New Year’s Eve is a holiday that seems rife with possibilities for storytelling, and I went into my research for this article thinking I’d find more books than I did. Considering the quality of the stories I discovered, it clearly is. I hope more writers will delve into this holiday, as it is fun, totally secular and relatively international. In any case, here are four young adult New Year’s Eve stories to sink your teeth into.
“Midnights”
Rainbow Rowell‘s “Midnights” is part of the short story collection My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories. It’s the only uniquely New Year ‘s-themed story in the bunch. “Midnight” tells the story of Mags and Noel, two best friends, over a series of New Year’s Eves, as they meet, go through high school, and then to their first year of college. But are they besties or something more?
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“Midnights” does more than tell a sweet story of friends-turned-lovers; it explores change and the fear of stagnancy versus change.
The Resolutions
What if someone else made your New Year’s resolutions for you? Well, that’s what Mia Garcia’s The Resolutions asks. In this book, four Latine friends switch up their yearly routine by deciding what their friends will do in the upcoming year. The result is a diverse four-POV book filled with growing pains, angst and a lot of love.
New Year’s is a great framing device to get the kids moving and significantly change their lives. It’s a fun read.
Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling
Another book framed by New Year’s Eve, Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling by Elise Bryant, tells the story of two wildly different Black teens living in worlds where they don’t feel totally included. Reggie is a Dungeons & Dragons nerd, and Delilah is a future rockstar who’s now fronting a band.
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When the two meet outside a club on New Year’s Eve after Delilah suffers one of her debilitating migraines, a spark ignites. Will they or won’t they?
New Year’s Kiss
The last YA book about New Year’s Eve on our list is Lee Matthews’s New Year’s Kiss. This book is also resolution-oriented but in a much more capsular way. Tess and her sister, Lauren, are sent to spend the week between Christmas and New Year’s at their grandma’s hotel because their parents are divorcing. Tess realizes she’s never really lived. And after meeting Christopher, a guy who’s spending the holidays with a broken leg, she resolves to do something about it.
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This is a pretty paint-by-numbers YA romance, but it’s still pretty cute.
There you are, four New Year’s Eve-themed YA books to ring in the New Year. Do you have any more to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below!
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/best-debut-novels-2023/
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