2024 Gift Guide: For the Tweens & Young Teens (Ages 10-15)
December 13, 2024 § 4 Comments
Welcome to the fifth and final installment of this year’s Gift Guide! I apologize that it has taken me so far into December to finish these round-ups. Putting this Guide together every year is a bit like childbirth. When it’s over, I quickly forget how grueling it was. Then, smack into the middle of the following fall, I think, holy heck, why have I agreed to do this again?! I’m mostly kidding, because I do love the process of reading through fall releases, looking for standouts for different types of readers and different types of gift givers, but the thorough written reviews are in themselves a huge undertaking. I thank you for bearing with me!
Today’s list includes both upper middle-grade titles, a new but rapidly expanding category aimed at the tween reader (ages 10-13), and books on the softer, gentler side of YA (ages 13+), something not so easy to come by in a category only growing edgier in its aim to catch the attention of adult readers as well. To be clear, there is no difference in reading level across YA books; the age distinction is based entirely on how graphic the content is around sex, violence, or drugs, so don’t assume that an older teen wouldn’t like some of these selects, too!
For those of you straddling traditional middle grade (ages 8-12) and upper middle grade (10-13), be sure to check out the previous installment of this year’s Guide, too!
Speaking of older teens, I won’t be doing a list specifically for them this year, but I can direct you to the one my colleagues helped with at the bookstore, because their taste is impeccable. Many of these are being gifted to my own daughter (who just finished and adored the holiday romance, Make My Wish Come True! And, as always, if you keep your eye on my Instagram account, I do occasionally share reviews for older teens alongside all the other books I read and love.
As always, please consider supporting my work at Old Town Books by using the links below to purchase your books from us, either in person or online, though if you have an indie bookstore near you that you love, by all means give them your money! Our communities need its bookstores—places of escape, discovery, and inclusion—arguably now more than ever.
The books below are presented roughly in order from youngest to oldest.
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December 3, 2024 Comments Off on 2024 Gift Guide: Short Chapter Books (Ages 5-10)
After a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, we are back with another installment of this year’s Gift Guide, and this one is all about short chapter books. (In case you missed it, we’ve already done Novelty & Nonfiction and Picture Books.) In this post, you’ll discover a range of titles, from traditional early chapter books for those still mastering independent reading, to longer chapter books that would shine as read alouds for those ready to listen to longer stories. When selecting these titles, I have given priority to books that feel particularly gifty—not always an easy feat in this category—such as hardcover editions with special touches and captivating art.
I also want to mention that the books below, especially the ones towards the end, can also work brilliantly for kids who might test at a higher reading level but haven’t yet developed the stamina to delve into longer books in their own time. Parking a fixation on reading level and letting kids read what appeals to them in any given moment is the tried-and-true key to raising lifetime readers. If you read these books, you’ll see just what I mean: they’re a true delight, each and every one.
The books are loosely presented in order of ascending age/reading ability.
« Read the rest of this entry »2024 Gift Guide Kicks Off: Novelty & Nonfiction Books
November 21, 2024 Comments Off on 2024 Gift Guide Kicks Off: Novelty & Nonfiction Books
It’s that time of year again, and I’m excited to kick off my Kids & Teens Holiday Gift Guide! This year’s guide will have five installments (Novelty & Nonfiction, Picture Books, Short Chapter Books, Elementary Books, and Books for Tweens & Young Teens), with over 65 recommendations for ages 2-15. As always, the focus is on books that published this fall, so you can be sure the young readers in your life won’t already have them. Every year, in preparation for this guide, I read hundreds of books with the aim of finding something for every kind of reader (and every kind of gift giver). This year, my amazing colleagues helped me vet what to read, particularly in the elementary and teen spaces.
We begin, as we do every year, with the showstoppers: these are the novelty or nonfiction books with mega gift appeal. Readers are born in browsable books like these: the fact that you don’t have to read them from cover to cover—you can flip through and pause wherever you fancy—puts readers in the driver’s seat of their own experience. At a time when we are seeing an unprecedented decline in kids reading for fun, owing largely to a decline in stamina, we should be embracing books whose very format is inviting, not intimidating. Reading is reading and nonfiction and novelty books prove that again and again.
If you’re inclined to purchase, I hope you’ll consider supporting my work as the buyer for Old Town Books, a delightful indie in Alexandria, VA, which this fall got a gorgeous new space for kids and teens (now you know the reason why I’m quieter on this blog than I used to be). If you can come in person, I promise you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into the magic of storytelling. If you can’t, I hope you’ll still let us ship you books. And if you don’t choose either of those routes, I hope you’ll support an indie bookstore near you, because bookstores will only remain places of discovery, passion, and expertise in our communities so long as we support them with our wallets. Thank you, kindly.
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What to Read to Your Kids 