What Are Some Books Like 'When Life Gives You Lemons Make Peach Pie'?

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone is another amazing story of mental health and finding your people, all in a really moving way. Another book that deals with personal struggles in the face of really big issues for society is The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. While very different from It Happens All the Time in terms of story, the personal struggles are balanced with the bigger issues of the story in a really similar way to this book. If you want something with a little bit of a thriller twist, Sadie by Courtney Summers is amazing. It’s part of mystery and part of podcast, basically a heart breaking story of a girl and her experience with trauma and how she deals with it. I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman is also a great book and very similar to the emotional depth that it provides to its readers. It’s about three strangers whose lives intersect with each other in unexpected ways. Together, these books can evoke emotions of anger, sadness, and hope.

For teens, this novel has power because it does not offer up an easily detestable villain in the white police officer who shoots Khalil. Rather, the officer’s trigger-pulling of fire is left somewhat vague and amorphous. The true antagonism of this novel is systemic in nature: biased media coverage, a DA who does not care to pursue justice, prejudiced friends, and a cycle of poverty and violence that creates and is created by in cycles. Even the novel’s antagonists—Hailey, King—are given enough context that their motivations for actions odious are understandable, even if their actions are inexcusable. But that is important for teens: most will read novels that attribute good and evil to clear characters. This novel does not. Instead it is complex and thus empowers the reader to look at the structures of a given environment, their histories, and the various biases—both conscious and unconscious—that exist to enable such horrific violence in the first place. It is harder to read that way, but more empowering to the reader.

I’ve read recently – with much pleasure – The Pisces by Melissa Broder. As I said earlier, Notes on Heartbreak is a deeply emotional read and whilst The Pisces is a vastly different book, it also deals with the depths of heartbreak and the journey of the person left to pick up the pieces after. The book is wild and crazy and at times surreal, but it’s also very real and is a very humorous take on the typical heartbreak stories that we read about. Annie Lord is another author who tackles tough subject matters with honesty and Unflinching courage in her writing. For an even more twisted take on relationships, you have to read Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan. The book is a smart and quirky dissection of the stresses of dating in your 30s and follows a protagonist as conflicted and as stuck in limbo as the narrator of Notes on Heartbreak. It’s fun and often laugh-out-loud and the dry humor has got me reading passages aloud to my flatmates to get their take. Even more, though, it’s good to have this sort of relatable take on a series of relationships, whole from the really bad to the just plain stumped. If you are looking for something a little more lyrical but equally painful, I highly recommend Graham Greene’s classic The End of the Affair. The story is of a man whose obsessive love of a woman that ended in an affair culminates in her unexpected death, and in the years that follow, he struggles with his jealousy, anger and conflicts with his Christian faith. As with Notes on Heartbreak, the novel is intense and leaves its reader shaken. It is a stunning exploration of love, and is written with incredible precision and beauty. Finally, I picked How to Love a Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs because it’s different but also explores themes of love. This is a collection of short stories that follow a variety of characters, all dealing with love and relationships in different ways, from identities of families and cultures to how people are dealing with being diasporic. I find that this book is similar to Notes on Heartbreak in that the emotional range of the stories goes from extreme love to extreme hate, and in between there is a lot of love and it is so beautiful and relatable that it will make you feel all the emotions and hopefully see a little bit of yourself in the characters. Like with Notes on Heartbreak, reading How to Love a Jamaican will leave you feeling wrecked but better in the end.

I await other comments herein concerning international awards. The UK’s Waterstones Children’s Book Prize is a very notable literary award in the UK. US-focused comments are always interesting to me given that this book has read and resonated globally with so very many readers. Its themes of injustice, identity, and voicing one’s intellectual and creative views are universally relatable, even if a highly American context is given to their expression.

For readers who fell for the unapologetic messiness of Sour Heart, a new-to-you book might be Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi, a wild ride that follows a Nigerian woman who is host to multiple spirits. Although immigrant-centric in theme, the book’s fragmented, visceral prose and its exploration of a disjointed identity are going to speak to fans of Zhang’s unflinching work. Also recommended is The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch, a dystopian novel written in raw, bodily prose by a fierce rebel of a writer. Zhang’s book isn’t easily matchable, but these two are offbeat enough to feel like kindred spirits.

It’s funny. Peaches and Julian’s meeting was so against expectations for me. Instead of a romantic slow-march across a meadow, a curious molehog accidentally headbutted Peaches during a pirate battle. Julian is this very odd, cocky and awkward mixture of a character, and Peaches is a witty, sarcastic deadpan. So their chemistry is really unbalanced in terms of how they feel about each other and how hard he’s trying to get her to like him versus how barely she’s tolerating him until she doesn’t anymore. And the moment he puts himself in great peril to save her family is when you see her soften. Love isn’t about perfect. It’s about finding someone who is just as weird as you are.

And then there is fun. How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps is a parody of the RPG genre and of games similar to The Legend of Zelda. The “club” is the party the heroine collects on her journey. It’s short, it’s funny, it contains all the well-known elements of a RPG. This book is not trying to be deep. It’s just lots of fun for gamers and readers of fantasy in general. After having read a long and serious epic, this is the lighthearted, tropey way to a club saving the world. It’s a warm hug and a high-five for you.

What I found really interesting is that this story does not end in England. James doesn’t return to claim the aunts’ house. Instead he leaves that entire world behind and sets up home in a totally new land with his new people. That this is an emigration story and that James finds a new home is interesting enough in itself. But also it is a really bold choice for a children’s book as late as this. It reinforces the idea that sometimes escape is the only answer and that your real ‘place’ is with your people, not where you started. And the ‘where’ of the ending is a statement: home is where you make it.

I never really did get all of the details out, but I believe a pie was involved. I think there were two kids and a dad in the story. I should really go back and read that again, it's been a long time.

I am also looking for something similar to All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven in terms of emotional impact. This novel deals with mental health and love in a beautiful, heart-wrenching way, similar to You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone. Her characters are so real and relatable, which makes it easy to see their struggles and celebrations. Deb Caletti also wrote The Secret Life of Prince Charming, a novel centered around family, secrets, and relationships. While not nearly as focused on the medical side of things, it deals with issues in a truly honest manner, bringing a lot of heartache and laughter to the read.