Love List: Emotionally Devastating YAs

Feel like dissolving into a puddle of tears? Here are my top 3 YA recs for that!

I don’t know what it is about readers, but sometimes we’re just begging for a good cry. I saw someone asking for recs for just that this morning on Threads, which got me thinking about my Big 3 YA Sobfests. (I’ve actually had four, but one was so personal to me that I don’t know if it’s as universal a sobfest as the others. Let it be known, though, that A World Without You by Beth Revis positively wrecked me.)

Anyway! My big 3:

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour - Was anyone else super emotional and thrilled when this book won the Printz? Nina LaCour has been on my list of favorite YA authors literally since her debut, and seeing her get that recognition was validating in itself, but also, THIS BOOK. Just… as someone who already gets Big Feelings about grief and mourning and loss, this one had me hysterical. And it’s such a small book! So economical with words! And yet, so weighty in this way that’s just achingly relatable at any age.

You Are the Everything by Karen Rivers - I honestly want to tell you nothing about this book, because if you’re looking for devastation, you should get the full wallop.

Being Fishkill by Ruth Lehrer - This is one of the most criminally underread books in YA in my actually unbiased opinion, and it’s also one of extremely few YA books with a 13-year-old protags. (And one of few that discusses socioeconomic disparity and poverty and the beginning edges of queer discovery.) It’s incredibly beautifully written, will absolutely punch you in the gut multiple times and probably make you want to scream, and I think it might be out of print, but I linked to Amazon because it looks like it’s got a few copies on hand.

Have you read and loved any of these books? Did they absolutely crush your soul? What’s been the source of your biggest YA sobfest? Tell me everything!