10 Books to Read While Waiting on John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down

fLook, if we had known we’d be waiting half a decade from one John Green book to the next, we would’ve taken our sweet time reading The Fault in Our Stars instead of simply sobbing through the whole thing in a single sitting.
Thankfully, Green’s next book, Turtles All the Way Down, is just around the corner. Rereading his backlist is one way to prepare, but might we suggest another? While you’re counting down the days until your pre-order arrives October 10, we’ve got some incredible book recommendations to hold you over, from a range of contemporary authors you’re destined to love. Based on your favorites of Green’s canon, here are ten to get your hands on ASAP.
If your favorite book is Looking for Alaska, try…

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
If you loved Looking for Alaska‘s boarding school prank war, Disreputable History will be right up your alley. When fifteen-year-old Frankie finds herself excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society, it doesn’t sit well with her. She doesn’t want to be known as Matthew’s girlfriend, someone who sits on the sidelines; she wants to be known as Frankie, someone who’s every bit as capable as the boys. When she decides to take matters into her own hands, it kickstarts a series of pranks that quickly spirals out of control.

Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta
Looking for Alaska is a pretty heavy book, emotionally speaking. If that’s why you love it, you’ll adore Jellicoe Road. This book is about romance, it’s about mysterious mothers, it’s about rival teenage sects and boarding school. Mostly it’s about seventeen-year-old Taylor, who was abandoned as a baby at a nearby 7-Eleven and now attends the Jellicoe School for troubled and neglected teens. Throw in a boy from her past, some strange dreams, and a missing caretaker who left behind nothing but an unfinished manuscript, and you’ve got yourself a well-developed and uniquely poignant journey that will completely ruin your life. (You’re welcome.)
If your favorite book is An Abundance of Katherines, try…

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, by Jenny Han
An Abundance of Katherines is a deep dive into Colin’s past relationships. Similarly, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a deep dive into sixteen-year-old Lara Jean’s. Unfortunately, the whole thing isn’t exactly her idea. Whenever Lara Jean wants to get over a crush, she writes the guy a letter for closure. She never sends them, of course; she just keeps them in a hatbox as a memory of the person she used to be. But when the hatbox goes missing, letters start showing up in all the boys’ mailboxes. Faced with the prospect of all her secret crushes—including her sister’s ex-boyfriend—finding out at once, Lara Jean has to think fast to save face.

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour, by Morgan Matson
I always think of An Abundance of Katherines as a road trip book, which is not entirely correct considering the actual road part of it lasts for but a handful of pages. But a good road trip is about the journey, not the destination, even if that journey is emotional rather than physical. And in the case of Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour, it’s both. Meet Amy. She’s moving across the country (her mother’s decision, not hers), and she’s been saddled with the task of getting their car from California to Connecticut. Unfortunately, Amy’s father died in a car accident, and she’s still not 100% comfortable behind the wheel. That’s how she winds taking the cross-country road trip with Roger, an acquaintance from her childhood whose penchant for detours might be just what Amy needs to get her life back on track.
If your favorite book is Paper Towns, try…

I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak
Like Paper Towns, I Am the Messenger is a clever, quirky story about a quietly thoughtful protagonist who hasn’t quite reached his full potential but nonetheless finds himself tugged into a mystery that’s bigger than he is. Ed is an underage cab driver whose life is going nowhere fast. One day, however, he accidentally foils a bank robbery, in what I personally believe is one of the funniest first chapters of all time. Having been catapulted out of total obscurity and into the spotlight as a local hero, Ed begins receiving cryptic clues written on playing cards—clues that put him in a position to help others, but just as often put him in danger.

Since You’ve Been Gone, by Morgan Matson
In this addictive page-turner, Emily and Sloane are best friends as well as total opposites. It’s Sloane who has the spitfire personality; Emily’s mostly the quiet sidekick. But when Sloane abruptly disappears on the cusp of what promised to be an epic summer, she leaves behind a list of dares for Emily to complete—stuff like “conquer a fear,” “go skinny dipping,” and “kiss a stranger.” Emily, sure the list will lead her to Sloane, takes up the challenge—with some reluctance). And while she often finds herself so far out of her comfort zone she’s practically on another planet, she learns a bit about herself (and about Sloane) along the way.
If your favorite book is Will Grayson, Will Grayson, try…

I’ll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson
I’ll Give You the Sun is Jandy Nelson’s second novel, and what a second novel it is. It’s the lyrical, emotionally moving story of twins Noah and Jude, told from alternating perspectives during different points in their lives. Noah weaves the tale of their lives when they were thirteen and still close. Jude’s narrative focuses on their present, when they’re sixteen and have grown apart. Their journey back to one another is full of twists and turns and will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.

M or F?, by Lisa Papademetriou and Chris Tebbetts
If there’s any book that can match Will Grayson, Will Grayson wit for wit, it’s M or F?. The premise: Marcus wants a boyfriend. But since their small town isn’t exactly overflowing with out and eligible gay boys, he’ll settle on getting one for his love-starved best friend and brain twin, Frannie. The problem: Frannie’s too nervous to talk to her crush, Jeffrey, even online, so she enlists the help of Marcus. And while at first the two of them are conspiring together at the keyboard to flirt with Jeffrey, eventually Marcus takes matters into his own hands… unaware that he’s slowly falling for Jeffrey himself. What results is a delightful, fast-paced story that’s ostensibly about romance but mostly about the compelling (and laugh-out-loud hilarious) friendship between Marcus and Frannie.
If your favorite book is The Fault in Our Stars, try…

Everything, Everything, by Nicola Yoon
Eighteen-year-old Maddy has SCID (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency). Basically, she can’t leave the sterilized, air-locked bubble of her house or she’ll die. The only people she interacts with on the regular are her nurse, Carla, and her loving but overprotective mother. Books are her only escape, and they have to be vacuum-sealed to boot. But when a boy named Olly moves in next door, Maddy realizes she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life experiencing the world through books, and that the only “life” she’s ever really known isn’t really a life at all. Look, I’m not going to say this one made me cry quite as much as The Fault in Our Stars did. But if TFiOS is a 10 on the cry-o-meter, then Everything, Everything is solidly a 9.5.

Rules for 50/50 Chances, by Kate McGovern
Seventeen-year-old Rose knows the odds: her mother has Huntington’s, so there’s a 50% chance Rose has the degenerative disease, too. When she turns eighteen, she’ll finally be able to take the genetic test. At last, she’ll know whether or not she will deteriorate and ultimately die young like her mother. Because of this, Rose has put her life on hold. Why fall in love or make plans for a future she may not ever see? But as the day draws nearer and Rose is faced with the prospect of accepting her fate, she begins to wonder if ignorance is bliss.