Connecting with Absent Parents & Other Complicated Family Situations in Teen Fiction
***This list has expanded to include more than just absent fathers returning.
Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor
- Pub Date: 2011
- Middle school interest
- See also in Children's Fic: Summer Vacation
- See also in Teen Fic: Secrets
- Raine and her mother spend a summer at an artist's colony, where Raine meets the father she has never known.
My Life with the Liars by Caela Carter
- Pub Date: 2016
- Middle school interest
- See also: Fish Out of Water, Religion
- Zylynn has grown up in a cult, but she is removed on her 13th birthday and sent to live with her father, who she has never known.
Born to Rock by Gordon Korman
- Pub Date: 2006
- Middle and high school interest
- See also in Teen Fic: Music
- Leo goes on tour with a punk band for the summer.
The One Where the Kid Nearly Jumps to His Death and Lands in California by Mary Hershey
Beige by Cecil Castelucci
- Pub Date: 2009
- High school interest
- Katy goes to LA to stay with her punk rocker father and learns a bit about herself and what matters.
A Little Friendly Advice by Siobhan Vivian
- Pub Date: 2008
- High school interest
- See also: Mother-Daughter Relationship, BFF Trouble
- Ruby looks to her best friend for advice when her father appears and wants to get to know Ruby after all these years.
Brutal by Mark Harmon
- Pub Date: 2009
- High school interest
- See also: Popularity
- Poe goes to stay with her father in a small town and ends up taking on school admins (including her dad) in a fight against bullying.
Tripping by Heather Waldorf
- Pub Date: 2009
- High school interest
- See also: Travel
- While traveling on a cross-country trip, Rainey learns that her birthmother wants to meet her.
The Other F-Word by Natasha Friend
- Pub Date 2017
- High School Interest
- Two teens who were conceived via IVF seek their donor/father.
The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
- Pub Date: 2011
- High School Interest
- See also: LGBT Families, DIY
- Lola's birth mother moves in with Lola and her two dads when she has nowhere else to go.
A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt
- Pub Date: 2006
- High school interest
- See also: Atheism, Religion
- Simone, who was adopted, connects with her birth mother.
The Last True Love Story by Brendan Kiely
- Pub Date: 2016
- High School Interest
- See also: Extended Family, Find Yourself through Travel
- Hendrix breaks his grandfather out of Assisted Living plans to drive him to New York from CA, but they take a detour to uncover a secret about Hendrix's late father.
Fitz by Mick Cochrane
- Pub Date: 2012
- High school interest
- See also: Set in MN
Bad Decisions Playlist by Michael Rubens
- Pub Date: 2016
- High school interest
- See also: Music
- When Austin finds out his dad his a famous musician, he gets sucked into the rock & roll life style.
Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman
- Pub Date: 2017
- High school interest
- See also: Extended Family, Disabilities
- Anise and her father spend the summer in the midwest helping out her aunt and cousins, which challenges many of Anise's ideas, including about her mother.
If Birds Fly Back by Carlie Sorosiak
- Pub Date: 2017
- High school interest
- See also: Post High School, Multiple Narrators
- Sebastian learns his father's identity and decides to spend the summer after high school getting to know him, which proves to be more complicated than he expected.
Overturned by Lamar Giles
- Pub Date: 2017
- High school interest
- See also: Trust No One
- Nikki's father returns home after being in prison for a murder he didn't commit.
Girl Defective by Simmone Howell
- Pub Date: 2014
- High school interest
- See also: International
- Sky lives with her dad and brother above a St. Kilda record shop.
The Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen
- Pub Date: 2018
- High school interest
- Spencer's mom left many years ago.
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