Since YA focuses on teens, there’s no surprise that family dynamics are a
frequent topic. While not every story makes it a primary theme, most young
adults are under the care of a parent or guardian. Thus, the absence of a
parent, the overbearingness of one, the love of one, etc. is usually a big deal.
One of the beauties of YA is that the stories typically offer a wide range of
families. Some are close, some are huge, some are eccentric, and some are
entirely toxic.
Now that we’re in the Mother’s Day/Father’s Day season, here are three YA
stories that incorporate family relationships and express them in a variety of
ways.
Twelve-year-old Ethan Forsythe, an exceptionally talented
boy obsessed with physics and astronomy, has been raised
alone by his mother in Sydney, Australia. Claire, a former
professional ballerina, has been a wonderful parent to
Ethan, but he’s becoming increasingly curious about his
father’s absence in his life. Claire is fiercely protective
of her talented, vulnerable son—and of her own feelings. But
when Ethan falls ill, tied to a tragic event that occurred
during his infancy, her tightly-held world is split open.
Thousands of
miles away on the western coast of Australia,
Mark is trying to forget about the events that tore his
family apart, but an unexpected call forces him to confront
his past and return home. When Ethan secretly intercepts a
letter from Mark to Claire, he unleashes long-suppressed
forces that—like gravity—pull the three together again,
testing the limits of love and forgiveness.
Told from the alternating
points of view of Ethan and each
of his parents, RELATIVITY is a poetic and soul-searing
exploration of unbreakable bonds, irreversible acts, the
limits of science, and the magnitude of love.
Run fast and run far, unless you’re fearless. Unless
you’re courageous. I’m not, but I’d like to be.
Pearl Jaeger is
seventeen and homeless after drugs, poverty,
and addiction unraveled the life she shared with JJ, her
formerly glamorous rock star mother.
This moment of happiness is
fleeting; someone will take
it from me.
When tragedy brings a chance to start over at an elite
boarding school, she doesn’t hesitate. Yet the only
salvation comes from an art teacher as troubled as Pearl,
and she faces the stark reality that what she thought she
wanted isn’t straightforward.
I trace the outline of my reflection in a
window. I am no
more than a replica of my mother. This is not the
self-portrait I want to paint.
Through the friendships she forms at
school—especially with
Grant, a boy who shows Pearl what it means to trust and
forgive—she begins to see a path not defined by her past.
But when confronted with the decision to be courageous or to
take the easy way forged by her mother’s failures, which
direction will Pearl choose?
The beautiful struggle of a girl desperate for the one
relationship that has caused her the most pain
Cassie O'Malley has
spent the past two and a half years in a
mental institution—dumped there by her mother, against her
will. Now, at 18, Cassie emancipates herself, determined to
start over. She attends college, forms new friendships, and
even attempts to start fresh with her mother. But before
long, their unhealthy relationship threatens to pull Cassie
under once again. As Cassie struggles to reclaim her life,
childhood memories persist and confuse, and Cassie must
consider whose version of history is real, and more
important, whose life she must save.
A bold, literary story about the
fragile complexities of
mothers and daughters and learning to love oneself, The
First Time She Drowned reminds us that we must dive deep
into our pasts if we are ever to move forward.
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