Past & Present in Teen Fiction

The Underdogs by Sara Hammel

• Pub Date: 2016
• Middle school interest
• I wrote about it: Books to Keep you Guessing 
• Mystery goes back and forth between before the body was found and after.

Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker

• Pub Date: 2012
• High School Interest
• See also: BFF Trouble 
• Clementine's rift with her former best friend is slowly revealed in flashbacks.

I Love I Hate I Miss My Sister by Amelie Sarn

• Pub Date 2014
• Middle/High School Interest
• Diversity: Muslim teens
• Sohane relates her relationship with her sister going back and forth between past and present.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

• Pub Date: 2014
• High School Interest
• Diversity: LGBT
• Twins Jude and Noah tell their stories of loss and betrayal before and after their mother's fatal car accident. 

Run by Kody Keplinger

• Pub Date: 2016
• High school interest
• Diversity: Legally Blind character & bisexual character 
• My review: here 
• See also: Multiple Narrators 

Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas

• Pub Date: 1996
• High school interest
• See also: Losing Virginity 

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

• Pub Date: 2015
• High school interest
• See also: Religion

Without Tess by Marcella Pixley

• Pub Date: 2011
• Middle and high school interest
• See also: Medication/Therapy, Writers, Sisters
• Lizzie shares her relationship with her deceased sister in flashbacks.

The Odds of Lightning by Jocelyn Davies

• Pub Date: 2016
• High school interest
• See also: 24 Hours, Set in NYC 
• I wrote about it: 24 Hours or less

Mare's War by Tanita S. Davis

• Pub Date: 2009
• Middle and High school interest
• Diversity: African-American characters
• See also: Extended Family 
• Two teen girls are stuck driving across country with their eccentric grandmother who has quite the story to tell.

How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt

• Pub Date: 2008
• High school interest 
• See also: Divorce, Volunteerism, BFF Trouble, Atheism
• Harper tells her story of Here (a summer volunteer project in TN) and Home (her parents' divorce and falling out with her stepsister).

Once and for All by Sarah Dessen

• Pub Date: 2017
• High school interest
• See also: Marriage, Post High School, Competition 
• Louna spends the summer after graduation working for her mother's wedding planning business while flashbacks give a glimpse of tragic romance.

Hush by Eishes Chayil

• Pub Date: 2010
• High school interest
• See also: Religion 
• Gittel has been hiding a secret about her Orthodox community for years.  Now she has decided to tell.
• On the blog: Talking about Religion 

Witchtown by Cory Putman Oakes

• Pub Date: 2017
• Middle and high school interest
• See also: Secrets, Trust No One
• Something happened at the last haven Macie and her mom lived in, but that part of the story is revealed slowly in flashbacks.

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

• Pub Date: 2017
• High school Interest
• See also: Stepparents, Medication & Therapy
•  Suzette's blended family is stressed when her brother goes off his medication. Flashbacks to when Lionel was diagnosed with bipolar disorder provide context.

Furyborn by Claire Legrand

• Pub Date: 2018
• High school interest
• See also: Secrets, Forbidden Romance 
• Rielle and Elianna are connected despite the many years between them.