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Where the Heart Should Be by Sarah Crossan

Where the Heart Should Be

Sarah Crossan

HarperCollins · Hardcover · January 21, 2025

“I hold my breath while reading Sarah Crossan’s books.

Historical YA RomanceNovels in Verse for TeensHistorical YA - Europegirls
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Who it’s for
A grounded YA read with cultural texture and an easy, immersive pull.
Genres
Historical YA Romance, Novels in Verse for Teens, Historical YA - Europe
Published
HarperCollins, January 21, 2025

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For younger readers: The Story That Cannot Be Told

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About this book

“I hold my breath while reading Sarah Crossan’s books. Every word is filled with so much love, the book is practically throbbing. A beautiful, perfect, moving read.” —Cecelia Ahern, bestselling author of P. S. I Love You In 1847, everything in Ireland was falling apart—but sixteen-year-old Nell was falling in love.

Continue reading

Carnegie Medal winner Sarah Crossan’s first historical novel-in-verse is a suspenseful and heartbreaking story of love, family, and the forces that can destroy us or bind us forever. For fans of Joy McCullough, Elizabeth Acevedo, Malinda Lo, and Ruta Sepetys. Ireland is starving, and a poor Irish scullery maid falls in love with the British heir to the land. Can their romance stay hidden during the devastating famine? The potatoes are black, people are dying, and in the midst of it all, Nell must do everything she can to keep her family together and everyone she loves alive. It is hard to tell a love story and also the story of a people being torn apart.

Why It Clicks

A grounded YA read with cultural texture and an easy, immersive pull.

Come here for

  • cultural context, lightly worn-in
  • straightforward, emotionally tuned prose

Expect

  • cultural literacy over ornament
  • a sustained, readable narrative

Where it sits

Novels in Verse for Teens78%
Historical YA - Europe49%
Historical YA Romance41%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Historical YA - Europe
  • Literary YA
  • Novels in Verse for Teens
  • Europe for Teens
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • YA Poetry
  • Historical YA Romance
  • Class & Inequality for Teens
  • Immigration for Teens
Authors
Sarah Crossan
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
January 21, 2025
Format
Hardcover
Reading lane
Historical YA - Europe