"Add it to your list immediately... Funny, sharply observed and very timely."--Jennifer Weiner, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Filled with spiky humor (I was grinning every time I turned a page) and characters so real, you expect them to show up for lunch, Gross' book is the irresistible story of a big city Brooklyn family relocating to a small rural town in Maine... An absolutely wonderful novel about figuring out who and what we want to be, and who we truly are."--Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Days of Wonder

"Jessica Berger Gross has written an exuberant and big-hearted novel that encompasses an entire transplanted Brooklyn-to-Maine family. This book manages the neat trick of being both timely and timeless, and is a powerful and witty exploration of what it's like to find and claim your spot in a confusing world."--Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of The Nest and Lake Effect

"Hazel Says No is a smart, fun and thoroughly engaging novel about a family's move to a small town in Maine, where they are pulled apart then brought back together. The setting is vivid and colorful, the themes are timely and thought-provoking and the characters are all brimming with life."--Tova Mirvis, national bestselling author of The Ladies Auxiliary and We Would Never

"I wolfed down Hazel Says No in two giddy sittings. Jessica Berger Gross has created one of contemporary fiction's great new families--a cast of characters whose struggles are resonant, hilarious, and poignant as they struggle to assimilate to their new lives. It's a big hearted and expertly crafted debut, one that celebrates the beauty of home, no matter where you happen to find it, and the power that comes with finding your voice."--Grant Ginder, bestselling author of So Old, So Young

"Hazel is in bloom. Hazel Says No is the book you're looking for right now -- smart, funny, hopeful. Hazel herself is a protagonist for writers and dreamers of all ages who see themselves in her -- and wish for her bravery while cheering her on!" --Erin O. White, author of Like Family

"This smart, well-written novel made me literally laugh and literally cry... A beautiful novel!"--Amy Shearn, author of Animal Instinct

"...I loved it. It reminded me of a cross between Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld and Modern Lovers by Emma Straub." --Grace Farris, author of See One, Do One, Teach One: The Art of Becoming a Doctor

"Hazel Says No pulled me in from the first witty page... Great, skillful, and funny. Fans of Catherine Newman will love it!"--Alice Elliott Dark, national bestselling author of Fellowship Point

"With humor and heart, Berger Gross introduces readers to Hazel Greenberg Blum and her family...and readers will root for all of them."--Booklist STARRED review

"Embraces the joy and light that can be found in moments both big and small."--Kirkus Reviews

"Funny and compulsively readable."--Shelf Awareness

"The brilliance of this novel is how it so deftly deals with very real and heavy issues and yet is ultimately so witty, empathetic and heartfelt."--San Diego Union-Tribune


"Obsessed... Spectacular and authentic [with] surprising (and hilarious) moments of finding community and connection."--Hey Alma

"Fresh and revelatory. A joy to read... Hazel helps us see that the bad things that happen to us, no matter how terrible, don't need to define us."--Lilith

"Such a delight... I loved the Blum family so much...Basically, I was smiling ear to ear the whole way through this book... Hazel is tenacious yet tender. Wolf is protective and passionate but circumspect. Their parents, Gus and Claire, are professionally ambitious but flailing in their respective careers, trying to give their kids space to adjust to Riverburg while telling themselves they made the right decision moving there in the first place." --Read Receipts

"[A] funny, faced-paced debut novel that feels familiar to right now."--Heeb

Publisher: Hanover Square Press

Pub date: 2026-06-02

Length: 352 pages