Books for the Holiday Season

It's finally chilly outside, and inside we're all gearing up for the holidays: anticipating our favorite Thanksgiving dishes, putting up decorations, playing holiday music, and getting ready to celebrate. This time of year makes me want to curl up on the couch with a blanket, a mug of something delicious, and a book. I'm always looking for great holiday themed books for teens, but I find the pickings pretty slim. Am I missing something? Do you have a favorite? Share it!

In honor of Native American Heritage Month and the holidays that follow, here are a couple of recommendations-- great for guys or girls-- to help you get in the spirit.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie                                                                                      

Sherman Alexie packs a punch in this absorbing novel about a Native American boy searching for a brighter future. At once humorous and stirring, Alexie's novel follows Junior, a resident of the Spokane reservation who transfers out of the reservation's school -- and into a nearby rich, all-white farm school -- in order to nurture his desire to become a cartoonist. Junior encounters resistance there, a backlash at home, and numerous family problems -- all the while relaying his thoughts and feelings via amusing descriptions and drawings. Having already garnered a National Book Award for Young Adult Literature, this moving look at race and growing up is definitely one to pick up. (Text from GoodReads (www.goodreads.com)

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan          “I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.” So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions? Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.