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There is a particular conversation that keeps cropping up between Stacy and me (the editors of this website…who both happen to be moms of teens) and many of our readers: the face of YA is changing. There is no doubt about it. Young Adult books are becoming more and more mature, and the trend will probably continue. Parents and readers alike are looking for clean teen books.

According to our conversations with several librarians, we are losing readers as they hit the tween and early teen years. This is a time when they are not yet comfortable with YA books but feel too old for middle-grade books. Did you read that? We’re losing them as readers…many, perhaps, for the rest of their lives.

Our goal with this section of our website is to find clean teen books that are great for tweens, teens, or anyone looking for exciting books without sexual content and without excessive language. We have found that violence is usually not the main concern, but we will always make note if we think the violence is excessive (even if there is no sex or language).

If you like, you can go straight to our favorites list on our CLEAN READS BOOKSTORE!

(paid link – Yes, this is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. We don’t make much money on these, but we do make enough to pay for the hosting on this growing website. Thank you!)


Please join our mailing list for readers who are looking for clean teen books:

Join the thousands of other teens, parents, and educators who have signed up to receive clean book suggestions from us! We never share email addresses. You can expect three to four emails a year from our clean teen list. We’ll let you know when we find more great clean books for teens.

join our clean ya books email


Don’t forget to check out these lists:

clean books for boys

Clean books for teen and tween boys

Reader-recommended clean books for teens

Clean romance books for adults

Clean Fantasy Romance Books for Teens

Clean Contemporary Romance Books for Teens

Clean Contemporary Romance for adults – Clean Romcom books

Clean YA books by Christian authors

Sweet Christmas Romance Books – Holiday Romcom

OUR CLEAN READS BOOKSTORE – our favs from this list!


Here are some of our favorite clean teen books we’ve come across in recent years. If you see only one book listed in a series, that probably just means we haven’t read the others in the series.

(**Yes, these are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. We don’t make much money on these, but we do make enough to pay for the hosting on this growing website.  Thank you!**)

**Didn’t find these books at your library? Request them! It’s easy!**

Clean books for teens or anyone:

This Dreamer
this dreamer, a clean fantasy book for teens
Evie is ripped from her mundane immortal life and handed an impossible task. Can she summon the will to do what is necessary, or will she risk all to save a human boy?
“This YA adventure is an enthralling mix of fantasy and mystery with a touch of romance…”
“★★★★★ This is a great, clean YA fantasy book…thankful for a book I can feel good about letting my kids read!”– Amazon Reviewer
Add on Goodreads

My Favorite Color is your Something Blue
clean teen rom com book
A fun and sweet young adult contemporary novel about a bad first impression, an unwanted setup, and a family wedding that leads two teens onto an unexpected path to romance!
“★★★★★ a happy, hopeful romance with a perfect ending.” – Amazon Reviewer
Add on Goodreads


The Lunar Chronicles
the lunar chronicles
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.
“A mash up of fairy tales and science fiction . . . a cross between Cinderella, Terminator, and Star Wars.”
Add on Goodreads


Heartless
heartless
Long before she was the terror of Wonderland―the infamous Queen of Hearts―she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.
“Marissa Meyer rocks the fractured fairy tale genre.”


Vivid
vivid, clean ya fantasy book
“Innocent romance…and the hint of a battle to come will hook readers for the next installment.”


Revenge of the Nerd Goddess
revenge of the nerd goddess
“A sweet, teen romantic comedy that will have you laughing, rooting for the heroine, and wondering if you should have taken more computer classes in high school.”


Stealing Embers
stealing embers, clean paranormal romance
“Filled with action, danger, romantic tension, and intrigue…”


The Hybred Series
enhanced clean science fiction for teens
“With the harnessed power of gene-editing, the ability to create a super-human race has transformed the world and offered the opportunity of a genetically enhanced life. But only to those who can afford it.”


The Crown’s Game
the crown's game
“The Night Circus meets Cinderella in an alternate Russia.”


P.S. I Like You
PS I Like You, clean romance
“Kasie West books are our kind of comfort food — romantic, light and cute!”


