Since 1998, this week of October has been designated National Teen Read Week. From libraries to schools, it’s been a time to encourage and inspire teenagers in a love for more reading, and discovering new books. And to celebrate, we have curated five titles from the Wander line, the Tyndale imprint for Christian YA reads, for you, or the teen in your life, to check out and maybe add to the nightstand!
1. For the 80s and retro love story fan
Pudge and Prejudice By A.K. Pittman
Pudge and Prejudice is an homage to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, transported to the fictitious Northfield Texas High School in the year 1984. After moving to Northfield with her family, Elyse Nebbit faces the challenge of finding her place in a new school, one dominated by social status and Friday night football. When Elyse’s effortlessly beautiful older sister Jayne starts dating Charlie Bingley, the captain of the school football team, Elyse finds herself curious about Charlie’s popular and brooding best friend, Billy Fitz. Elyse’s body insecurities eventually complicate her relationship with Billy, leaving Jayne and Elyse’s exceedingly blunt friend, Lottie, to step in and help Elyse accept herself for who she is, pant size and all.
2. “For Narnia fans who enjoy heavy snark…” —Kirkus Reviews
The Crescent Stone: The Sunlit Lands Series by Matt Mikalatos
A girl with a deadly lung disease . . .
A boy with a tragic past . . .
A land where the sun never sets but darkness still creeps in . . .
Madeline Oliver has never wanted for anything, but now she would give anything just to breathe. Jason Wu skates through life on jokes, but when a tragedy leaves him guilt-stricken, he promises to tell only the truth, no matter the price. When a mysterious stranger named Hanali appears to Madeline and offers to heal her in exchange for one year of service to his people, Madeline and Jason are swept into a strange land where they don’t know the rules and where their decisions carry consequences that reach farther than they could ever guess.
3. The Future is Female: Dystopian YA Fiction
A Gentle Tyranny: Nede Rising Series by Jess Corban
What if women unraveled the evils of patriarchy? With men safely “gentled” in a worldwide Liberation, the matriarchy of Nedé has risen from the ashes. Seventeen-year-old Reina Pierce has never given a thought to the Brutes of old. Itching to escape her mother’s finca and keeping her training for the Alexia and her forbidden friendship a secret, her greatest worry is which Destiny she’ll choose on her next birthday. But when she’s selected as a candidate for the Succession instead, competing to become Nedé’s ninth Matriarch, she discovers their Eden has come at a cost she’s not sure she’s willing to pay.
Jess Corban’s debut novel presents a new twist to the dystopian genre, delivering heart-pounding action, thought-provoking revelations, and a setting as lush as the jungles of Central America.
4. A Christy Award-Winning Thriller
The Delusion by Laura Gallier
By March of Owen Edmonds’s senior year, eleven students at Masonville High School have committed suicide. Amid the media frenzy and chaos, Owen tries to remain levelheaded—until he endures his own near-death experience and wakes to a distressing new reality. The people around him suddenly appear to be shackled and enslaved.
Owen frantically seeks a cure for what he thinks are crazed hallucinations, but his delusions become even more sinister. An army of hideous, towering beings, unseen by anyone but Owen, are preying on his girlfriend and classmates, provoking them to self-destruction. Owen eventually arrives at a mind-bending conclusion: he’s not imagining the evil—everyone else is blind to its reality. He must warn and rescue those he loves . . . but this proves to be no simple mission. Will he be able to convince anyone to believe him before it’s too late?
Owen’s heart-pounding journey through truth and delusion will force him to reconsider everything he believes. He both longs for and fears the answers to questions that are quickly becoming too dangerous to ignore.
5. See the Bible in a whole new way
The Epic Bible by Kingstone Media Group
Created by some of DC and Marvel’s best comic book artists, The Epic Bible transports readers through a visual journey of Scripture. From Eden to eternity, this stunning hardcover edition engages even the most reluctant readers with brilliant and dramatic full-color graphic art. Packed with action and powerfully illustrated The Epic Bible brings a fresh lifelike view of Creation, the story of the Israelites, Jesus’ life on earth, and the early church.
Readers of graphic books will love this new vibrant look at God’s Word. Featuring:
- 169 Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation
- Text adapted from the NLT with clear, easy-to-read dialogue
- Bible verse references at the bottom of each page, to help readers follow along
- Accurate and faithful accounts of the biblical timeline
- Bonus “Between the Testaments” chapter that adds historical context, including the Roman occupation of Jerusalem
Want more ideas? Gift planning? Check out our full Teen Reads list!
Featured image credit: Ben White
