2022 Gift Guide: YA Books for Ages 12+
December 1, 2022 Comments Off on 2022 Gift Guide: YA Books for Ages 12+
We’ve come to the end of this year’s Gift Guide, which means today is all about the teens! Now, before we begin, I must remind you that, if you have a young teen, you’ll also find some great recs in my Middle-Grade Round Up from last month. And if you have a teen of any age, be sure to check out Coven and Victory. Stand!, which I covered in the Graphic Novels Round Up.
There are some fantastic books here, and I hope I’ve found something for every teen on your list, even and especially the finicky ones who think they no longer love reading. There’s no better time to re-engage teens with reading for pleasure than a holiday break, especially if we park our own phones and model the fun ourselves. So, start a fire, make some hot chocolate, and invite your teen to curl up alongside you with their own book, plucked from this list.
The books below are roughly presented from younger to older, but I’ve also grouped them according to genre, like romance, thriller, and historical fiction. And I end with two picks that hold as much appeal for adults as for older teens (seriously, do not miss them!). Because I know it matters to some, I’ve included mentions of mature content, including where any of the romance moves beyond kissing.
As always, links support my work at Old Town Books, and I really, really appreciate you using them (if you’re local, remember you can always select “pick up at store” at check out!). MANY THANKS and happy reading!
« Read the rest of this entry »Summer Reading to Save Us: Massive Middle-Grade Roundup
May 21, 2020 § 1 Comment
I have a confession. As our summer plans are being ripped away from us—slowly, painfully, like the stickiest of band-aids—I am secretly stockpiling books and puzzles. It’s compulsive. Possibly certifiable. But I can’t help it. In some tiny, naively optimistic part of my brain, I believe if we have stockpiles of books and puzzles, we won’t wake every morning and cry over missed swim meets and sleepaway camps and beach vacations. Even if it’s sweltering. Even if we can’t leave the house. Oh, who am I kidding? We’ll still cry. But at least we’ll have books and puzzles.
It seems I might not be alone. I ran a survey yesterday on Instagram and 85% of you voted for my gargantuan list of favorite new middle-grade books to come out now, as opposed to after Memorial Day. So maybe you’re getting ready, too. And it is a gargantuan list. (A reminder that I recently covered new graphic novels here, as well as three chapter books which we read aloud but could easily be read independently.) Some skew younger and some much older, so I’ve listed age ranges below each title. Here’s the thing: I read a ton over the past six months, and these are what made the cut. There were others I expected to like or wanted to like, but they just didn’t feel like anything I could give a kid and say, with confidence, You’re going to love this. You’re going to forget, for a few minutes, that the world is all kinds of suckiness right now.
But here’s the other thing. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m still reading. Like crazy. So keep tuning in. (You can always track what the kids and I are reading in real time on Instagram.) Summer is coming, and we’ll get through it together. With a little help from the books (and puzzles).
Familial Strife: Summer Reading Recs for Tweens
June 7, 2018 § 3 Comments
While I mostly discuss books that lend themselves to sharing aloud with children, I make exceptions around holidays and summer break to offer shorter write ups of middle-grade chapter books—ones you’ll want to put into the hands of your older readers and then get out of the way. (You’ll find past favorites here, here, and here.) Sitting on the Capitol Choices reviewing committee affords me ample opportunities to keep up with what’s current. Fortunately, for all of us with tweens, the well is especially deep right now.
Some (ahem, grown-ups) believe summer reading should be exclusively light and fluffy. I beg to disagree. Away from academic pressures and structured sports can be the perfect time for our children to embark on uncharted territory: to push outside their comfort zones; to dabble in different writing styles; to experience characters who look and sound nothing like them; and to contemplate—from the security of the page—some of the heavier lifting they might someday be called upon to do. « Read the rest of this entry »
What to Read to Your Kids 