Festive Teen Reads
Dash & Lily series by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
If you haven’t heard of Dash and Lily’s Books of Dares, The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily, and Mind the Gap, Dash and Lily the books that make up a series of holiday novels featuring – you guessed it – Dash and Lily, you’re probably about to. Netflix has released an eight episode series based on these characters. The first two books find the duo having holiday fun around New York City, and the third book, fresh for the 2020 holiday season, has them in London.
My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins
My True Love Gave to Me is a collection of sweet, romantic short stories (perfect for fitting in between other holiday activities!) that includes both realism and fantasy, and a spectrum of winter holiday celebrations (Christmas, New Year’s, Winter Solstice, and more). Each story is by a different author; these talented authors include Stephanie Perkins, who is also the collection’s editor, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, David Levithan, Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de la Peña, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, Myra McEntire, and Kiersten White.
The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
The Afterlife of Holly Chase is a beautiful and amusing twist on the famous Charles Dickens novel, A Christmas Carol. What might have happened, if Scrooge didn’t didn’t learn the lessons the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future came to teach him? Holly has a turn with the ghosts and finds out for herself.
What Light by Jay Asher
Do you believe in forgiveness? In What Light, Sierra, the daughter of Oregon Christmas tree farmers meets Caleb, while her family is in California, selling their trees. Local friends try to warn Sierra about Caleb, but Sierra wants to help him seek redemption. What Light combines the warm fuzziness of Christmas traditions like hot chocolate and candy canes with a plot that has real depth.
10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
10 blind dates… all set up by Sophie’s extended family; every teen’s dream Christmas break! Yes, really, in 10 Blind Dates Sophie agrees… sort of… to be set up on blind dates by (mostly) well-meaning, loving cousins, aunts, uncles, and even her grandmother. It will be a disaster… or will it? You’ll have to read to find out if Sophie’s family finds someone special for her… and whether or not she’s still talking to them by New Year’s Eve.
