Books like That was then, this is now
That was then, this is now by S. E. Hinton reads as gritty, melancholic. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.
What That was then, this is now is like to read
A short, plainspoken first-person elegy for a boyhood friendship dissolving under the pressure of drugs, violence, and moral choice — quietly devastating rather than sensational. Best for: readers who want the raw Hinton-era YA lineage: brotherhood, betrayal, and a gut-punch ending.
The Outsiders
S. E. Hinton · 1967
A first-person teen voice narrates a fast, bruising few days of gang violence and grief, filtered through Ponyboy's earnest reckoning with class and loyalty.
A Separate Peace
John Knowles · 1959
A retrospective account of a wartime boarding-school friendship, colored by guilt and the long shadow of a single formative year.
Rumble Fish
S. E. Hinton · 1975
A short, tense story of a younger brother's hero-worship of a legendary older sibling, told close to the protagonist's uncertain teenage perspective.
Lot
Bryan Washington · 2019
Shares the escape + comingofage thread
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky · 1999
An earnest, artless voice in letters to a stranger — quiet on the surface but accumulating toward a devastating reckoning with buried trauma.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie · 2007
A diary-voiced, cartoon-illustrated teen monologue that swings from laugh-out-loud jokes to sudden grief within a page — propulsive, warm, and quietly devastating.
Tyrell
Coe Booth · 2007
An immersive first-person account of a teen boy navigating poverty, temptation, and love with raw, street-inflected voice; tense but grounded rather than plot-twisty.
Make Lemonade
Virginia Euwer Wolff · 1993
Told in spare free verse, the novel feels intimate and unhurried, tracking a teenage girl's determination and her growing bond with a struggling young mother through small, vivid, everyday moments.
Sisters/Hermanas
Gary Paulsen · 1993
Shares the escape + comingofage thread
Ruby
Rosa Guy · 1976
Shares the escape + comingofage thread
This is our youth
Kenneth Lonergan · 1999
Shares the comingofage + vspare thread
It's Like This, Cat
Emily Cheney Neville · 1992
Shares the escape + comingofage thread
About That was then, this is now — what the genome says
Is That was then, this is now a complete story or a cliffhanger?
It's a complete, standalone-satisfying story.
Who is That was then, this is now for?
It's young adult — teen protagonists with crossover appeal.
Find your next read by its genome
Tell Novelome one book you love — get recommendations tuned to your taste, including the ones other sites never surface.
Start free →More readalikes: Books like THE LET THEM THEORY · Books like EXTREME OWNERSHIP · Books like WINGS OF STARLIGHT · Books like DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK, EXPANDED EDITION · Books like I WILL TEACH YOU TO BE RICH, SECOND EDITION · Books like FAKE SKATING · Books like THE CREATIVE ACT · Books like IF ONLY I HAD TOLD HER