25 Young Adult Novels Guaranteed to Make You Ugly Cry

Though John Green's The Fault in Our Stars is unquestionably heart-wrenching, Looking for Alaska may just have it beat. Green's debut tells the story of a bookish new boy at an Alabama boarding school, the self-destructive girl he falls for, and the searing pain of first loves and first losses.

If you're a sucker for star-crossed lovers, then you'll be destroyed by Sara Farizan's If You Could Be Mine, which follows the forbidden romance between two teenage girls in Iran and the lengths they go to in order to stay together after an arranged marriage threatens to tear them apart.

Told through a series of letters, Ava Dellaira's debut novel, Love Letters to the Dead, revolves around a young woman who copes with the loss of her sister by penning notes to others who died too soon — from Kurt Cobain to Janis Joplin to Amelia Earhart — in the hope of making sense of her sister's death, as well as her new life without her.

Salt to the Sea, by historical fiction master Ruth Sepetys, alternates viewpoints between four different individuals attempting to escape Soviet rule during World War II by finding passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, not knowing that they will soon become part of the deadliest maritime disaster in history.

Based on an idea from award-winning author Siobhan Dowd (whose premature death due to cancer prevented her from finishing the book herself), A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness tells the story of a 13-year-old boy haunted by his mother's battle with terminal cancer — a struggle which takes on the form of a monster who visits him in the night.

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera revolves around a drowning accident that takes the life of 17-year-old Griffin's first love and ex-boyfriend, forcing him to re-evaluate the future he'd imagined for the two of them, as well as seek solace with the only other person who understands his pain: his ex's new boyfriend.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart tells the story of Cadence, the daughter of a wealthy and distinguished family who suffers a serious head injury that erases her memories of one Summer, the events of which she only begins to remember two Summers later, when she returns to the family Summer home to find everything changed — and no one willing to talk about what happened.

Cynthia Hand's The Last Time We Say Goodbye follows a self-proclaimed math geek whose single-minded path to MIT is rocked by the unexpected suicide of her younger brother, the grief of which she tries to keep locked away until she is forced to finally reckon with her loss.

Based in 1943 Nazi-occupied France, Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity is about a young British spy captured by the Gestapo after her plane crashes who is faced with an impossible decision: reveal the secrets of her mission or get killed.

Another tale of star-crossed lovers, The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon tells the story of two New York City teens — an undocumented immigrant soon to be deported to Jamaica and a first-generation South Korean high school senior on his way to a Yale interview — and a fateful day that brings them together.

Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower is told through a series of letters written to an unknown receiver, chronicling high school freshman Charlie's first brushes with romance, parties, drugs, and a painful repressed memory that finally begins to make itself known.

Told in four parts, Amber Smith's debut novel, The Way I Used to Be, follows Eden throughout her four years of high school in the wake of her sexual assault, a time during which she represses, regrets, and eventually comes to terms with what was taken from her.

Written by Speak author Laurie Halse Anderson, Wintergirls follows two best friends trapped in a competition to be the thinnest, a deadly battle that causes one girl to lose her life and the other to commence a painful journey to recovery.

If I Stay author Gayle Forman's I Was Here follows a young woman in the aftermath of her best friend's suicide, telling the story of her journey to her friend's college town to pack up her belongings and the discovery of a whole other life that she knew nothing about.

Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You the Sun follows the dual narratives of twins Jude and Noah, a once inseparable duo who become estranged after a tragedy, a betrayal, and a misunderstanding — one that can only be cleared up if the two reunite.

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen tells the story of Annabel Greene, a teen TV model who appears perfect from the outside, but in reality is newly friendless and tormented by her sister's increasingly deadly eating disorder — that is, until she meets Owen, an fierce classmate who forces her to finally start telling the truth.

In Jay Coles's debut novel, Tyler Johnson Was Here, a young man loses his twin brother to a police shooting at a party, and while he attempts to privately grieve, he also must contend with his mother falling apart and his brother's unjust death going viral.

Kathleen Glasgow's Girl in Pieces tells the story of a 17-year-old woman who, after suffering several losses, now suffers from an addiction to self-harming, her destructive tendencies bringing her from the streets to rehab and a harmful new relationship, and eventually to recovery.

Told through the perspective of a 14-year-old girl murdered by a predatory neighbor, Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones revolves around the mystery and heartache that follow Susie's disappearance as she looks on from heaven, as well as the pain Susie must experience all over again when her family learns the truth.

Following three misfit friends during their last year of high school, Jeff Zenter's The Serpent King tells the story of a disgraced preacher's son, an abused fantasy fiction nerd, and a determined dreamer as they attempt to escape their deadbeat town and leave their pasts behind.

Though you may only know it from the hit Netflix series, Thirteen Reasons Why was originally a novel by Jay Asher, following a high school student throughout the course of an unforgettable night as he listens to the tapes left behind by his classmate, each explaining one of the reasons why she decided to take her own life.

Told through a mix of narrative and letters written to Martin Luther King Jr., Nic Stone's Dear Martin tells the story a black scholarship student at a predominantly white prep school as he attempts to leave behind his tough neighborhood behind, secure himself a position in an Ivy League school, and somehow escape the assumptions the world seems determined to make about him.

Soon to be a Netflix movie starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith, Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places follows two small-town teenagers brought together by fate when they both climb their school's bell tower at school at the same time, both with the intention of jumping off the ledge.

In Gabrielle Zevin's Elsewhere, a fatal biking accident lands 15-year-old Liz in the afterlife, a place where she meets the grandmother she never knew on Earth and learns that instead of growing up and getting to do all of the things she was looking forward to doing, she will now only age backwards from the day of her death.

Nina LaCour's We Are Okay revolves around a college freshman whose anticipated winter break spent alone on campus is interrupted by the arrival of her old friend, who forces her to contend with the tragedy she's been trying to escape since the previous Summer.