# First Love Language

**Author:** Stefany Valentine
**Grade range:** Grades 9–12
**First published:** 2026
**Page count:** 305
**Genre:** Young Adult
**ISBN-13:** `9798217142927`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/first-love-language
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Two teens discover that love defies the boundaries of any spoken language in this debut romantic dramedy about finding love and reconnecting with your culture in the most surprising ways. A WILLIAM C. MORRIS AWARD FINALIST Taiwanese American Catie Carlson has never fit in with her white family. As much as she loves her stepmom and stepsister, she yearns to understand more about her culture and find her biological mother. So Catie is shocked when an opportunity comes knocking on her door: Her summer spa coworker, Toby, says he’ll teach her Mandarin. In exchange, she needs to teach him how to date so he can finally work up the courage to ask out his crush. The only problem is that Catie doesn’t actually have any dating experience. But she can fake it. With her late father’s copy of The Five 

## Where this book is assigned

### William C. Morris YA Debut Award

- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: William C. Morris YA Debut Award winners + finalists, via Wikipedia — 2026 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C._Morris_Award)
- **recommended** · 10th grade — [source: William C. Morris YA Debut Award winners + finalists, via Wikipedia — 2026 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C._Morris_Award)
- **recommended** · 11th grade — [source: William C. Morris YA Debut Award winners + finalists, via Wikipedia — 2026 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C._Morris_Award)
- **recommended** · 12th grade — [source: William C. Morris YA Debut Award winners + finalists, via Wikipedia — 2026 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C._Morris_Award)

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