You Knew Me Well by Nina La Cour and David Levithan

Featuring 

“Have you ever wanted something so badly that when it’s about to happen you feel this need to sabotage yourself?”

You Know Me Well is told in alternating story lines, originating from actual between the authors themselves back in 2013. For a teen audience, this book explores young love, and what it means to be true to yourself. Set in San Fracisco during Pride week (how timely), this novel embraces same sex love and the joys and heartaches that come with finding your one true love. Being a teen is incredibly challenging, and this novel stays true to the narrative that comes along with teen angst that accompanies that love.

I have revised this post to reflect the tragic events that unfolded in Orlando over the weekend. I think it is more important now, more than any other time in history to allow young adults the freedom to read, and have characters in literature that are like them. Characters that represent their values and core identities. It resonates with a student to find a character who embodies their very existence. More peace and love, and a lot less hate.

Synopsis via Amazon

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.

That is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.

When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other -- and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

A book told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour, the award-winning author of Hold Still andThe Disenchantments, and David Levithan, the best-selling author of Every Day and co-author of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (with Rachel Cohn) and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green), You Know Me Well is a deeply honest story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.