult novel.
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What a great idea for a post! Especially since (I believe) you mentioned a while back about how YA could start to incorporate older college age characters!!
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Apparently you were stuck in our spam comments again. Sorry about that!
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Oh gosh!! Thanks for breaking me out 😉
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There’s also a great YA book by Nina LaCour called We Are Okay. It features two girls of college age, and while it does flip between the present and their past in high school, I was excited to see something with older characters in the YA section.
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Ooh cool! I hadn’t heard of that one before. Thanks for the suggestion!
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