Why am I passionate about this?

I’m someone with lots of big feelings–an Enneagram 4–and so YA novels really appeal to me because adolescence is a time with seemingly nothing but big feelings. It’s also, for me, a time to look back on fondly–I grew up in the ‘90s, which, with the threat of nuclear war receding into the background and the scourge of social media long into the future, certainly seems like a simpler time with the benefit of hindsight. So, escaping into my teen feelings also projects me back to then, and there’s comfort and pleasant nostalgia in there, which is sometimes much needed. 


I wrote

Girl, Unstrung

By Claire Handscombe ,

Book cover of Girl, Unstrung

What is my book about?

This contemporary YA novel is about a teen violist with big ambitions, navigating changing family dynamics and her first crush.…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Everything, Everything

Claire Handscombe Why I love this book

This novel epitomizes why I, a middle-aged woman, still love reading young adult books. Those big feelings! Those firsts!

And in this one, too, forbidden love: a girl who isn’t allowed to leave the house because of a chronic illness nevertheless falls for a boy who she can only see through a window. At least at first… 

By Nicola Yoon ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Everything, Everything as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Everything, Everything is now a major motion picture starring Amanda Stenberg from The Hunger Games and Love Simon's Nick Robinson.

A #1 New York Times Bestseller!

'Loved this book!'- Zoella

Maddy is allergic to the world; stepping outside the sterile sanctuary of her home could kill her. But then Olly moves in next door. And just like that, Maddy realizes there's more to life than just being alive. You only get one chance at first love. And Maddy is ready to risk everything, everything to see where it leads.

'Powerful, lovely, heart-wrenching, and so absorbing I devoured it in one…


Book cover of An Abundance of Katherines

Claire Handscombe Why I love this book

I don’t hear anything like enough love for this fun, quirky, touching book! It was my first John Green, and I loved it.

The main character is a total nerd who keeps having his heart broken by girls named Katherine—until he doesn’t. This book will fill the Big Bang Theory shaped hole in your heart!

By John Green ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked An Abundance of Katherines as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

"Will slip equally well into a pocket as a Christmas stocking." - The Wall Street Journal, "What to Give," holiday gift guide.

Introducing Penguin Minis! #1 bestselling author John Green like you've never read him before. * Featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC's "The World," Real Simple, BuzzFeed, Bustle, and more!

The award winning An Abundance of Katherines is now available as a Penguin Mini edition. Complete and unabridged, the book's revolutionary landscape design and ultra-thin paper makes it easy to hold in one hand without sacrificing readability. Perfectly-sized to slip into a pocket or bag,…


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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

Book cover of The Girl Who Invented Romance

Claire Handscombe Why I love this book

I read this book more than thirty years ago, and I still think about it sometimes. It’s the story of a teenager who observes the real-life love stories going on around her and invents a board game based on those interactions.

I really wished I could play the game, and I wished I had been the one to come up with it. I was so envious of her and admired her so much—how inventive! 

By Caroline B. Cooney ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Girl Who Invented Romance as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

How can a girl have fun with a game if she's only watching from the sidelines? That's what sixteen-year-old Kelly Williams wonders when her best friend, Faith, complains that it's time to stop pretending and find real romance. As Kelly sees her friends, her older brother and even her parents knowingly and unknowingly play at romance, she decides to create a real game - a board game called Romance that captures the way people behave in matters of love and dating.

From broken hearts to happily ever after, Caroline Cooney's inventive novel is sure to capture readers' hearts.


Book cover of To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Claire Handscombe Why I love this book

This novel brought back all those teenage feels—especially that cringy embarrassment when the guy you have a crush on finds out you're into him… Lara is a really likable character, and so relatable as she tries to figure out her burgeoning love life amid the disaster of letters she wrote a long time ago becoming public.

By Jenny Han ,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked To All the Boys I've Loved Before as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Now a Netflix feature film!
Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her.

One for every boy she's ever loved.

When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all
the things she would never say in real life, because her letters
are for her eyes only.

Until the day her secret letters are mailed,
and suddenly Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control!



The first book in the bestselling series by Jenny Han, which
has been made into a NETFLIX feature film

PS I Still Love…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Claire Handscombe Why I love this book

What’s more romantic than spending an entire night wandering around New York City, talking? I’m not sure I can think of anything, and maybe that’s why I loved this book so much—it's a book about music, friendship, and figuring things out. I was transported back to my teens, and it was a delight.

By Rachel Cohn , David Levithan ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

The New York Times bestselling he-said/she-said rock n’ roll romance that inspired the motion picture starring Michael Cera (Juno, Arrested Development) and Kat Dennings (Thor, TV’s 2 Broke Girls)!

"I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?"

Nick frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart. Norah is questioning all of her assumptions about the world. They have nothing in common except for their taste in music, until a chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up…


Explore my book 😀

Girl, Unstrung

By Claire Handscombe ,

Book cover of Girl, Unstrung

What is my book about?

This contemporary YA novel is about a teen violist with big ambitions, navigating changing family dynamics and her first crush.

Nothing's going to distract Clara from her big life plan as a viola player. Not her semi-famous dad. Not her new stepmom. Not her annoying sisters. And definitely not Tim, the swoopy-haired Scrabble geek...

Book cover of Everything, Everything
Book cover of An Abundance of Katherines
Book cover of The Girl Who Invented Romance

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