Click the image for a synopsis:

Borrow my Heart
sweet teen romance, borrow my heart

Once Upon A Broken Heart
once upon a broken heart

The Wonderland Trials
the curious realities

Unbetrothed
unbetrothed, clean fantasy romance

The Fill-in Boyfriend
the fill in boyfriend

Recorder
Recorder

The Summer We Forgot
the summer we forgot

The Reckoners Series
steelheart

Matched Series
matched

The Heir Trilogy
Heir Chronicles

Within these Lines 
within these lines

The Ascendance Trilogy
the false prince

The Riyria Revelations
The Riyria Revelations

River of Time Series
River of Time Series

The Selection Series
The Selection Series

**Note: as some parents in the comments have pointed out, the Selection Series has a fair amount of kissing/making out. FYI

The Siren
The Siren

It Started with Goodbye
It Started with Goodbye

The Uncertainty of Fire
The Uncertainty of Fire

The Chase
the chase

The Doon Series
The Doon Series

Curio
curio

Everland Series
everland series

Vega Jane Series
Vega Jane Series

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

Silver in the Blood
Silver in the Blood

Atlantia
atlantia

Hunted
hunted

Book of a Thousand Days
Book of a Thousand Days

The Books of Bayern
The Books of Bayern

The Inheritance Cycle series by Christopher Paolini 
eragon

Fairy Tale Romance Series
Fairy Tale Romance Series

The Storyteller’s Daughter: A Retelling of Arabian Nights
The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of Arabian Nights

The WaterFire Saga
The Waterfire Saga

Nyxia
nyxia

Devastation Class
devastation class

The Near Witch
The Near Witch

Fawkes
Fawkes

Belle
belle

The Downstairs Girl
The Downstairs Girl

Peak
peak

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe
The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe

To Best the Boys
To Best the Boys

Outrun the Moon
Outrun the Moon

Long May She Reign
Long May She Reign

The Queen’s Rising
The Queen's Rising

The Stormlight Archive
way of kings

Clash of Kingdoms
Ever the Hunted, clash of kingdoms

The Winternight Trilogy
The Winternight Trilogy

Everless Series
Everless Series

Mirage Series
Mirage Somaiya Daud

The Traitor’s Game
The Traitor's Game

The Lady Janies
The Lady Janies

The Queen
the queen

Ashlords
ashlords


Clean Teen Books with Elevated Violence only:

As we mentioned above, from what we have heard, most readers and parents are concerned with sexual content over mild language and violence. Here are a few clean ya books for teens that come with a strong violence warning:

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Wolf Soldier (*violence warning*)
wolf soldier

Ender’s Game (*violence warning*)
enders game

Partials Sequence (*violence warning*)
partials

The Hunger Games (*violence warning*)
hunger games

Maze Runner (*violence warning*)
maze runner

Mortal Engines (*violence warning*)
mortal engines

Romanov (*violence warning*)
romanov


Clean “Tween” Books:

If you have a tween or a young teen, then this category is for you! Even if the books mentioned above are clean, your young reader might not be ready to read about older characters or the issues facing them. These are the clean books we’ve found which have a younger feel to them.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Enchanted Sonata

Scripted Unscripted

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Series

Septimus Heap Series

TodHunter Moon Series

Magisterium Series

The Palace Chronicles

Wildwood Series

A Curse as Dark as Gold

Heir to the Sky

The Two Princesses of Bamarre

Fairest

Ella Enchanted

A Tale of Two Castles Series

A Twisted Tale Series

Princess Academy Series

Kingdom Keepers Series

Kingdom Keepers: The Return Series


How can you help?

We are just getting started with this section of our website, so we need your help. Please add your own suggestions for clean YA books to the comments. Kids today want to read current literature, so while we will add some classics, we would love to have suggestions for books that have recently been published. This would be a great place to promote a new author you’ve discovered who writes clean YA fiction. Stacy and I are passionate about this subject, and we want to help these authors find their place in the publishing world. We need more authors that fit this category!

We only have so many hours in the day and cannot read all suggestions. If someone else makes a suggestion that you think should not be on our clean teen book list, please let us know and be sure to include why you feel this way. We want to partner with you and are excited to work with our readers on this project!

Check back on this page for updates to our lists of books and websites. We’ll recap our most recent additions in our Clean Teen Newsletter. Don’t forget to leave your suggestions in the comments and scroll up to join our clean teen mailing list. We’d love to hear from you and find more clean reads and authors in the bookish world! 🙂

*Looking for more ideas? Visit our Reader-Recommended Clean Teen Book List!

reader recommended clean reads for teens

We created a new page for all of your wonderful suggestions! Take a look at our reader-recommended clean teen page and check back often. We’ll periodically update the page as new suggestions emerge in the comments of this page. Happy reading!

