Thursday, September 3, 2015

40 Clean Reads for Teens

Ok, I know what you're thinking. Clean reads? Really? It sounds so . . . boring. Ok, we aren't talking about educational books for teens. We are talking about fun, riveting, adventurous novels that teenagers will love (and parents will approve of).

What do I mean by that? I just mean that all of these books I would approve of my daughters and sons reading. If they actually rated books, these would get close to a PG rating (no swearing, sex, drugs, alcohol, or too much violence). Does that mean these books are boring? Heck no! It just means that you or your teen could read these books and not be offended or embarrassed by the content. They would also make great reads for school or teen book clubs.

Below is each cover of the books above with a link to their summary on Amazon. If you notice, I didn't differentiate between books that are for boys or for girls. I've found that about 90% of the books should work for both the male and female audience. Don't judge a book by its cover alone - my brother enjoyed Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson, my son likes The Heist Society by Ally Carter, and I really liked Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. You'll also find that nearly all of these authors keep their books free from anything R-rated so you're pretty save to read other books by these authors too. Also, if you are just looking for books for teen boys (12-18+), check out my post of the Top 24 Books for Teen Boys.

PG Rated books for teenagers

Now the amazing list of clean reads:



Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
 Heist Society by Ally Carter

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Matched by Ally Condie

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)

Gallagher Girls (series) by Ally Carter

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Artemis Fowl by Eion Colfer

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Variant by Robison Wells

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Splintered by A.G. Howard

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Unwind by Neil Shusterman

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Legend by Marie Lu

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Divergent by Veronica Roth

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
The Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
The Ranger's Apprentice by John A. Flanagan

Clean Reads for Teen by Delicious Reads (Contributed by Robin King)
Michael Vey by Richard Paul Evans

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads
Remembrandt by Robin King

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Insignia by S.J. Kincaid

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Blood Moon by Teri Harman

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Silence by Deborah Lytton

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

Clean Reads for Teens from Delicious Reads (Compiled by Robin King)
Of Posiedon by Anna Banks

If you or your teen want to find out if a book is "clean" that isn't on our list, my favorite site for book content ratings is Compass Ratings. Their ratings are very accurate. Hope you find a book for yourself or for a teen you love! Also, check out my list on GoodReads of these "Robin-approved" books and help me add more clean teen reads.

XoXo,

42 comments :

Unknown said...

I would add The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg. A fun read about an FBI agent and the thief she tries to catch. A fun game of cat and mouse with a twist.

Unknown said...

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede is another fabulous young adult book.

Laurie D'Ghent said...

The Destine Series by Laurie D'Ghent!

The Hedges said...

I'd include Wonder by RJ Palacio. A fantastic read for boys & girls that's a timely message.

SingerGuy said...

I would add Orson Scott Card's "Alvin Maker" series to this list. Great alternative American history.

Brianne & Jarod said...

Another great read for teens is "The Storyspinner" by Becky Wallace!

ArringtonZoo said...

Some of the content in these is pg-13 though. Not pg.

JoLee said...

I'd add anything by Kasie West. A PG contemporary can be a little more difficult to find, and her books are really good.

JoLee said...

I'd add anything by Kasie West. A PG contemporary can be a little more difficult to find, and her books are really good.

Unknown said...

Ohhh, so many great suggestions, we'll have to compile another list! Keep the suggestions coming!

Lexie said...

I agree with ArringtonZoo. Not all of these are squeaky clean. There may not be any love scenes in here, but some of them do have some serious violence and controversial issues that might be disturbing to some readers. Unwind (while totally awesome!) deals with the subject of abortion and there's a pretty graphic scene of a kid being harvested for organs while conscious, and Darkest Mind has torture, rape, and lots of blood spatter...so just you know, still check our reviews and whatnot before you read.

morwesong said...

I find it a bit sad that a little bit of swearing or consensual sex would get a book disqualified from this list, but a book whose entire premise is getting teenagers into an arena to literally fight to the death is considered clean. So many people worry about teens encountering sex but seem to have no issue with the massive amounts of graphic violence that exist in all forms of entertainment.

This is actually an interesting list that contains a lot of books that I've read and loved, but if I had teenage children I would be more concerned exposing them to loads of violence over sex (something I would make sure they already knew about including the physical and emotion impacts).

Ryan Rock said...

Lingering Echoes by Erica Kiefer

Heidi@OneCreativeMommy.com said...

Thanks for this list. I actually read juvenile literature instead of adult fiction because it's cleaner! I would be a little careful with a few of these for teens because of violence, but I'm excited to add more to my list. I see a lot I've never read. Thanks!

Ann said...

The Cinder series is awesome. But she did throw in an extra (non-essential) book about the villain. And that one is full of sex and innuendo. I wouldn't let my daughter read it even though she's read the rest of the series.

Sherri Boekweg said...

The Parallel Trilogy by Christine Kersey is great. These books were hard to put down. Also "Entwined" by Heather Dixon is a good one.

Anonymous said...

Michael Vey series by Richard Paul Evans

Unknown said...

