Cold Sassy Tree (1984), by Olive Ann Burns, and To Kill a Mockingbird (1961), by Harper Lee, while set in different eras, are both novels that portray life in small towns as seen through the eyes of teenagers.

In Lowry Pei's Family Resemblances (1986), Karen, a teenager who spends the summer with her aunt and falls in love, can be compared to Billy in The Arizona Kid.