If you like, you can view our favorites list on our CLEAN READS BOOKSTORE!

(paid link – Yes, this is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. We don’t make much money on these, but we do make enough to pay for the hosting on this growing website. Thank you!)

286 thoughts on “Clean YA books for teens, tweens, or anyone”

  1. I recently read The Girl of Fire and Thorns… the first two are clean, but the last book has on-page sex. Just a heads up. Everless is also a great, clean book without sex. So is Heartless, by Marissa Meyer.

    1. Thank you Madeline! I will adjust the page. Sounds like The Girl of Fire and Thorns is not worthy of this list. I am going to remove it.

  2. Jennifer E Smith books (This Is What Happy Looks Like, Geography of you and Me eat al), Morgan Matson (Amy & Rogers Epic Detour, Since You’ve been Gone).

    1. I agree that there is a fair amount of language in this series, and two of the main characters do end up having sex in one of the later books, although it is not graphically described or anything, but it is very clear that it happens.

      1. Yes, these books are really good, and Scythe definitely shows the sacredness of life as a main theme… I love this author

  3. Ally Carter – Embassy Row Series
    Meg Cabot – Heather Wells Mysteries – Size 12 Is Not Fat, size 14 Is Not Fat Ether, Big Boned.

  4. River of Time Series by Lisa Tawn Bergren – Waterfall – Cascade – Torrent.
    Front Lines by. Micheal Grant.
    The Runnung Dream by Wendy Van Draanen.
    Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch.
    The Keeper Cronicles Deries by Becky Wallace (Storyspinner, Skylighter)
    The.Night Circus by Erin Morgensten
    Amy & Rogers Epic Detour Morgan Matson
    A Girl Called Featless by Catherine Linka
    The Goos Girl by Shannon Hale
    Michael Vey Series. BY Richard Paul Evans
    Shelter, seconds Away, Found by Harlan Coben
    Charlotte Holmes Series – A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavalarro
    Graceling by Kristin Cashore
    Red QueebySeries by Victoria Aveyard

      1. Keeper of the lost cities series by Shannon messenger and the land of stores series by Chris Colfer although maybe you’d concider them middle grade?

        1. Keeper of the lost cities is one of my favorite series and totally clean!!

    1. I do love the Night Circus, but it should be mentioned that that book does have a sex scene in it.

    2. Charlottle Holmes series has this review on Amazon. Definitely not a clean read “At my daughter’s urging, I did read it, and by page 15, where the “F” bombs began to fly, I was not happy. But I had to keep reading to see what other uglies I needed to explain. That turned into conversations of the characters experiencing sex, rape, drugs, and casual gambling at school. So, yeah, thanks. Awkward conversations, and these things are now in my kid’s head.”

    3. Red Queen series is definitely not clean. Red Queen is the first book, and it can be considered innocent enough, but the rest of the series is a political statement by the author. I think you should not include it on your list.

      1. I definitely agree, my daughter read the first book but it got too mature by the second and third. The plot wasn’t even that spectacular and the maturity wasn’t worth the read.

  5. Hey..YES!! I’m a YA author and have 12 and 13 year old girls who want to read YA. It’s SO difficult without reading everything first.

    My two YA Sci-fi series are completely clean. Some violence, but not graphic.

    The Configured Trilogy- by Jenetta Penner
    The Starfire Wars- by Jenetta Penner

  6. Hi!!! First of all I LOVE your website. I stumbled across it when I realized I really didn’t remember half of One Dark Throne when I started my fresh new just-in copy of Two Dark Reigns and you’ve saved me. Thank you! To this list, I’d like to add The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill which is, in my opinion, the most “clean book” I’ve had in years! I loved it 🙂 also, I read The Novice by Taran Matharu, and it does have fighting so there’s the warning for that, but in the first book, there’s not really any sign of romance,which I greatly appreciated 🙂
    I hope this helps you!

  7. An oldie but a goodie, Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series is clean! It has one mention of ‘the B-word,’ but it calls it ‘the B-word,’ rather than uses it.

  8. She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah by Ann Hood… Normal teen angst-your best friend is hanging out with the popular girls-genuinely engaging without 2018 problems

  9. I’m a school librarian (K-8), and I wouldn’t include Meyer’s Fairest on the clean list.
    There is sex in it, and I wouldn’t call it consensual.

