Books Like That's Not What Happened
Families who loved That's Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.
Families who loved That's Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger 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 struggling with the disconnect between public narratives and private truths, or when they are processing collective grief. Set three years after a school shooting, the story follows Lee Baere as she decides whether to debunk a popular myth about a friend who died. It is a sophisticated look at how memory is shaped by trauma and how the media often simplifies complex tragedies into easy heroes and villains. This is an essential choice for high schoolers navigating the pressure to conform to a community's expectations versus their own integrity. It addresses the heaviness of survival and the ethics of storytelling with nuance and care. Parents will appreciate the focus on reclaiming one's voice and the realistic, secular approach to healing from trauma while living in a town that refuses to let the past go.
