How I Changed My Life

by S. E. Hinton

Like Kyle navigating life off the football field, Ponyboy Curtis has to figure out who he is beyond the labels society's slapped on him. Hinton captures that same raw authenticity about identity and reinvention that Strasser explores, but with the added layer of class conflict that makes the stakes feel even more personal and urgent.

by Rainbow Rowell

This one's from 2013, so it'll give you a different era's take on the same territory—two outsiders finding each other and discovering that real connection is messier and more complicated than the fantasy version. Rowell has that same gift Strasser does for capturing the specific texture of how teenagers actually talk and think, especially when they're trying to be brave.

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

A genuine surprise pick, but stay with me: like Bo learning the difference between fantasy and reality in relationships, Aristotle and Dante's connection forces both boys to confront what they actually want versus what they thought they wanted. Sáenz writes with such tenderness about the gap between internal and external selves that you'll recognize Bo's journey in a completely different context.

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda's forced reinvention—she's trying to disappear after a traumatic event—is the dark mirror of Bo's chosen transformation. Both books understand that changing yourself isn't simple or always empowering, and both authors refuse to let their characters off easy with neat resolutions. The emotional intelligence here will hit you differently on a second read.

by Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center, Symposium Staff

Simon's carefully constructed public image versus his private self echoes Bo's journey, but Albertalli adds a layer of humor and lightness that keeps the emotional stakes from becoming heavy. Like Strasser, she understands that sometimes the most important relationships are the ones that force us to be honest about who we actually are, not who we're trying to become.