    1. Thanks for letting us know, Erika! 🙂 I had forgotten about that part of the book. I removed Fairest from the list.

  10. This is an awesome idea! Good, clean stuff is so hard to find! Some of my suggestions are:
    The Wish Granter by C.J. Redwine; The Beautiful Pretender by Melanie Dickerson; A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter; The Princess in the Opal Mask by Jenny Lundquist; Miss Burton Unmasks a Prince by Jennifer Moore; Chances Are by Tracy Hunter Abramson; Love, Life and The List by Kasie West; The Traitor Prince by C.J. Redwine; Not if I Save You First by Ally Carter; Kiss of the Spindle by Nancy Campbell Allen; and Love at First Note by Jenny Proctor

    1. Not if I Save You First is a great and clean read! My younger sister and I love it, nothing too mature. There is a small amount of violence, not enough to go under the “elevated violence” category (Not close to Hunger Games; the plot includes kidnapping, explosions, some blood from injury, and more, but not anything too mature for the clean-teen crowd).

  11. Thanks for this list! I have a tween and soon-to-be one who are voracious readers, and well above their age level in reading. It’s a challenge to find clean series for them. Can’t wait to join your list to keep up to date!
    Do you only list/review SciFi or Fantasy? If not, please list more ‘adventure’ and ‘mystery’ genre books, when you can.

    Here are a few recommendations from my kids:
    Spy School series by Stuart Gibbs
    Warriors (and others) series by Erin Hunter
    Dragonet Prophecy series by Tui Sutherland

    1. Thank you for your recommendations, Catherine. Our list, as well as our reviews and recaps, lean more toward SciFi/Fantasy because that’s what we love to read the most! I will take your advice into account. 🙂

      1. Thanks, Sara!
        Warriors series (1st is Into the Wild) and Dragonet Prophecy series both fall into Fantasy genre. 🙂

    2. My 11 year old kiddo love, love, loves all the Stewart Gibbs novels. He is currently devouring “The Mysterious Benedict Society” by Trenton Lee Stewart. John Grisham also has a “Kid Lawyer” series that I was going to try next. Agreed that adventure/mystery novels would be a good category to add. So glad I stumbled onto this website!

  12. So glad I came across this list, it’s really hard to find good YA books without mature content.
    I would like to suggest Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger to be added to this list

    1. Oh my gosh i love that series! i was happy to come upon this because there are very few books that don’t have anything inapropriate while still having a good plot.

      I would like to add Skyward by Brandon Sanderson and it’s sequel Starsight, i love them and they’re clean

      1. Love both of those! Brandon Sanderson is a fab author and a lot of his works are clean

  13. I really appreciate you compiling this list! Even as an older teen I like to read cleaner YA novels when at all possible, but it can be hard to know before actually getting into a book what content is in it!

    Fawkes by Nadine Brandes is a really good and clean YA novel. Also I would argue that Shadow of the Fox is pretty clean except for some innuendos, BUT I will mention that there is a lot of violence in that book.

  14. Hi Sara and Stacy,
    Another suggestion for the Clean Teen Books with Elevated Violence only section: the half bad trilogy by Sally Green.

  15. I am still looking for adventure and historical fiction for my teen boys who don’t like fantasy or sci fi. They like books like Bear Grylls and thé Mapmaker series. Many of the reviewers seem to be women and the book choices are weighted accordingly !

    1. What about Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom? It’s a series about all the prince charmings

      1. I love that series! The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is a series that we read together as a family (kids from age 8-16), and all enjoyed. I would say that it is geared a little more towards the 12-13 age range.

    2. I would recommend Micheal Marpurgo’s books,, like War Horse and Private Peaceful. They do deal with WWI, but they aren’t overly explicit and violent as other books are.

  16. Sorry, I guess that is fantasy. How about classics like Man In the Iron Mask, Three Musketeers, Treasure Island, or autobio like Unbroken? Depends on their age of course.

  17. “The Lie Tree”, and “A Face Like Glass” (both by Francis Hardinge) are both really good clean YA books. Both could be classified as children’s books, but the themes are very thought-provoking, and younger readers might not fully understand some of the deeper thoughts.

    “Thirteenth Child” by Patricia Wrede is also a very fun clean YA (maybe Tween?) read!

