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Prime Video’s recent hit Sterling Point hits all the right buttons for a coming-of-age drama, with all of the romance and family drama you’d want. None of that is particularly groundbreaking, nor are the show’s well-managed elements of mystery. Where the show stands out is in its tone and pacing: Sterling Point never feels like it’s in a rush, and that sets it apart among its plot-heavy YA peers. For all the heightened romantic drama and family secrets, there’s the sense, right from the beginning, that we’re watching something that takes itself seriously, and the languid feeling of youthful summers comes through without ever being dull. While we wait for a promised second season, enjoy these other uncommonly smart YA dramas.
The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022–2025)
Adapted from the trilogy of YA bestsellers by Jenny Han, this series focuses on the coming-of-age of teenager Belly Conklin (Lola Tung), who is 16 as the series starts. Belly and her family spend every summer at Cousins Beach with the Fisher family, a tradition that’s all well and good until she starts to develop a romantic attraction for first one Fisher brother (Christopher Briney), then the other (Gavin Casalegno), planting the seeds for a love triangle that unfolds over the course of several summers, and that sees Belly grow into young adulthood to a soundtrack made up largely of Taylor Swift tunes. The three-season run is over, but there’s a continuation movie on the way. Stream The Summer I Turned Pretty on Prime Video.
Outer Banks (2020–2026)
Two households, both alike in dignity…more or less…are at the heart of this seasonal beach drama. The working-class “Pogues” (as they’re called) live in coastal Kildare Island year-round, while the wealthy Kooks (also a nickname) show up just during the summer months. Quite naturally, the ringleader of the locals (Chase Stokes) takes an interest in the rebellious daughter (Madelyn Cline) of the seasonal residents. There’s more going on here than just summer romance, as the series opener has the locals exploring a submerged ship and finding a large amount of cash, some significant documents, and a gun, which will come into play as the rival factions come to figurative and literal blows. Stream Outer Banks on Netflix.
Forever (2025– )
Who does teen drama better than Judy Blume? This adaptation of her widely censored 1975 novel updates the setting to current-ish day Los Angeles and expands the novel’s exploration of the complexities of teen love and sex to include the challenges of being young, exceptional, and Black in 2020s America. Keisha Clark (Lovie Simone) attends a predominantly Black private school and is working toward a track scholarship at Howard, while Justin Edwards (Michael Cooper Jr.) goes to school with white kids and is on his parents’ track to go to Northeastern, ideally on a basketball scholarship. The smart show follows their budding romance in a way that feels real and compelling—it’s more focused on the central relationship than is Sterling Point, but it similarly feels more real than most teen-centered dramas. Stream Forever on Netflix.
Cruel Summer (2021– )
When pretty, popular girl Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt) goes missing without a trace in 1993, awkward Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia) steps in to fill the gap, modeling herself after Kate by working her way into the missing girl’s social circle and getting close with her boyfriend. That’s all going great until Kate reappears two years later, accusing Jeanette of having witnessed the events around her disappearance and keeping quiet. Whoops. There’s even more going on, as the show shifts back and forth between 1993, 1994, and 1995 to slowly reveal the missing pieces. Season two takes on a different story set in 1999 and 2000, and the forthcoming third season will shake things up again. The emphasis here is on mystery, but it’s a show about the aftereffects of trauma and of the dark secrets that can tear families and communities apart. Stream Cruel Summer on Hulu.
Ginny & Georgia (2021– )
Brianne Howey plays Georgia, who became a mom at 15 and who’s been fleeing for much of that time, escaping from more than one abusive relationship and going to whatever lengths have been necessary (including possibly murder) in order to protect her two kids. As Ginny (Antonia Gentry) comes of age, she’s forced to come to terms with her mom’s actions (Ginny generally gets bits of backstory alongside us, the audience) and to try to understand the reasons behind them. Their relationship is close, but also complicated and sometimes antagonistic. There’s a moment in the first episode of this show when single mom Georgia describes herself and daughter Ginny as “…like the Gilmore Girls, but with bigger boobs!”—so the show has some of that close-but-complicated family vibe that’s echoed by Sterling Point’s sisters. Stream Ginny & Georgia on Netflix.
Looking for Alaska (2019)
Author John Green is most famous for a particularly poignant brand of teen drama (his most successful work being the novel and subsequent film adaptation The Fault in Our Stars). This miniseries, from Green’s semi-autobiographical debut novel, features a death-obsessed kid who moves to Alabama to attend a boarding school, with enlightenment and tragedy following in equal measure. As with Green’s novels, the material transcends the obvious emo tropes, and the miniseries was received well by newcomers as well as fans of the book. It shares with Sterling Point not just its themes of moving beyond grief, but creatives Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, whose resumes also include YA TV classics The O.C. and Gossip Girl. Buy Looking for Alaska from Apple TV.
The Season (2026– )
The emphasis here is on rich people, so your mileage may vary, but the vibe is very much White Lotus, which makes it all a bit more tolerable. We even open on a flash-forward involving lead Cola (Jessie Mei Li) floating unconscious, possibly dead, as a yacht burns and sinks behind her. Stepping back a few weeks, Cola is taking a summer job in Hong Kong with a wealth management company. It’s the start of the summer social season, and Cola is expected to network among the wealthy and clique-y yachters in town for the summer. We quickly learn that our outsider isn’t quite as naive as she’s appeared, and that her motive in moving among the young elite of Hong Kong has to do with her own family secrets and a lust for revenge. It’s all very pretty and polished, and equally juicy. Stream The Season on Hulu.
Hart of Dixie (2011–2015)
Rachel Bilson plays Zoe Hart, who moves from New York to the small town of Bluebell, Ala., to take over part of her father’s medical practice—she didn’t have much choice, given that her poor bedside manner made her virtually unemployable. So now she has to rebuild a life among three generations of family in a town full of eccentrics. It’s a little lighter, perhaps, and maybe a bit more schmaltzy than Sterling Point, but the narratives start from similar places in that Zoe has to make a new life in a new town while discovering the family she barely knew. Stream Hart of Dixie on Prime Video.
Never Have I Ever (2020–2023)
Following a family tragedy, the already awkward 15-year-old Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) has a pretty terrible freshman year of high school, and decides that she’s going to turn things around the following year, hoping that a nearly academic study of sex will get her the boyfriend(s) her raging hormones have begun to demand. It works, to a point—but getting a surprise yes to sex from her crush leads her to question what she’s really ready for. More about burgeoning sexuality than sex specifically, this Mindy Kaling-produced series is both honest and charming. Stream Never Have I Ever on Netflix.
Every Year After (2026– )
Percy Fraser (Sadie Soverall) returns to the lakeside town of Barry’s Bay after a decade away for the funeral of the mother of her old boyfriend Sam Florek (Matt Cornett) and his brother Charlie (Michael Bradway). As she reconnects with her family and old friends, we revisit the summers of years earlier to discover what exactly went down between Percy, Sam, and Charlie. There’s nothing groundbreaking in the premise here, but it’s still an impressively smart take on young love, loss, and betrayal. Stream Every Year After on Prime Video.
