One City One Book Recommendations: Coming Of Age

If you run a One City One Book program and are looking specifically for coming-of-age books for your selection this year, look no further!

 

For even more recommendations of all genres, check out this post and this Edelweiss catalog.

THE SINGER SISTERS by Sarah Seltzer
9781250907660
Trade paperback available 8/5/25

Two generations of a folk-rock dynasty collide over art, love, longing, and family secrets in this captivating and poignant debut

A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT by Allison Saft
9781250892850
Trade paperback available 7/22/25

Transporting readers to a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT is a sweeping romance threaded with intrigue, unforgettable characters, and a love story for the ages.

HONEY by Isabel Banta
9781250333483
Trade paperback available 7/1/25

For fans of DAISY JONES AND THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Emma Cline’s THE GIRLS, and Stephanie Danler’s SWEETBITTER, a coming-of-age story that follows the stunningly talented popstar Amber Young as she skyrockets to fame in the late 90s.

MOONBOUND by Robin Sloan
9781250390509
Trade paperback available 6/10/25

Moonbound is an adventure into the richest depths of Story itself from the creator of the Penumbraverse. It is a deeply satisfying epic of ancient scale, blasted through the imaginative prism of one of our most forward-thinking writers. And this is only the beginning.

THAT’S ALL I KNOW by Elisa Levi
9781644453377
Trade paperback available 5/20/25

Elisa Levi’s THAT’S ALL I KNOW explores the toll of caring for those who cannot care for themselves, the fear of the unknown that anchors people to unfulfilling lives, and the bravery it takes to stop deceiving oneself, to give in to longing.

TWELFTH KNIGHT by Alexene Farol Follmuth
9781250884916
Trade paperback available 5/13/25

The Reese’s Book Club Pick and instant New York Times bestselling YA romantic comedy and coming-of-age story about taking up space in the world and learning what it means to let others in — now in paperback!

888 LOVE AND THE DIVINE BURDEN OF NUMBERS by Abraham Chang
9781250910806
Trade paperback available 5/6/25

For fans of TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW and High Fidelity comes a dazzling love story set at NYU in the mid-’90s, that buzzes with big-hearted pop culture energy

WHEN WE WERE SILENT by Fiona McPhillips
9781250908254
Trade paperback available 5/6/25

An outsider threatens to expose the secrets at an elite private school in this suspenseful debut novel for readers of MY DARK VANESSA and DARE ME.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY by Charlotte Rixon
9781250877321
Trade paperback available 4/15/25

A sweeping, poignant novel spanning two decades, about first love, first heartbreak, and the ones we never forget, for readers of Jill Santopolo, Rosie Walsh, and Colleen Hoover.

ANITA DE MONTE LAUGHS LAST by Xochitl Gonzalez
9781250786241
Trade paperback available 3/4/25

New York Times bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a mesmerizing novel about a first-generation Ivy League student who uncovers the genius work of a female artist decades after her suspicious death.

MERCURY by Amy Jo Burns
9781250908582
Trade paperback available now

A clarion-hearted and capacious new novel from Amy Jo Burns, MERCURY is the story of a family of roofers striving for stability in a hardworking, blue-collar town, and the one woman who becomes their beating heart.

HOLIDAY COUNTRY by Inci Atrek
9781250889485
Trade paperback available now

A seductive and lyrical debut following a young woman’s dangerous summer romance during an idyllic vacation on the Aegean coast.

TOGETHER WE BURN by Isabel Ibañez
9781250358011
Trade paperback available now

A lush, enchanting standalone fantasy inspired by medieval Spain, filled with romance, adventure, and just the right amount of danger, now in paperback!

THE SEA ELEPHANTS by Shastri Akella
9781250867247
Trade paperback available now

A queer coming-of-age novel set in 1990s India, about a young man who flees his father’s threats to send him to a conversion center by joining a street theater troupe.

THE HOUSE OF FORTUNE by Jessie Burton
9781639731626
Trade paperback available now

Alive with the magic of eighteenth-century Amsterdam, a bestselling, bewitching historical novel about one young woman learning to set her own life’s course despite family and cultural pressure, from New York Times bestselling author Jessie Burton.

YOU’VE REACHED SAM by Dustin Thao
9781250762054
Trade paperback available now

The blockbuster bestseller, now in trade paperback! IF I STAY meets YOUR NAME in this heartfelt novel about love and loss and what it means to say goodbye.

MADDALENA AND THE DARK by Julia Fine
9781250867902
Trade paperback available now

For fans of THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE and MEXICAN GOTHIC, a novel set in 18th-century Venice at a prestigious music school, about two girls drawn together by a dangerous wager.

SHY by Max Porter
9781644452899
Trade paperback available now

New in paperback, a novel by “contemporary fiction’s bard of ugly beauty and exultant despair” (The New Yorker), this is the story of a few strange hours in the life of a troubled teenage boy.

BEATING HEART BABY by Lio Min
9781250819116
Trade paperback available now

Lio Min’s Beating Heart Baby is a “dizzying, sexy, and utterly heartfelt” (Mary H. K. Choi) love letter to internet friendships, anime, and indie rock, perfect for fans ready for what comes after HEARTSTOPPER.

GONE TO THE WOLVES by John Wray
9781250335692
Trade paperback available now

In his most daring novel yet, John Wray dives deep into the wild, funhouse world of metal true believers and the doomsday cults that flourished at the end of the twentieth century, and lays bare the intensity, the tumult, and the rapture of friendship in late adolescence—a time when music can often feel like life or death.

BEYOND THAT, THE SEA by Laura Spence-Ash
9781250854391
Trade paperback available now

A sweeping, tenderhearted love story that tells the story of two families living through World War II on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and the shy, irresistible young woman who will call them both her own.