  18. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who has commented on this post!!! Sara & I are thrilled we have so many readers who are also passionate about clean books for teens. We have decided to start a second page of clean YA books based on all of your recommendations. So check back soon for details on this new page. We’ve also found some additional resources to check for clean YA books. We’re excited to share more books with everyone very soon. Please help spread the word about our project, and please keep your recommendations coming! 🙂

  19. Dianna Wynne Jones wrote for children, to teens and YA. All her books I’ve read so far are clean.

  20. Thanks so much for this list. I have a 9yo/4th grader who reads well above his grade level, but the content begins to be inappropriate and this is the exact kind of list I’ve been hoping for. My wife did suggest getting a couple to read myself first and leaving them laying around – he always shows interest – but I’m waist deep in a stack I’m already behind on.

  21. Thank you so much for this initiative!

    Here are some series I would suggest:
    Artemis Fowl – Eoin Colfer
    Children of the Red King – Jenny Nimmo
    Children of the Lamp – P. B. Kerr
    Redwall – Brian Jacques
    Inheritance – Christopher Paolini (violence)
    Chronicles of Narnia – C. S. Lewis

    1. When I was 11 and 12 I devoured all of the Redwall books, definitely second that suggestion! Another suggestion: I never really got into them but all my friends loved the Warriors series by Erin Hunter!

    2. Loved the Inheritance Series! Very clean, not a whole lot of violence, some though.

  22. Lots of romance but no LGBT books that I can see? Are you taking the stance that LGBT characters automatically make a book “dirty”? Or can you include them as “clean” provided there are no sex scenes? How about Ash by Malinda Lo, in that case? Or the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire or Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (both of these need a violence warning, but no sex)?

    1. Nope. No stance. We only put books Sara, Jacee, or I have read on this page, and the only one of those we have read is Six of Crows. We loved Six of Crows (and Crooked Kingdom, too—check out our reviews of each book here) and have recommended this series too many times to count. But we didn’t put them on this list because this series feels more mature to us. The subject matter and writing style feel closer to adult books, and we’ve developed this page to try to identify books on the younger side of YA. These more mature YA books (even if we love them) won’t hit this list. So check our reviews for our overall recommendations, but check this list if you’re looking for books that, in our opinion, fall on the younger side of YA. 🙂

      1. I can appreciate your “no stance” but for some it is. Could that be included in descriptions as you do with violence and “sex scenes” , so we can be aware that this is included?

  23. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan,
    A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland,
    Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple,
    and
    Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman!

    1. Where’d You Go and Eleanor Opliphant is Completely Fine are both adult books. Clean and good, but younger readers probably won’t get into them.

      1. I heard that was a lot of swearing in a couple of those books. I don’t think they are clean adult books!

  24. I just finished “The Murderbot Diaries” series of 4 novellas and cannot recommend it more for your Clean Teen Books with Elevated Violence Section. Fantastic protagonist.

  25. I’ve outgrown some of the series and am looking for clean books for teens, so thank you! Your lists rock!
    I think someone already mentioned thies series, but the Mysterious Benidict Society is a great, clean series, as is The Viking Quest series…Boxcar Children and The Cooper Kids Adventure series for younger readers, Red Rock Mysteries for anyone, (well, probably not older teens…) E. D. Baker’s Frog Princess and Ed Dunlop’s Young Refugees series

  26. You should also do something like this but for people who are transitioning from YA to more mature books, because I love YA books but now they feel a little too childish for me and I have a few friends who do not know what to read either (for the same reason). I think this list is a great idea for tweens and I think it would be great to do it for other stages also 🙂

  27. I love this idea so much! It’s so important to get kids reading and even as a college student I still enjoy many of these books. Disclaimer: I haven’t read most of these in a while so I might be not remembering correctly, but I did look them up on commonsensemedia.org and they all seemed to pass.
    Some of my favorites:
    Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli — one of my absolute favorites growing up. There’s some romance but very innocent and no sex
    Wonder by R.J. Palacio — clean and I highly recommend
    The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman — has a fair amount of fantasy violence so probably for around 11 and 12 year olds (older tweens)
    The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale — it’s a series and I’ve only read the first one so I can’t vouch for all of them
    Don’t know if people are interested in graphic novels, but I personally loved (and continue to love) reading them. Here’s two:
    Nimona by Noelle Stevenson — violence but very cartoon-like and nothing disturbing or overly graphic
    Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Shannon Watters — again only read the first, but enjoyed it very much. A little language but pretty tame

    1. I love the Goose Girl series!! It is clean, but there is a bit more violence in Enna Burning, the second book of the series.

