Families who loved My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.
Reach for this book when your teenager is beginning to notice the unspoken dynamics in adult and peer relationships or when they are questioning the labels people place on love and friendship. My Heartbeat follows fourteen year old Ellen as she navigates her deep affection for her older brother, Link, and his best friend, James. When a classmate suggests that Link and James are more than friends, it sends ripples through Ellen's world, forcing her to confront her own crushes and her parents' rigid expectations. It is a quiet, sophisticated story about the courage it takes to see people for who they truly are. Parents will appreciate the book's honest look at identity and the way it validates a young person's intuition about the complex emotions surrounding them.