The Start of Me and You Books in Order

The The Start of Me and You books are contemporary YA stories about Paige Hancock, a smart, funny teenager trying to rebuild her life after loss. The first book begins a year after Paige's boyfriend died in an accident. She is tired of being seen only through that tragedy, so she makes a careful plan to rejoin normal high school life. It sounds simple. It is not.

At Oakhurst High, Paige's world is shaped as much by her people as by the plot. Her tight friend group matters. So do her divorced parents, a beloved grandmother, and the kind of suburban school life where football games, class schedules, and club meetings can feel huge. When Paige gets pulled toward Quiz Bowl and spends more time with Max, the sweet, brainy cousin of her longtime crush, the story shifts from getting back to normal to figuring out what she actually wants.

That is the real engine of this series.

These books are warm, romantic, and very interested in friendship. There is grief here, and anxiety, and family stress, but the tone is not bleak. Emery Lord writes Paige's life as busy, embarrassing, affectionate, and full of overlapping relationships. Crushes matter, but so do inside jokes, text chains, and the comfort of friends who know when to push and when to sit beside you.

The Map from Here to There picks up with Paige in senior year, after some of the hardest healing has already happened. That makes the sequel feel a little different, in a good way. Instead of asking whether Paige can move forward at all, it asks what happens when life is finally good and change still comes for you. College decisions, future plans, old friendships, new people, and a rising current of anxiety make the second book less about starting over and more about learning how to live with uncertainty.

The setting matters because it feels ordinary on purpose. This is not a glossy fantasy suburb. It is a lived-in world of kitchens, school hallways, summer jobs, team practices, and car rides with too many feelings packed into them. That grounded backdrop lets the emotional stakes land without making the story feel melodramatic. Paige's problems are recognizably teenage, but Lord treats them with real weight.

If you like character-driven YA with banter, heart, and a strong sense of community, this is a very easy place to settle in. Read The Start of Me and You first, then The Map from Here to There. Come for the romance if you want, but chances are you'll stay for Paige and the people around her.