  28. The Akarnae series by Lynette Noni is also an excellent clean series, with the last book being released feb 2019. Rangers Apprentice by John Flanagan is also amazing and clean. The Whisper series by Lynette Noni is also terrific and clean, with more books being released later.

    1. There are quite a few minor swear words in Ranger’s Apprentice, and Halt in particular often says d**n.

  29. The book series circle of nine is a fantastic book series. Great characterization, and only mild language.

  30. I have found the unfortunate fairy tales (starts with UnEnchanted) by Chanda Hahn very clean and enjoyable.

  31. The Blackhope enigma books by Teresa flavin.
    The peculiar series by Ransom Riggs.
    The midnighters by Scott Westerfield.
    Lock and Mori by Heather Petty is a good one, and an interesting take on Sherlock Holmes.
    Abarat by Clive Barker is cool, as well as his book Thief of Always.

    1. The 1st book of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is slightly creepy, but it is clean.

  32. Why do they all seem to be futuristic or fantasy? Also, I disagree with at least one series, The Selection Series. As the books go on they get worse. I wouldn’t classify them as clean at all.

    1. I’m sorry that our genre range is small! We only put books that Sara, Jacee, or I have read on this page, and sci-fi and fantasy are favorites for all three of us. We’re going to try to broaden our range by adding a user-suggested page soon. We’ve had so many recommendations in the comments above that we want to incorporate them into a separate section.

      I haven’t read the Selection series, but one of our contributors has and deemed it clean. But we can certainly forget things and get it wrong! So I just did a follow-up check on Common Sense Media, one of the sources I like to use when researching a specific book or series. And according to the write-up on that website, the Selection series seems to meet the criteria we’re using on this page. I’ll check some of my other sources as well to make sure there isn’t something that Common Sense has left out.

      Thanks for your comment! 🙂

      1. I would agree that the Selection Series is a little too sensual in parts for my teenager. I’m returning the book and will need to really check out the other selections on this post before I purchase them for my daughter.

    2. I can also answer this from speaking to many Contemporary Genre YA authors.

      I think cleaner writing in sci-fi and fantasy YA is more plentiful because the author is creating a whole new world… including new rules and sometimes even new words. So it doesn’t seem “unrealistic” for there not to have swear words sometimes.

      In dystopian fiction (what I write) the characters are often too busy saving the world to have time for… eh hem.. too much romance. 😉

      For authors writing Contemporary Genre YA it’s hard for a lot of them to feel like the story isn’t genuine if there are not swearing characters and sex… because a lot of teens are swearing and having sex.

      Personally? I think it can be done in a way that can feel genuine, but I can see the side of those authors that don’t.

      1. I agree with so much of what you’ve said. I’ve published 2 picture books and am now revising a contemporary YA that I was told is a “sanitized” version of a teen. I’m struggling a bit now about what to do with that feedback.

        1. I’d buy your “sanitized” teen book! Not everyone wants reading material that’s been dirtied up, for their kids or for themselves. I admire what you’re doing!

        2. I would buy it too! Parents need to request from editors and publishers that this is what is wanted! That we don’t want our kids reading smutt and often times they don’t want to and it makes them uneasy.

          I would love if there was more of a separation between tween, teen and YA.

          Self publish!

          1. I completely agree. There needs to be a rating system for books—more separation between the genres. Your best bet may be to find books on a list like this one and also to search out self-published authors. Big publishing companies want to push the envelope and won’t even look at books that don’t. (I know from experience.) I would be wary of new titles that you find at a book store if you want something squeaky clean. Several big-name authors once wrote YA but now write adult books. The kids who love their stories follow them. Instagram is a good place to look. Clean self-published authors want to get their books out there, but it isn’t easy. Search hashtags like #cleanya #cleanbooks #cleanfantasy, etc.

  33. Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic Quartet Book #1 – Sandry’s Book is safe and it has been a WHILE since I read them, but I believe Tanith Lee’s Wolf Tower series is also safe. I read them in high school and I was definitely not ready to read anything explicit back then. Shug by Jenny Han (this is a contemporary)

    1. The whole first Circle series (Circle of Magic not The Circle Opens) is clean as far as I remember. The characters are 10-13ish throughout the series, and the curses are made up (“catdirt”). The sequel series The Circle Opens has elevated violence but is clean of sex (and possibly clean of kissing).

      It’s been a while since I’ve read Tamora Pierce’s Immortals series, but outside of a kissing scene in the last book, I’m not remembering any sexual content (though some parents may object to the romance as it is an older man, younger woman where he had previously been her instructor).