Thank you for suggesting that! I was going to, but grateful you beat me to it! That is a great series and the fifth book comes out in 6 days! :)

Unknown said...

Thank you for suggesting that! I was going to, but grateful you beat me to it! That is a great series and the fifth book comes out in 6 days! :)

Unknown said...

I would also add The Hourglass Door Trilogy by Lisa Mangum

RainbowRider77 said...

I would add the Doon series by Carey Corp. Granted sometimes it's slightly cheesy but honestly while reading it, it felt like it was a breath of fresh air from all the awful literature and media out there! Her 3rd book she be coming out soon!

Unknown said...

I would add Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Joy said...

I really like this list. Recently a friend recommended Heir Apparent by Vivian V. Velde. I enjoyed the plot twists. It was fantastic.

Joy said...

I really like this list. Recently a friend recommended Heir Apparent by Vivian V. Velde. I enjoyed the plot twists. It was fantastic.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Thank you JoLee for your suggestions I can't wait to read them!

Unknown said...

I would recommend the Chronicles of Prydain; The Second Mrs Giaconda; Midworld; and so many more.

Unknown said...

As a career author -- mostly for teens -- I've maintained a long-held goal to always write "clean" stories for my readers. I love teens. I not only write for them, but hang out with them as well (youth sponsor at my local church).

This is a great service you've offered here. You'll probably never know how many parents (and teens) you've helped. You are to be commended.

Norma Jean Lutz
http://www.cleanteenreads.net

Unknown said...

Can I just say I've read a few of these and stopped because they started having sex... That's NOT clean and should NOT be on a clean list, or the first book was clean and the second wasn't... Not a good list

Unknown said...

I'm curious as to what you mean by "R-rated?" I would (and have) allowed my teens to read all of these titles. However, the violence in some of these books would easily be rated R.

Lilac_Mae said...

Best Book Ever!!

Funionaire said...

Return to Isle of the Shallows is another great coming of age tale with a young male protagonist dealing with anger management and bullying all in a fantasy adventure novel.laced with themes of unity, familial bonds, friendship, love, respect, community and more.

Jody said...

I'm an author of clean, wholesome books for middle-grades. My current book, A Ripple in Maggie Pond is a thrilling, engaging and relevant story about friendship and loyalty that delights all audiences. Check it out on Amazon or read my author's blog at https://jodycleven.com/ Enjoy! -Jody Cleven

quacks said...

I'm a teenager who's read almost all of the books on this list, and I would just like to say that Etiquette and Espionage had a couple parts that described guy's groin area and Tigers Curse had a ton of makeout sessions. The book series Doon also had a ton of sensual makeout sections also.

RS said...

I'm an adult who reads YA, but "clean read" is music to my ears. I'm bookmarking this post for the handful I haven't read. Great topic idea!

Unknown said...

We love all of K.M. Shea books. They are clean and very fun reads.

Unknown said...

these bok are all cring ngl

SingerGuy said...

I just read an enjoyable book by first-time author Tara Lytle called, “Matching Feathers.” It is only available on Kindle and was completely safe for the entire family. It is obviously a first novel, and she has room for growth as a writer, but it was nevertheless a very good read and I recommend it, especially for teenage readers.

From the Amazon description of the book:

Their match will save their race. One shifter is determined to stop them.

Azure Tallon, a Wingai bird shifter, can play a human to perfection. However, when it comes to her own race, she is hopeless. While she knows that others like her exist, she’s never met them. Her mother kept her isolated and held all knowledge of their race a secret. When freedom arrives, Azure plans to seek them out. She’s not looking to forge connections but to discover what’s normal for Wingai.

Cerulean Hatch has spent his life preparing for his match and is ready to start a family to further the line of Leads. After months of searching, his wings lead him to Azure and his hope soars until reality hits—she’s never heard of matches and, worse, wants nothing to do with him.

When Azure is kidnapped by Wingai guards, she learns the coloring of her wings puts her in a place of importance. She is the Lead they’ve been desperate for—a position she doesn’t want. Meanwhile, if Cerulean cannot convince Azure to embrace him and continue the line of Leads, they doom all Wingai to extinction. As they form a tentative attachment, they face a new threat. Someone wants Azure dead, and they’re willing to stake every Wingai life on seeing it through.

Unknown said...

Thank you for your info, this helps parents to know!!!

Unknown said...

The Blue Door - Series by Christa Kinde is an excellent spiritual spin book on angels, slightly embellished but great!

Micheal Jackson said...

You look like a library. you store millions
of books on your website. I like to read your book before sleep. It is best for all those.

Miv said...

some clean books I recommend:
The golden slipper : A Cinderella retelling Author Lind, Valia. The prison healer Author Noni, Lynette. The prison healer Author Noni, Lynette (10/10). The Inheritance Games Author Barnes, Jennifer Lynn. Unblemished Author Ella, Sara. Cinder & glass Author De la Cruz, Melissa. The healer's apprentice Author Dickerson, Melanie. The Fairest Beauty Author Melanie Dickerson. Caraval Author Garber, Stephanie.