“Quindlen is a master at portraying the teen experience. The setting is vivid and atmospheric, the dialogue is genuine, and the characters are believable teenagers full of paradoxical traits: thoughtful and impetuous, determined and uncertain, kind and cruel. . . .A must-purchase for any library’s YA romance collection.”
—School Library Journal, starred review
Hannah and Baker are best friends who can’t help falling in love during their senior year at a Catholic school in southern Louisiana. As they try to figure out their relationship, they grapple with the religious and cultural constraints of their community and, more severely, with internalized homophobia. The story has a happy ending.
HNITS was my very first book. Originally, I self-published and did not expect much. (This was 2014, and queer books were not having their moment yet!) But to my surprise, the book took off, largely due to word of mouth marketing in the online LGBTQ community. HNITS sold 50,000+ copies around the world before my traditional publisher, Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan), decided to re-issue it as a hardcover in 2026.
The new, updated version of Her Name in the Sky features added scenes, an epilogue, and a new author’s note. The epilogue takes place on the morning of Hannah and Baker’s wedding and ties neatly into my fourth book, This Must Be the Place.
I am eternally grateful to the kind, generous, and brave readers who have embraced Hannah & Baker’s story and pushed the book into other readers’ hands. You are the reason this 2026 version exists!
Order now from your favorite retailer.
*Signed copies are available from Little Shop of Stories.
Cover design: L. Whitt