No one's ever too old for this wonderful middle grade book by Judy Blume. Written in 1970, it's just about perfect, even all these years later, for girls to relate to. AND for boys who want to know everything that 11/12-year old girls say about them. As Margaret shares her hopes and fears with God in a relationship that helps her feel grounded and heard, she navigates her new hometown, her relationship with her parents and grandparents, and her exploration of religion. The story follows her adventures with friends and their super-private discussions about bras, exercises to make them necessary, their first periods, and how to kiss boys, among other topics. Told in Margaret's endearing voice, this book will stay with me for a long while, and it's absolutely one of my favorite reads of 2024.
Meet Margaret. She's going through all the same things most teenage girls have to face; fitting in, friendship and first bras.
Life isn't easy for Margaret. She's moved away from her childhood home, she's starting a new school, finding new friends - and she's convinced she's not normal. For a start she hasn't got a clue whether she wants to be Jewish like her father or Christian like her mother. Everyone else seems really sure of who they are. And, worst of all, she's a 'late developer'. She just knows that all her friends…
A teen girl emailed to tell me how one of my books brought her back from atheism to falling in love with God and her Catholic faith. I also fell in love with my faith in my teen years, though the waters of life were still a challenge to navigate. Responsibilities, fun, and the culture can often blind us to what truly makes us happy—a relationship with God—but faith-filled fiction can remind us of this. I love to read and write young adult stories that entertain, capture the imagination, and that spark faith. I hope you enjoy the books on this list.
Well-written and enjoyable, this story takes an honest look at the physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects of teens in relationships. As the characters’ feelings for each other grow, they confront new emotions and urges that they don’t always know how to deal with. Like every child raised Christian, they know what they are “supposed” to do but they don’t always understand “why”. Sometimes they make poor choices, but through all the temptations, challenges, and even failures, they both develop an understanding of the value of chastity. By the story’s end, they have a clear, solid, and mature grasp of its worth.I appreciate the message of developing a strong conviction about waiting for marriage, rather than allowing oneself the temporary thrill of partaking in something that isn’t “rightfully ours”.
Sixteen-year-old Paul Porter’s relocation to Pennsylvania is a temporary move during his dad’s deployment. Or so he and his brother think, until devastating news lands on their doorstep.Paul’s new home with the Muellers provides solace, especially in the form of Rachel, his friend and confidante. Their abiding friendship deepens as they work side by side to uncover what could be lost treasure.Will they acquire the strength of character and virtue to take only what rightfully belongs to them or are they in way over their heads, with more than a few lost artifacts at stake?
My first mentor was Arthur C Clarke, the science fiction megastar. I’ve always been drawn to epic fantasy, science fiction, and techno-thrillers. Stories that push the boundaries of reality. While I’ve been a professional author for over thirty years in multiple genres, I keep returning to speculative fiction, much of which is published under my pen name “Thomas Locke”. I serve as Writer In Residence at the University of Oxford. In writing Island of Time, my aim was to apply a classical heroic structure to neartime fantasy. Use the naturally occurring elements of light and dark, good and evil, and magnify them by adding magic to this world.
Should an angsty teen girl (or her mom) be relieved when she’s taken under the wing of an eccentric art dealer?
After all, not many people make seventeen-year-old Cera Marlowe feel understood. She’s too into poetry and art and suffers from seizures… The mystery in Mortal Sight is of a much more personal nature than the other books on this list. While this urban fantasy tale is young adult, the blend of modern-day with ancient mythology drew me in and I was reminded of my own childhood. I enjoyed the concept of a girl with a mysterious past and a dangerous destiny awakening to her true identity – all accompanied by lines of Milton in her head that help her to navigate her strange new world.
Seventeen-year-old Cera Marlowe wants a normal life; one where she and her mom can stop skipping town every time a disturbing vision strikes. But when a girl she knows is murdered by a monster she can't explain, Cera's world turns upside down.
Suddenly thrown into an ancient supernatural battle, Cera discovers she's not alone in her gifting and vows to use her visions to save lives. But why does John Milton's poem Paradise Lost keep interrupting her thoughts?
