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As part of our Back to School series, join Young Adult (YA) authors Christine Hepperman and Cameron Kelly Rosenblum. Their books tackle high school and college social angst and how their characters cope with challenges at school—from sleeping with a boy, in What Goes Up, to coping with suicide in The Stepping Off Place.

Christine is the author of Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty; Ask Me How I Got Here; and the young middle-grade series Backyard Witch, written with Ron Koertge. She has an MA in Children’s Literature from Simmons College and an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Hamline University and has reviewed children’s and young adult books for many major publications, such as the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and The Horn Book. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Highland, New York.

How do you forgive yourself—and the people you love—when a shocking discovery leads to a huge mistake? Acclaimed author Christine Heppermann’s novel-in-verse tackles betrayals and redemption among family and friends with her signature unflinching—but always sharply witty—style. For fans of Elana K. Arnold, Laura Ruby, and A. S. King.

When Jorie wakes up in the loft bed of a college boy she doesn’t recognize, she’s instantly filled with regret. What happened the night before? What led her to this place? Was it her father’s infidelity? Her mother’s seemingly weak acceptance? Her recent breakup with Ian, the boy who loved her art and supported her through the hardest time of her life?

As Jorie tries to reconstruct the events that led her to this point, free verse poems lead the reader through the current morning, as well as flashbacks to her relationships with her parents, her friends, her boyfriend, and the previous night.

With Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty and Ask Me How I Got Here, Christine Heppermann established herself as a vital voice in thought-provoking and powerful feminist writing for teens. Her poetry is surprising, wry, emotional, and searing. What Goes Up is by turns a scorchingly funny and deeply emotional story that asks whether it’s possible to support and love someone despite the risk of being hurt. Readers of Laura Ruby, E. K. Johnston, Elana K. Arnold, and Laurie Halse Anderson will find a complicated heroine they won’t soon forget.

Cameron Kelly Rosenblum studied English Literature at Kenyon College and earned a master’s in education from Lesley University. She works as a children’s librarian. Cameron lives in southern Maine. The Stepping Off Place is her debut novel.

From debut author Cameron Kelly Rosenblum comes a stunning teen novel that tackles love, grief, and mental health as one girl must process her friend’s death and ultimately learn how to stand in her own light. Perfect for fans of All the Bright Places and We Were Liars.

It’s the summer before senior year. Reid is in the thick of Scofield High’s in-crowd thanks to her best friend, Hattie, who has been her social oxygen since middle school.

But summer is when Hattie goes to her family’s Maine island home. Instead of sitting inside for eight weeks, waiting for her to return, Reid and their friend, Sam, enter into a pact—to live it up, one party at a time.

But days before Hattie is due home, Reid finds out the shocking news that Hattie has died by suicide. Driven by a desperate need to understand what went wrong, Reid searches for answers.

In doing so, she uncovers painful secrets about the person she thought she knew better than herself. And the truth will force Reid to reexamine everything.

Get Schooled: Teen Stories in Mental Health with Cameron Kelly Rosenblum and Christine Heppermann