      1. I do remember there being a little sex in that book, but it wasn’t really explicit. I might be remembering wrong, though, because I read that book some time ago before I really understood what was going on.

  34. Hi! You can also include the Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene is amazing, plus there is zero violence and is absolutely clean and good!

  35. The School for Good and Evil (there are 3 books) is a pretty clean series. They’re almost a retelling of our favorite fairy tales but with a twist.

    1. In my opinion, I thought this had a fair amount of violence. There are good themes there, good vs evil, doing the right thing. But some of the vocabulary was a little to much. It stated for 8 and up on the back cover, but i would be surprised if many 8 year old know the word “bosom” I read the first two only. I know there are now like 6 or more books in the series.

  36. I don’t know if this has been suggested already, but all of Kaiser West’s books are clean and cute. I highly recommend her books.

  37. Thank you so much for this article! My daughter is 11 and has the exact issue that you described- she is interested in more “grown-up” themes, but she and I both don’t want her reading anything inappropriate.

  38. In today’s society, reading is done more by imposition than by pleasure, which is leading young people to not understand the deep meaning behind a handful of letters, words and sentences. They have stopped enjoying to obey what they dictate and this prevents them from developing with pleasure their vocabulary and their ease of comprehension and writing through all that it offers to read.

  39. I have not seen it posted, but I wasn’t able to read everything. If you haven’t read John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice and the spin-off series, BrotherBand , they are excellent and clean for 6th graders and up. Fairly high reading level, so they appeal to Fantasy readers, but there is not as much fantasy as say, Harry Potter. There is some violence, but nothing excessive. Definitely appeal to boys, but I do have some of my girls that love it as well. I highly recommend it.

    1. YES!!! Second John Flanagan’s books. They are also fabulous audiobooks. We home educate and do a ton of driving to practices and games and on trips – The Brother Band Chronicles have kept us company all fall!

    2. I definitely second all of John Flanagan’s books. He is clean without language and while there is romance later in the Rangers Apprentice series it is all clean (no sex) and leads the characters toward matrimony. My 11 and 9 year-olds loved all of his series as did my husband and I.

  40. Maybe the Caraval Series by Stephanie Garber? There is some mild language, but no “f words,” assuming Finale has no sex or language. There’s also some scenes that are on the more passionate side (i.e. kissing), but no sex.

  41. First off, you so much for creating this list of clean reads! While I’m not yet a parent, I do love reading clean ya fiction myself and appreciated the work put into this.

    Here’s a list a books I’ve discovered over time that I’ve really enjoyed:

    -The Running Dream by Wendelin van Draanan
    – The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter
    – The Embassy Row Series by Ally Carter
    – Not if I Save You First by Ally Carter
    – Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas
    – The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques (I enjoyed these as a tween)
    – The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stieffater (I haven’ t read this one in a while. No language or sex as far as I remember, though I do believe there were a few crude references and would recommend for older teens.)
    Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett (though I haven’t yet read the second book in the series)
    Entwined by Heather Dixon
    Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
    City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster
    Gullstruck Island/The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge

  42. Great idea! My debut YA fantasy novel, Gems of Fire, was published November 2018 by Clean Reads. It’s aimed a little more for the younger end of YA and has mild battle-type violence. It’s the first in a series of three, but the next two are not published yet.

  43. The “Caraval” Trilogy by Stephanie Garber.
    All 3 books are just out!
    Mild language (No f–words)
    No sex (Maybe a couple allusions)
    Some passionate scenes (passionate kissing)
    This series is the probably best one I’ve ever read!

  44. Could I suggest my own series? It’s YA Fantasy which I began writing back when I was a teen myself. I would describe them as a mix of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the His Dark Materials series. I focus more on the adventure and it has hints of romance but definitely no sex. The first book is The Order of the Rose, and the second in the series is due out later this year.

  45. I would recommend the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfield. Set in an alternative history of WWI, the series is a weird but cool combination of historical fiction, adventure, and sci-fi. If I remember correctly, it’s pretty clean and would be interesting to middle schoolers.

  46. The Ember in the Ashes series, I do not remember and explicit sex scenes, but there is violence.

    The Queens if Fennbrin Series, same as above.

    The Red Queen series, same as above.

    Scythe series, same as above.

    Unwind series, same as above.

    Between Shades of Gray and it’s companion book Salt to the Sea.

