Music uplifts and inspires us, comforts and connects us. Music and dance let us express our heartfelt feelings and our deepest fears. Whether you’re a pop lover, an aspiring songwriter, a dancing queen, or a band superfan, you’ll find books on our list that will get your toes tapping, your fingers snapping, and your heart singing. Check out our list of romantic, music-themed YA books will rock your reading world with stories that feature music, musicians, and dance!
19 Love Songs by David Levithan
19 Love Songs is a beautiful collection of love stories organized like an album or playlist. Each “track” offers a peek into a unique relationship. The collection has love stories written in both prose and verse, features fiction and nonfiction, and explores many different types of love, from romantic to family to friendship. Each story is unique and memorable. Each one vibrates with emotion. Together they make an unforgettable reading experience.
The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk
Told from multiple perspectives, The Beauty That Remains is the story of three characters reeling from heartbreaking losses. Autumn, Logan, and Shay have each recently lost someone important to them. All three are also fans of a recently broken-up band called Unraveling Lovely. Told in prose and interspersed with texts and social media posts, The Beauty That Remains is a moving portrayal of grief and mourning and an ode to the healing power of music.
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
After her parents’ divorce, Evie has become cynical about love and romance. And she has a new superpower: when she sees a couple embrace, she has a vision of exactly how their relationship will end. But when she signs up for lessons at the La Brea Dance Studio, she’s quickly swept up in a sultry tango with a guy named Xavier. Falling in love is the last thing Evie wants, but can she resist the pull of the music and the way it (and Xavier) tugs at her heartstrings? Like all the best love songs, Instructions for Dancing will shatter your heart into a million pieces and put them back together again!
Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance by Nisha Sharma
Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance follows two characters struggling to balance family pressures with their own hopes and dreams. Radha, a high school senior, is an up-and-coming kathak dancer. But when a shocking family revelation triggers her performance anxiety, she turns her back on competing and moves to a new city. Jai is head of his high school’s Bollywood Beats dance team and sees Radha as the secret weapon he needs to choreograph a showstopping end-of-year routine. Together, these two will face their fears, redefine their futures, and celebrate the joy of music and dance.
Sunkissed by Kasie West
In Sunkissed, Avery’s plans for a magical summer were shattered by her best friend’s betrayal. Now she’s headed to a family resort, a place with no internet and a bit too much togetherness. When Avery’s love of music inspires her to join the camp’s band, she slowly regains her confidence and finds her rhythm. Will Avery’s attraction to Brooks, the band’s cute guitarist, be just a summer fling, or will these two find lasting harmony?
