Christmas books for teenagers

Blood Red Snow White

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!

  • My Swordhand is Singing

    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.

  • Dead Man's Cove

    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...

  • Lost Christmas

    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

  • After the Snow

    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.

  • One Crow Alone

    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.

  • The Dark is Rising

    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.

  • When the Guns Fall Silent

    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.

  • Winterkill

    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.

  • Stealing Snow

    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.

  • My True Love Gave to Me

    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.

  • The Wolf Wilder

    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.

  • As Red as Blood

    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.

  • The Winter Place

    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. 

  • Prisoner of Ice and Snow

    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.

  • Winterkill

    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.

  • A shiver of snow and sky

    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. 

  • Blood Red Snow White

    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.

  • Winter Damage

    Winter Damage

    Author: Natasha Carthew
    Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
    Interest age: 13+
    Reading age: 13+

    Ennor Carne needs to find her mother.