Celebrate Mom the YA Way with These Great Reads!

It’s no secret that in a lot of YA books the parents seem to just . . . disappear. But today we want to give a shout out to all the moms and mom figures in YA books who don’t.

To celebrate Mama’s Day the YA way, we are giving you a pretty little list of YA books to gift your mom or just to read to give you all the feels about how much you love your mama bear. We hope you have a very YA Mother’s Day, and don’t forget to tell a mom or mom figure in your life that she is LITERALLY the best mom in the world.

The Weight of Zero

By Karen Fortunati

This story of loss and grief shows us how powerful a mother’s love can be. While Catherine battles mental illness, her mom’s strength and support is unwavering. Thank you, Mom!

Seventeen-year-old Catherine Pulaski knows Zero is coming for her. Zero, the devastating depression borne of Catherine’s bipolar disorder, almost triumphed once; that was her first suicide attempt.

And so, in an old ballet-shoe box, Catherine stockpiles medications, preparing to take her own life before Zero can inflict his living death on her again. Before she goes, though, she starts a short bucket list. This list, combined with the support of her family, new friends, and a new course of treatment, begins to ease Catherine’s sense of isolation. The problem is, her plan is already in place and has been for so long that she might not be able to see a future beyond it.

What to Say Next

By Julie Buxbaum

We may not always understand the choices our moms make, but this book shows us that even though we might not agree with them, moms are just trying to protect us!

When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David. Kit appreciates David’s blunt honesty—in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing. David welcomes Kit’s attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad’s tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they’ll find. Can their friendship survive the truth?

Words in Deep Blue

By Cath Crowley

Sometimes aunts make the best mother figures in our lives. In this love story of all love stories, Rose is the cool, fun-loving aunt who is there to help Rachel feel like herself again.

Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favorite book in his family’s bookshop. She waited. But Henry never responded.

Now Rachel has returned to the city—and to the bookshop—to work alongside the boy she’d rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can’t feel anything anymore.

As Henry and Rachel work side by side—surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages—they find hope in each other. Because life may be uncontrollable, even unbearable sometimes, but it’s possible that words, and love, and second chances are enough.