Christmas books for teenagers
Looking for some wintry or festive page-turners?
Here's our selection of teenage books to keep you warm in the holidays. Some are the perfect cosy read. Others have storylines to get the blood pumping!
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My Swordhand is Singing
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Publisher: Hachette
Interest age: 11+
Reading age: 10+Set in the seventeenth century amid the bleakness of winter in Eastern Europe, and inspired by vampire folklore, this is a superbly crafted, dark and menacing tale.
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Dead Man's Cove
Author: Lauren St John
Publisher: Orion Children's Books
Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 9+When mysterious uncle Calvin rescues Laura Marlin from her gloomy life in an orphanage, she can't believe her luck! But she soon realises that her Cornish paradise is full of mysteries...
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Lost Christmas
Author: David Logan
Publisher: Quercus
Interest age: 10+
Reading age: 9+Goose is lost until Anthony appears - a man who knows nothing about himself but sees and feels the secret pain of all those who shake his hand
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After the Snow
Author: S D Crocket
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Interest age: 13-16
Reading age: 14+Fifteen-year-old Willo has been left alone in the freezing and snow covered hills that have been his home for years.
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One Crow Alone
Author: Sophie Crockett
Publisher: Macmillan
Interest age: 12+
Reading age: 11+In the midst of a seemingly never-ending winter, Magda gradually loses all the things that give her life direction and meaning.
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The Dark is Rising
Author: Susan Cooper
Publisher: Red Fox
Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 9+This is probably one of the greatest fantasy sequences ever written. Darkly magical and intense Cooper weaves her storytelling wonder over fully realised characters and worlds, drawing in the reader and leading them on a journey that will leave them clambering for the rest of the series.
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When the Guns Fall Silent
Author:
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Interest age: 11+
Reading age: 13+A boy's understanding of the First World War changes as he visits Flanders Fields with his grandfather and hears his stories of being a soldier in the war.
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Winterkill
Author: Kate A Boorman
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Interest age: 13+
Reading age: 12+This is the first in a series and is sure to gather many fans. A great read.
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Stealing Snow
Author: Danielle Page
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Stealing Snow is a grown-up fairy-tale, filled with witches, thieves, magic and beauty: all swirling around the frozen world of Algid. Snow is an anti-heroine, only concerned with her own goals; determined not to be dragged into a fight she can't win.
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My True Love Gave to Me
Author: Various Editor: Stephanie Perkins
Publisher: Macmillan
Interest age: 12+
Reading age: 9+A collection of Christmas-themed romantic short stories, one for each of the 'twelve days', by some of the best known American YA authors.
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The Wolf Wilder
Author: Katherine Rundell
Publisher: Bloomsbury
When the murderous hostility of the Russian Army threatens her very existence, Feo is left with no option but to go on the run. What follows is a story of revolution and adventure, about standing up for the things you love and fighting back. And, of course, wolves.
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As Red as Blood
Author: Salla Simukka
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Interest age: 13-15
Reading age: 8+Set against a wintry Finnish backdrop, this is an intriguing and brilliantly crafted thriller which keeps the reader absorbed right to the end. First in a trilogy.
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The Winter Place
Author: Alexander Yates
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Interest age: 14+
Reading age: 12+The line between family drama and folklore fantasy is blurred in this unique story of two orphaned siblings. Each is trying to get back some sense of a family after they are forced to move to Finland.
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Prisoner of Ice and Snow
Author: Ruth Lauren
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 10-13
Reading age: 10+Valor’s privileged family is brought to its knees when her sister, Sacha, is imprisoned in an ice fortress for stealing a valuable music box from the royal household. Ideal winter reading.
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Winterkill
Author: Kate A Boorman
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Interest age: 13+
Reading age: 12+This is the first in a series and is sure to gather many fans. A great read.
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A Shiver of Snow and Sky
Author: Lisa Lueddecke
Publisher: Scholastic
Interest age: 11-14
Reading age: 11+When the lights in the sky turn red, the inhabitants of Skane know that the Goddess is warning them of great danger ahead. An atmospheric and thrilling quest that is packed with adventure and magic.
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Blood Red Snow White
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Publisher: Hachette
Interest age: 12+
Reading age: 11+No prior knowledge of Ransome or the revolution is needed to enjoy this beguilingly written account of Rasputin, the Romanovs and Lenin; with Ransome, a troubled Englishman amidst it all.
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Winter Damage
Author: Natasha Carthew
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Interest age: 13+
Reading age: 13+Ennor Carne needs to find her mother.