Elizabeth Scott Books in Order (Updated April 10, 2026)

Elizabeth Scott is best known for contemporary YA novels, with one paranormal title in the mix and no major long-running series to untangle. That changes the job of a “books in order” page: for this author, the key question is not continuity, but where to start and what emotional register you want first.

The safest way to read Elizabeth Scott is simple: use publication order, or pick a standalone based on tone and read from there.

The short answer

If you want the best Elizabeth Scott starting points:

1. Start with Bloom for lighter contemporary YA.
2. Start with Living Dead Girl if you want her most intense, difficult book.
3. Start with Perfect You or Something, Maybe if you want a more romantic, accessible entry.
4. Start with Existence only if you specifically want paranormal YA.

Because most of these books are standalone novels, you do not need to read the whole catalog in order to understand any one book.

Elizabeth Scott books in publication order

1. Bloom (2007): A contemporary YA novel about Lauren, who seems to have the right boyfriend and the right life until Evan’s arrival forces her to face how unhappy and emotionally constrained she really is.
2. Perfect You (2008): Kate’s life unravels when her father quits his job to sell vitamins at the mall, her best friend drifts away, and a crush on Will becomes harder to dismiss.
3. Stealing Heaven (2008): A coming-of-age novel about a girl raised by her mother to steal from the rich, then pushed to decide whether loyalty to family is worth losing her own future.
4. Living Dead Girl (2008): One of Scott’s darkest books, following “Alice,” a fifteen-year-old who has been held captive for years and forced into an impossible moral crisis.
5. Something, Maybe (2009): A funny, romantic YA novel about Hannah, whose father’s public image and humiliating fame make normal teenage life almost impossible.
6. Love You Hate You Miss You (2009): A grief-driven story about loss, guilt, silence, and the emotional wreckage left behind after tragedy changes two girls’ lives.
7. Miracle (2010): Megan survives a plane crash that kills everyone else onboard, then has to deal with numbness, expectation, and survival when everyone keeps calling her a miracle.
8. The Unwritten Rule (2010): A contemporary YA novel about Sarah, who is secretly in love with her best friend’s boyfriend and trapped by the one rule she is not supposed to break.
9. Grace (2010): A speculative or dystopian-leaning novel in which Grace wakes up in a future that looks perfect on the surface but feels deeply wrong underneath.
10. Between Here and Forever (2011): Abby’s life revolves around caring for her disabled sister, and the book explores responsibility, guilt, love, and the possibility of wanting something for herself.
11. As I Wake (2011): Scott’s paranormal entry, about Ava, who wakes with fragmented memories and a growing sense that love, danger, and reality itself are slipping out of place.
12. Heartbeat (2014): Emma is pregnant after the death of her boyfriend, and the novel centers on grief, motherhood, and the challenge of building a future after devastation.

Best reading order for most readers

Because Elizabeth Scott does not have a big connected-universe bibliography, the best reading order depends more on mood than continuity.

If you want the most approachable first read

1. Bloom
2. Perfect You
3. Something, Maybe

This is the easiest entry lane because these books show Scott’s contemporary voice without beginning at her darkest emotional extremes.

If you want the strongest emotional-impact route

1. Living Dead Girl
2. Love You Hate You Miss You
3. Miracle
4. Between Here and Forever
5. Heartbeat

This path highlights the more painful, grief-heavy side of her work.

If you want romance-first contemporary YA

1. Bloom
2. Perfect You
3. Stealing Heaven
4. Something, Maybe
5. The Unwritten Rule

These books are the best fit if you want relationship-centered YA without needing a fantasy or paranormal setup.

If you want the outliers first

1. Grace
2. As I Wake

These are the books to pick up first if you want Elizabeth Scott outside her better-known realistic contemporary lane.

Do any Elizabeth Scott books need to be read in series order?

Not really.

Elizabeth Scott’s main bibliography is made up of standalone novels, not an interconnected world or a long numbered sequence. That means “books in order” here mostly means publication order, not continuity order.

Where to start, depending on your taste

Choose your first book this way:

• Bloom if you want a strong first contemporary.
• Perfect You if you want awkward, funny, romantic teen tension.
• Stealing Heaven if you want family conflict and a sharper premise.
• Living Dead Girl if you are prepared for an extremely heavy, upsetting read.
• Something, Maybe if you want one of the lighter and more openly romantic options.
• Miracle if you want trauma and aftermath.
• Heartbeat if you want one of the most overtly life-changing emotional setups.

FAQs

What is the best Elizabeth Scott book to start with?

Bloom is the safest all-purpose starting point.

Are Elizabeth Scott’s books connected?

No. The main books are standalones.

What is Elizabeth Scott’s darkest book?

Living Dead Girl is widely regarded as her most disturbing and emotionally difficult novel.

Which Elizabeth Scott book is paranormal?

As I Wake is the clearest paranormal title in her main catalog.

Should I read Elizabeth Scott in publication order?

That is the cleanest method, but it is not required because the books are mostly standalone.

Final recommendation

If you want the simplest answer, start with Bloom. If you want the book that best represents Elizabeth Scott’s most intense side, read Living Dead Girl, but go in knowing it is far harsher than her lighter contemporary work.

For this author, the best rule is straightforward: read by interest first, then use publication order if you want to work through the full catalog.