In a race against time and a war against unearthly creatures, will decoding messages embedded in…
I have always loved fictional works that explore deep truths of humanity and existence. As a teen struggling to understand my purpose and beliefs, I grew fond of dystopian books with subtle, hope-filled messages pointing to God as our salvation amid chaos. I loved the genre so much that I began writing a Christian dystopian novel of my own and self-published it at 19, weaving pieces of my testimony throughout the main character's inner journey. For me, a book is only as good as its characters, no matter how gripping the plot is. So, the books on this list contain some of the genre's most authentic, intricately written souls.
Reading Anomaly made me grateful for my freedom to express my thoughts and emotions. McGee creates a fascinating yet chilling world where humans are genetically modified to be born incapable of feeling emotion. I grew compassionate for the main character, who has hidden the fact that she has felt emotions her entire life.
A suspenseful YA dystopian novel with well-written characters and intriguing questions about God and his true purpose for creation, Anomaly left me craving the next book in the series.
Thalli has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds to live. The toxic gas that will complete her annihilation is invading her bloodstream. But she is not afraid.
Decades before Thalli's birth, the world was decimated by a nuclear war. But life continued deep underground, thanks to a handful of scientists known as The Ten. There they created genetically engineered human beings who are free of emotions in the hope that war won't threaten the world again.
Thalli is an anomaly, born with the ability to feel emotions and a sense of curiosity she can barely contain. She has survived so far…
I was a painfully awkward teenager, two years younger than the rest of my class and a little too “extra” to fit in anywhere. I spent all of high school desperately seeking my weirdos—people who would accept me the way I was, rabid-puppy enthusiasm and all. One night I met a colorfully-dressed trio on the street who invited me to a loft party that changed my life. That night I fell in love with NYC’s underground party scene: the high-energy music, grimy locations, and most of all the people. I had found my weirdos. When the Beat Drops is my love letter to discovering your people and finding your scene.
I’ve covered rock, classical, a capella, and new wave in my list, so I thought I’d round it out with sugar-sweet pop. Kill the Boy Bandis a darkly hilarious journey into fangirl obsession filled with quirky characters and sitcom situations that are as fun to read as they are improbable. The boy band in question is The Ruperts, a quartet of British heart-throbs with an eerie resemblance to One Direction. When four superfans score a room in the hotel where The Ruperts are staying, they hatch a plan that goes awry fast, leaving the band with one fewer Ruperts and the girls with a…very incriminating situation.
I loved this book for so many reasons, but my favorite was the deep dive into superfan culture. A lot of the book is spent questioning the nature of this culture, but in a way that's genuinely soul-searching and not condescending—the narrator…
The New York Times–bestselling debut story of four superfan friends whose devotion to their favorite band has darkly comical and deadly results.
Just know from the start that it wasn’t supposed to go like this. All we wanted was to get near them. That’s why we got a room in the hotel where they were staying.
We were not planning to kidnap one of them. Especially not the most useless one. But we had him—his room key, his cell phone, and his secrets.
We were not planning on what happened next. We swear.
My family moved from America to rural China when I was four. We never stayed in one place for very long. Ever since, I’ve been searching for home in books and countries around the world. The themes of home, belonging, and identity are important ones to me that I explore in my young adult novels. My love of travel, martial arts, and tech also lend themselves well to writing fast-paced adventure books with epic battles and fight scenes. I hope you enjoy the novels on this list as much as I do!
I love this book because it has such a unique world and a plot twist that blew my mind!
All the signs were there, hinting, pointing, foreshadowing, but I still didn’t see it coming. Que the mic drop from Lewellen that left me stunned. Also, dystopian Texas is such a fun setting! Apart from my own novel, I’ve never seen it done before.
Cross the grid. Survive the storms. Let your destiny burn.
When mankind’s attempts to control nature backfire, Texas descends into a wasteland. Storms rage and ravenous beasts roam the Outer Grid. The only safe havens rest inside the tech-obsessed domed cities. But when her parents are murdered inside the Plex City dome, seventeen-year-old Juniper Conway wants revenge.
Ties to her extended family threaten to pull her back as she runs from city to city. The Plex is endangering its citizens by legalizing a deadly nano drug, and Juniper’s family needs her help to deliver the counteragent. Saving the city who…
I have a biology and chemistry degree and have worked in a hospital laboratory for over 25 years. History has always been an interest, and my affection for the Tudor era was sparked after learning some background about Shakespeare’s works. The politics, the forgotten words and their meanings from that time, fascinate me. I fancy myself a bit of an armchair historian and time traveler. My suggested books succeed in transporting me back in time. I learn on the coattails of smart protagonists created by intelligent writers who get the mix of history, mystery, and science just right.
