Graduating can be a scary time in our lives no matter our age. Graduation leads to new beginnings that are unknown with new people and new experiences, which can be a lot of change for a person. A great way to get through these considerable transitional periods in our lives is through books, as they help us feel seen and heard through the authors and characters we meet. To help you or someone you love through this transitional period, here are some book recommendations for all ages to feel seen through these unknowing times.
Graduating Preschool Students
Wherever You Go by Alexandra Penfold, Illustrator Suzanne Kaufman
This picture book shows several kids and their families through the big and small moments in life. These colorful illustrations by Kaufman pair perfectly with Penfold’s prose to give readers a loving story on community and family. No matter the age, this book gives a lesson on the meaning of support and the ways we can show each other that we are here for one another.
Going through a new period in your life brings a feeling of uncertainty, but going through these periods with people who love you helps overcome these obstacles. Knowing that someone will be there for you no matter what is a powerful tool, as it can give us the strength to get through hard times. Penfold reminds us of the importance of community and the value our kindness has on others. Whatever transitions we are going through, it’s essential to have books such as these for young readers to remember that they aren’t alone and will always have someone to support them.
Yay, You! Moving Up and Moving On by Sandra Boynton
This is a relaxing read for those who have fears of what’s coming up next. There are so many choices that we have to make and no clear way to tell whether we’re on the right path. Paynton puts our fears into perspective and shows readers that it’s okay to be worried, but when we take a moment to look at our situations, we can realize every choice means a new opportunity to make life better. Her colorful illustrations and inspirational prose will give readers a sense of calm over their fears of the unknown.
The best part of children’s books is that no matter what age you are, the meanings in these stories can still help. For little ones who struggle during transitional periods or adults who face the same fears, the lessons taught through the prose and illustrations can help readers get through the various shifts in their lives. Boynton’s storytelling is stress-free, fun and creates a safe space for readers to feel their anxieties. This illustrated children’s book will leave readers feeling confident to take on the choices that come their way as they move up in the world.
Graduating Elementary Students
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
This book follows Ally, a young girl who hides her inability to read at every school she ends up in. Being a troublemaker becomes an incentive for her rather than asking for help when she believes she can’t be helped, but when her new teacher sees through her facade, she finds her world opening up more than she could have ever realized. Learning to find her confidence and quiet the shame around dyslexia, Ally shows readers their worth isn’t stuck in the labels, but rather it exists within ourselves and how we choose to carry our abilities.
A new school means new people who don’t know us or our secrets. It can seem like an opportunity to rebrand ourselves and hide the qualities we feel insecure about so others don’t use them against us. Hunt teaches young readers there is always someone out there who will understand our true selves and will never judge us. This novel for young readers is not only relatable to those with dyslexia but to all students who have a hard time performing in one subject or another. This is for the kids who learned to deflect their feelings to show them that there is a lot to offer when they find the right people who will listen and help them.
Hazel’s Theory of Evolution By Lisa Jenn Bigelow
This books follows Hazel, a girl who knows a lot about the world through her encyclopedias but struggles to find the knowledge to comfort her for her transition into the eighth grade. With anxieties over making new friends and her mother’s pregnancy after she went through two miscarriages, Hazel struggles to cope with all the new shifts in her life. With time, Hazel finds her answers, not through her books, but by looking within herself to find the answers she’s been searching for.
It can be hard to accept change when your life already seems to be in a good place and you don’t want it to get messed up. Change can be messy, but with books, we can learn that it’s normal to have messy parts in our lives as we wait for something good to come. Bigelow shows young readers that while we may not ask for the changes that come at us, these changes are part of what makes us who we are, and when we embrace them, we can become more understanding. This middle-grade novel will leave readers with the knowledge that they can accept change and decide who gets to be part of our transitions.
Graduating Middle School Students
Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen
In this book, we watch Codi Teller, a seventeen-year-old who has spent most of her high school life hanging out with her two friends on the couch watching Netflix. When her friends suggest they crash a party and she finds one of the popular kids, Ricky, kissing another boy, they form an unlikely friendship that leads to late nights, new experiences, and a cute girl that Codi crushes on. Hiding these new adventures from her two friends, Codi tries to figure out who she wants to be and who she wants in her life.
Going from middle school to high school means new experiences and new people are coming into our lives. Everyone has their expectations of high school, and while we never know what we’re going to experience, it can still be daunting to think about what’s going to come. Quindlen examines high school life from chill hangouts to wild late nights to show a variety of ways teenagers live their lives and try to find joy. This young adult fiction novel is messy and fun and gives readers a peek into teen life and the experiences it has to offer.