I’M THE GIRL by Courtney Summers
9781250323545
Trade paperback available now

A subversive, “brutally captivating” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and “devastatingly realistic” (Kirkus, starred review) coming-of-age thriller perfect for fans of MY DARK VANESSA and FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER.

ANDER & SANTI WERE HERE by Jonny Garza Villa
9781250323392
Trade paperback available now

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE meets THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR in this YA contemporary love story about a nonbinary Mexican American teen falling for the shy new waiter at their family’s taqueria.

NIGHT’S EDGE by Liz Kerin
9781250835697
Trade paperback available now

NIGHT’S EDGE takes a bite out of vampire lore in this blood-soaked novel about the darkest secrets we hide and how monstrous we can be to the ones we love most.

MAAME by Jessica George
9781250853738
Trade paperback available now

The unforgettable debut of 2023! A young British-Ghanaian woman navigates her twenties and finds her place in the world, for readers of QUEENIE and BLACK CAKE.

BEGIN AGAIN by Emma Lord
9781250874948
Trade paperback available now

A laugh-out-loud funny and emotionally resonant send-up of Legally Blonde and THE EX TALK, BEGIN AGAIN is a vibrant, romantic novel about the journey we take to find our people, and ourselves.

PLEASE REPORT YOUR BUG HERE by Josh Riedel
9781250861580
Trade paperback available now

Introducing Josh Riedel’s adrenaline-packed debut novel about a dating app employee who discovers a glitch that transports him to other worlds.

FABLE by Adrienne Young
9781250254382
Trade paperback available now

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men.

WINTERLAND by Rae Meadows
9781250834515
Trade paperback available now

Perfection has a cost . . . With transporting prose and meticulous detail, set in an era that remains shockingly relevant today, this is a story of glory, loss, hope, and determination, and of finding light where none exists.

OUR CROOKED HEARTS by Melissa Albert
9781250826381
Trade paperback available now

A darkly brilliant contemporary fantasy set in both a modern-day suburban town and the magic-drenched 1990s Chicago, this bewitching and propulsive story rockets towards a conclusion guaranteed to keep readers up at night.

MY GOVERNMENT MEANS TO KILL ME by Rasheed Newson
9781250833549
Trade paperback available now

A fierce and riveting queer coming-of-age story following the personal and political awakening of a young gay Black man in 1980s New York City.

WILD SPACES by S.L. Coney
9781250866837
Trade paperback available now

Robert R. McCammon’s Boy’s Life meets Lovecraftian horror in this foreboding, sensual coming-of-age story in which the corrosive nature of family secrets assumes eldritch proportions.

OTHER NAMES FOR LOVE by Taymour Soomro
9781250872883
Trade paperback available now

A charged, hypnotic debut novel about a boy’s life-changing summer in rural Pakistan: a story of fathers, sons, and the consequences of desire.

ELSEWHERE by Alexis Schaitkin
9781250219626
Trade paperback available now

Richly emotive and darkly captivating, with elements of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” and the imaginative depth of Margaret Atwood, ELSEWHERE by Alexis Schaitkin conjures a community in which girls become wives, wives become mothers and some of them, quite simply, disappear.

THE RUINS by Phoebe Wynne
9781250800695
Trade paperback available now

A suspenseful, contemporary Gothic coming-of-age tale with shades of Patricia Highsmith and Atonement, pitched against the sun-soaked backdrop of the French Riviera.

NSFW by Isabel Kaplan
9781250871497
Trade paperback available now

Blisteringly sharp and hypersmart—meet Isabel Kaplan’s searing debut novel about a young woman trying to succeed in Hollywood without selling her soul.

THIS GOLDEN STATE by Marit Weisenberg
9781250786289
Trade paperback available now

A propulsive, emotional novel following a family on the run, a restless teenage daughter hungry for the truth, and the simple DNA test that threatens their carefully crafted world.

NOTES ON YOUR SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE by Alison Espach
9781250871442
Trade paperback available now

Opening in the early nineties and charting almost two decades of shared history and missed connections, this is both a breathtaking love story about two broken people who are unexplainably, inconveniently drawn to each other and a wryly astute coming-of-age tale brimming with unexpected moments of joy.

A THOUSAND STEPS by T. Jefferson Parker
9781250890214
Trade paperback available now

A beguiling thriller, an incisive coming-of-age story, and a vivid portrait of a turbulent time and place by three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker.

BEAUTIFUL WORLD, WHERE ARE YOU by Sally Rooney
9781250859044
Trade paperback available now

Alice, Felix, Eileen, and Simon are still young—but life is catching up with them. Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?

ALL GIRLS by Emily Layden
9781250751126
Trade paperback available now

A kaleidoscopic debut novel from an unforgettable new voice in fiction, exploring the aftermath of a sexual assault allegation at an elite all-girls boarding school.

THE HOUSE UPTOWN by Melissa Ginsburg
9781250784209
Trade paperback available now

An emotional coming-of-age novel about a young girl who goes to live with her eccentric grandmother in New Orleans after the death of her mother.

ONE LAST STOP by Casey McQuiston
9781250244499
Trade paperback available now

From the New York Times bestselling author of RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE comes a new romantic comedy that puts a queer spin on Kate & Leopold.

DOMINICANA by Angie Cruz
9781250205940
Trade paperback available now

In the vein of ANOTHER BROOKLYN and AMERICANAH, a novel about a Dominican teenager’s arranged marriage and immigration to New York City, set in the 1960s and inspired by the author’s mother.

TRUST EXERCISE by Susan Choi
9781250231260
Trade paperback available now

As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Susan Choi’s TRUST EXERCISE will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth and about friendships and loyalties, leaving readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.