One of the smartest books I’ve ever read portraying a woman in a “man’s job” in medieval England. Adelia is trained in Italy as a ‘Mistress of the Art of Death,’ a precursor to today’s medical examiner.
She’s brilliant and brave, and she engages in repartee with Sir Rowley—King Henry II’s tax collector and love interest—that has me turning the pages eager for their next encounter. This is a smart, funny, well-researched thriller that I return to every few years to reread.
Winner of the CWA Best Historical Crime Novel of the Year
'Great fun! Franklin succeeds in vividly bringing the 12th century to life with this cracking good story' KATE MOSSE
Medieval England. A hideous murder. Enter the first female anatomist...
Adelia Aguilar is a rare thing in medieval Europe - a woman who has trained as a doctor. Her speciality is the study of corpses, a skill that must be concealed if she is to avoid accusations of witchcraft.
But in Cambridge a child has been murdered, others are disappearing, and King Henry has called upon a renowned Italian investigator…
This is the first in a trilogy that’s part Catholic apologetics and part sci-fi comic book. I never would have thought anyone would put those two together, but it works brilliantly. I loved all three books. It was difficult to decide which to mention here since several in my family think the third is the best. But this one is the beginning of the series, which is where anyone should start.
Brendan and Erc are just your average interplanetary mailmen trying to find their way in the galaxy. But one day, while piloting cargo through the far reaches of space, they suddenly find themselves on a journey they didn't expect: a journey to the truth. A totally new kind of resource for Catholic apologetics and evangelization, The Truth Is Out There combines the visual excitement and quirky humor of graphic novels with solid popular philosophy and theology. The result is a book in which everyone from teens to adults can find accessible answers to questions about God, the soul, true happiness,…
I’m a firm believer in Jesus Christ, and I’ve spent the majority of my life reading Christian fiction, but one day, I felt Jesus drop a story onto my heart. And I wrote it. And He gave me more inspiration, and I kept writing. I always say Jesus gives me my stories. I must obey. The world needs more Jesus, and not every Christian book has to fall under “Christian romance.” The Christian fiction space needs warm, Christian family stories, and I pray God continues to let me write them. I hope you enjoy the Christian family books on this list as much as I did!
Reading Christy Miller Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4 practically summarizes a good portion of my teenage life.
Well, that and me trying desperately to recreate the amazing scenes you don’t want to miss within these pages. Only told from the POV of fifteen-year-old Christy Miller, we meet a girl whose life has been upended by a sudden move to California, a wealthy but rude aunt, and a hot surfer on the beach.
Problem? He’s a die-hard Christian who plays guitar at church. She’s never accepted Christ and doesn’t know the first thing about beach living. In fact, she only has the world’s ugliest one-piece green bathing suit.
Christy Miller is the forever friend that I wish I could meet in real life!
The first twelve books in the popular Christy Miller series are now available in four treasured volumes!
Bestselling author Robin Jones Gunn packs each one with enough action, romance, and drama to keep you reading and wanting more. It all starts the summer Christy vacations on a California beach and meets two friends who change her life forever. But after moving across the country with her family, Christy must begin her sophomore year of high school uncertain where she'll fit in. A red-headed new best friend, a try at cheerleading, a job at a pet store, and expectations for the…
I savored this account of a boy’s Christmas visit to his
two sets of grandparents. The key to the exquisiteness of this book is its
point of view. The narrator is nobody
special.
Yet he, like all of us past a certain age, brings the perspective of maturity.
He pulls back the curtain and shows readers the quiet love in an ordinary
family.
Andy Catlett showed me that wisdom is a treasure painfully
earned, which can be shared with those willing to receive it. Berry’s narrative is slow, rich, and beautiful.
A young boy takes a trip on his own to visit his grandparents in Kentucky in this luminous entry in the acclaimed Port William series.
In this “eloquent distillation of Berry’s favorite themes: the importance of family, community and respect for the land” (Kirkus Reviews), nine-year-old Andy Catlett embarks on a solo trip by bus to visit his grandparents in Port William, Kentucky, during the Christmas of 1943. Full of “nostalgic, admiring detail” (Publishers Weekly), Andy observes the modern world crowding out the old ways, and the people he encounters become touchstones for his understanding of a precious and imperiled…