The Whole Story of Half a Girl by Veera Hiranandani
This book shows Sonia, a half-Indian and half-Jewish American girl trying to fit in. With her father losing his job, the questions about her mixed heritage, and the different social groups trying to get Sonia to accept them, she finds herself questioning everything around her. In-between attempting to adjust to the circumstances, her father goes missing, revealing what truly matters to her and the people that care for her. This novel explores the discomforts of adolescence to remind readers that it’s okay to struggle and it’s okay to lean on the people in your community when things get hard.
Graduating is never the only change a kid goes through, as life is constantly throwing obstacles at us that make us doubt our abilities to handle change. Luckily, readers can find solace in novels that show them the value in themselves and their ability to work with the changes that occur in our lives. Hiranandani shows young readers that despite the social pressures we put on one another and the real-life struggles families go through, we can always prosper and become the best versions of ourselves. This fiction novel for young readers establishes the beauty in ourselves and the life we create with the people we love to help us get through the happy and the sad times.
Graduating High School Students
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
Here we can see Chloe Green in the last month of her senior year. The same month when her academic rival, Shara Wheeler, disappears with a trace that only she can follow. With Shara’s last known action being a kiss, Chloe is left with Shara’s high school sweetheart and next-door neighbor on a hunt to find out what happened to her. Through unlikely friendships, a strict school setting, and a mystery that threatens Green’s valedictorian spot, Chloe’s last year of high school shakes her world in this fun young adult rom-com.
This story is perfect for students who want comedy and mystery to remind them that life requires the unexpected, and that you never know where you’ll end up unless you take the initiative. McQuiston’s writing is relatable to the teenage experience: frustrating and confusing while also exciting and full of opportunities. Graduating high school can be scary for those unsure of where to go from here, but McQuiston lets us take a break from our realities to realize that no one knows what’s going to happen, but we can get through each obstacle as we keep chasing after what we want.
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
Greer Kadetsky, a college freshman, meets Faith Frank, a central figure in the women’s movement. As Faith leads Greer and convinces her to make meaning out of her ambitions, Greer finds her life turned upside down with new opportunities. With Faith’s persuasive demeanor and Greer’s desire to be more, Wolitzer leads readers through a journey of ego, loyalty, and womanhood in this inspiring novel of ambition.
Expectations are challeneged as students move away from their high school lives and start their college lives. Wolitzer examines these expectations in this literary fiction novel and presents the ideas of our roles as leaders and followers, and the evolution of these roles, as time progresses. She handles themes on power, influence, and ambition to help readers understand their power in their roles in life and the effects others can have on our lives.
Graduating College Students
All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews
This novel tells Sneha’s story during an American recession when she is fortunate enough to find a job after college. Being able to pick up the tab, send money to her parents, and fall in love, Sneha thinks she has got the hang of life until it starts hurling curveballs at her left and right. Secrets arise from their hiding spots, her job gets more stressful, and with the threat of eviction, Sneha fears she may lose the life she worked so hard for. Even as she struggles to open up, Sneha finds the importance of forming a community and pursuing love in this telling portrait of young people’s lives and the lives of immigrants trying to make a home in this life.
Adulting is hard, especially when you’ve never had to experience it to its fullest extent before. Mathews displays a young adult life and the struggles that comes with it in this story to show readers they aren’t alone, and that there is a way through it even when things start to feel hopeless. Love, work, family, and humanity are all wrapped into this novel to give the audience relatable characters to connect with and feel heard. This novel shares the importance of community and persistence in this reminder that mistakes and failures are part of life, but so are love and experiences.
The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
This book starts with Julian Jessop, an artist who starts a social experiment through a traveling green journal. Wanting to find out what would happen if we were honest with one another, Jessop writes an honest account of his life in a journal that he leaves at Monica’s Cafe. When Monica finds the journal, she adds her own entry, leaves it at a wine bar across the street from her shop, and starts the adventure of the traveling journal. With several different accounts from a variety of characters, readers get a taste of each finder’s lives and who they are as a person, and the journal works its way around before finding itself back where it all started. This literary fiction novel shows readers what can happen when we are brave and put our true selves into the world to find that it isn’t as scary as we make it out to be.
It can be hard to feel like you can be authentic, especially when you aren’t confident about yourself and how others perceive you. Young adult readers need to remember their true selves are important to our society and the people they interact with, as it helps attract people who truly love and understand them. Pooley and her characters examine the highs and lows of human lives and remind readers that we are all trying to make meaning out of our lives no matter who we are. Our stories and feelings matter, no matter what period we are in our lives, and it’s nice to be able to share pieces of ourselves with others when we need a shoulder to lean on during difficult and beautiful times.
Graduation means the end of an era and the start of a new period. These changes are uncertain and can be terrifying to face, but hopefully these book recommendations can bring some peace of mind to readers to remind them that change is part of life and it can lead to the wonderful parts of life that make it worth living.
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Looking for books for all ages? Check out our Back-to-School Recommendations for All Ages bookshelf on Bookshop.org.
