The 10 Most Adorable Meet-Cutes in YA Novels

I've long been a fan of the romantic movie meet-cute — I mean, who doesn't want to meet their love in transit, while out roaming the city, or on some sort of adorable adventure? But as a writer myself, I have a special love for the literary meet-cute, and specifically the kind in my favorite young adult books. Whether set in the bustling halls of a modern high school or the derelict dystopian world of District 12, there's just something so delightful about seeing the exact moment two characters connect for the first time. Here are 10 of the most adorable meet-cutes in the YA world.

Leah Konen is a huge fan of the perfect meet-cute and a writer of contemporary books for teens. Her newest novel, Love and Other Train Wrecks, available on Jan. 2, is a 24-hour romance about two teens who meet on a train ride to Upstate New York in the middle of a snowstorm.

Avery and Ryan in Two Boys Kissing

Avery and Ryan in Two Boys Kissing

David Levithan's Two Boys Kissing is a must read for many reasons. Narrated by a Greek chorus of a generation of gay men lost to AIDS, this powerful book follows friends (and exes) Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who set out to break the world kissing record by taking part in a kissing marathon on the lawn of their high school. But it's hard not to fall for another pair in the book, Ryan and Avery, who first catch eyes at a gay prom, Ryan's hair dyed robin's-egg blue, Avery's "Mary Kay" pink. From the second they start to dance, it's easy to see that there's magic ahead for the vibrant couple.

Anna and St. Clair in Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and St. Clair in Anna and the French Kiss

I first connected with Anna and the French Kiss because I too once found myself in France feeling lost and confused and homesick. Only when I cried to my friend, I didn't immediately stumble into the hallway and run into Etienne St. Clair, a gorgeous boy with a British accent. Though the characters in Stephanie Perkins's sweet coming-of-age story face plenty of roadblocks, it's clear that these two transplants have chemistry from the start. (It doesn't hurt that they later become lab partners!)

Eleanor and Park in Eleanor & Park

Eleanor and Park in Eleanor & Park

Perhaps the most classic teenage meet-cute of all, in Rainbow Rowell's delightfully romantic Eleanor & Park, outcast new girl Eleanor and gloomy comic-book nerd Park meet and develop their romance by sharing a seat on the school bus. There are few things sweeter than when, after many rides, their hands finally touch.

Madeline and Olly in Everything Everything

Madeline and Olly in Everything Everything

In Everything Everything, 18-year-old Madeline lives her whole life at home, as she's unable to leave the sanitary safety of her house due to severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). But her whole world changes when Olly moves in next door. Though she's immediately intrigued by him and his family, the connection happens when he comes over to deliver a bundt cake and, when learning that they can't accept the cake because it could contain potential allergens, proceeds to deliver a hilarious bundt-cake-inspired comedy routine.

Hazel and Augustus in The Fault in Our Stars

Hazel and Augustus in The Fault in Our Stars

No one would expect a cancer support group to be a romantic place, but when Hazel and Augustus lock eyes and proceed to chat about fear of "oblivion," V for Vendetta, and Hazel's macabre book taste, it's futile to try not to root for the couple, even though we know there will be a heartbreaking ending in The Fault in Our Stars.

Hermione and Ron in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Hermione and Ron in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Though it takes years of friendship for this truly magical romance to be realized, it's adorable to look back on Hermione and Ron's first interaction in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, in which the "bossy" Hermione challenges Ron to do a spell and, after failing to turn his rat anything but gray, Ron tells Harry that he hopes she doesn't wind up in his house. Star-crossed, indeed!

Katniss and Peeta in The Hunger Games

Katniss and Peeta in The Hunger Games

Even if you're Team Gale, it's impossible not to feel something when in The Hunger Games, Katniss recalls first meeting Peeta. Shortly after her father died, with her mother not working, Katniss finds herself and her family starving. Peeta's mother yells at her for searching for food in their trash bins, but Peeta, against his mother's wishes, gives Katniss a bag of bread that saves her life. It's a beautiful moment and sets the stage for the caring, selfless relationship soon to grow between them.

Mia and Adam in If I Stay

Mia and Adam in If I Stay

In the heart-wrenching If I Stay, the couple first meet when junior Adam asks sophomore Mia if she's "ever heard of this Yo-Yo Ma dude." Since she's a cellist, of course she has, but the initial question leads them, after months of getting to know each other and chatting, to an adorable, and unexpected, first date at a Yo-Yo Ma concert.

June and Day in Legend

June and Day in Legend

A star-crossed favorite, in Legend, June and Day are mortal enemies in dystopian Los Angeles. She's a student and the government's prodigious rising star. He's the number one enemy of the state, wanted for killing her brother. While undercover on the hunt for her brother's killer, June meets Day, who helps her heal after a knife wound from a street fight, and quickly begins to fall for him, without realizing he's the guy she's been trying to track all along.

Remy and Dexter in This Lullaby

Remy and Dexter in This Lullaby

An oldie but goodie from the queen of teen romance, Sarah Dessen, This Lullaby follows Remy, who's sworn herself off of love (being especially careful to steer clear of musicians). But all that changes when she meets Dexter at a car dealership — at the tire display, no less. The most on-the-nose (but still delightful) meet-cute in our list, Dexter calmly tells Remy: "I just thought to myself, all of a sudden, that we had something in common. A natural chemistry, if you will." Though Remy isn't buying it (not yet, at least) as the Muzak in the dealership plays, we just know we'll be seeing more of the two of them together.