These 16 teen Christmas books are great reads for the 12-17-year-olds in your household this holiday season. Each book on this list has good clean values, and a handful of them are biblical nativity retellings!
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Teen Christmas Books You Can Feel Good About:
I love getting seasonal books for my kids to read, and for us to read aloud as a family throughout different times of the year. These are Christmas books I would feel good about either of my kids reading this year. My rule for books is that any book that comes into our home has to be clean enough to be a family read-aloud if necessary. If it wouldn’t be a family read-aloud, it’s probably not going to be in our home.
(There are some exceptions, like a book that would be fitting for my son that might be too much for my daughter with disabilities, so there are exceptions to the rule, but the rule mainly applies to relationships and spice level. We are a no-spice household.)
Here are 16 books you can feel good about for your teens this holiday season!
1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
I have never read this one, but I think it needs to be our family read-aloud for the month of December. It would be so fun to experience it for the first time together as a family!
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2. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
This is another longtime Christmas classic that I know a lot of families love!
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3. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser
This was our December read-aloud book last year, and we all really loved it. I love anything set in NYC, and the way this book celebrates family and community is truly heartwarming.
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4. Jotham’s Journey by Arnold Ytreeide
This book follows ten-year-old Jotham through ancient Israel, combining a fictional family adventure with people and events surrounding the biblical Nativity. The Bible nerd in me wants to put this on my own TBR!
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5. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Another one we’ve already read as a family that would make a great read during the winter months!
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6. The Christmas Pig by J. K. Rowling
I have not read this, but I don’t think J. K. Rowling can do any wrong! Though I have heard from a few people that this book is darker than they thought it would be.
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7. Greenglass House by Kate Milford
This is a great middle-grade mystery that takes place in a winter setting. It’s not necessarily Christmas-themed, but it’s about an adopted 12-year-old boy who lives in an inn his family runs. He and the other children staying at the inn work together to uncover the mystery surrounding a guest.
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8. Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien
Another one I haven’t read, but I stand by anything Tolkien writes! I might need to buy this for our oldest this holiday season!
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9. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Another classic that I have not read, but I think it might need to be our homeschool read-aloud for my daughter and me in the month of December!
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10. The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson
A story about a homeless family in Paris during the holiday season and an unlikely friendship that comes from it.
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11. The Box of Delights by John Masefield
A super old, classic Christmas story about a boy who discovers a mysterious box and a world of adventure during the Christmas season.
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12. Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories by L. M. Montgomery
This is a fun collection of 14 holiday short stories that you could read a little at a time throughout the month of December. Perfect for anyone who loves Anne of Green Gables!
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13. The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements
We have read most of Andrew Clements’ books, but this one slipped under our radar. From the same author who wrote Frindle, this is sure to be a huge hit!
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14. A Very Jurassic Christmas by Corinna Turner
A Christmas adventure involving dinosaurs, courage, humility, and Christian faith… and if you can’t figure out how all of those belong together, you’ll have to read it to find out!
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15. Finding Father Christmas by Robin Jones Gunn
About a woman who sets out to find the father she never knew during the Christmas season and finds herself in London, staying with a family that throws a wrench into her plans.
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16. The Promise and the Light by Katy Morgan
A retelling of the Nativity story from the perspectives of Mary, Joseph, and Zechariah. At 128 pages long and geared toward readers ages 9–12, it would be a fun, quick, biblically based holiday read.
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