    The Librarian of Auschwitz

    And of course the Harry Potter, Narnia, Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Little House on the Prairie, series as well as great classics like The Secret Garden, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, Dracula, and Little Women.

    On the younger end of YA there is:

    The Giver series, don’t stop at the first book.

    Out of My Mind, really a great read for all ages.

    One for the Murphy’s, same as above.

    The Mr. Terupt series.

    Wonder, really a great read for all ages.

    The War that Saved My Life, this is a two book series.

    Island of the Blue Dolphins.

    The Man Who Loved Clowns, better have a box of tissues handy!

    Hope these are worthy additions. I liked/loved most of them and so did my daughters.

    1. I loved The War That Saved My Life series and would recommend. More for younger tweens but still a great read.

    2. The Librarian of Auschwitz was awful if I remember right. Very graphic and awful language!

      1. Yes!!! In the first pages it had awful language and the detail of violence was sickening!

  47. I forgot to add an author I read when I was younger and loved, devoured every book I could get my hands on Christopher Pike.

    1. I, an adult, read the first Thirst book (it is an omnibus). Then I went on to the 2nd Thirst omnibus. The first omnibus has SO MUCH violence i.e rape attempts, murder etc, plus sex. A good amount of it too. The 2nd omnibus got to weird for me I actually stopped. I actually LOVED the first omnibus, but like i said the 2nd one just got weird. I would not suggest this for a young kiddos/teen.

  48. The Galendor Trilogy is squeaky clean fantasy with Christian principles (much like Narnia). The voice is humorous and mixes modern verbiage with High Fantasy tropes.

    Galendor: Ye Dude from Yonder Forest
    Galendor: The Five Mugical Items
    Galendor: The Middle of Next Week

  49. A great clean book is Geekerella by Ashley Poston. It’s a sweet nerdy contemporary book.

  50. I’ve just completed Abbie Emmon’s 100 Days of Sunlight and it is so pure and definitely clean. I’m being asked increasingly by friends to suggest clean YA reads so will be sharing this link!

  51. I wish this list had existed when I was a teen!
    Some clean series I read then are:
    The Door Within trilogy and Isle of Swords/Isle of Fire by Wayne Thomas Batson
    Dragonkeeper Chronicles by Donita K Paul (first book is Dragonspell and companion series first book is Dragons of Chiril)
    Dragons in Our Midst series and Echoes from the Edge trilogy by Bryan Davis
    The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
    The Heritage of Shannara by Terry Brooks

    And then one of my favorite (clean) reads of 2019 is To Best the Boys by Mary Weber!

    1. Yes! Wingfeather and all of the Dragons series by Bryan Davis are beloved at my house!

  52. Hi,
    Thank you so much for undertaking this task.
    Two comments, my kids don’t like fantasy series, would you please try to find more books out of that genre?
    Also, I would highly recommend the Alex Rider series and the Theodore Boone series.
    Thank you

  53. Hi,
    Thank you so much for undertaking this task.
    Two comments, my kids don’t like fantasy series, would you please try to find more books out of that genre?
    Also, I would highly recommend the Alex Rider series and the Theodore Boone series.
    Thank you

  54. Any by Brandon Mull, especially Fablehaven but also all the others. Great Fantasy writer aimed for younger and “cleaner” audiences

  55. Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull!!!!!! Would recommend to anyone and these writers fit the YA for both older teens and younger. Rick Riordan does have more thought provoking ideals later on, but series like Percy Jackson and The Olympians or the Kane Chronicles (both have mythology) are great, and Fablehaven and Five Kingdoms, etc. by Brandon Mull for anyone. I am an older teenager and would like to personally thank you for putting together lists like this so I can choose a random book off of it and not have to worry about what is inside, just enjoy it.

    1. I totally agree! The only “thought provoking” would be one gay character in the Olympus Series (SPOILERS for book 4) but nothing happens other than admitting a crush and holding hands with someone. That’s it and I totally support.

  56. Hi, there.
    Ty for making this list. Really it means a lot.
    And about a CLEAN YA book, I think you can try this The Last Boy and Girl in The World by Siobhan Vivian.

  57. Hi, there.
    Ty for making this list. Really it means a lot.
    And about a CLEAN YA book, I think you can try this The Last Boy and Girl in The World by Siobhan Vivian.
    🙂

  58. The Colours of Madeleine series by Jaclyn Moriarty – the titles are A Corner of White, the Cracks in the Kingdom and A Tangle of Gold.

  59. Return to Isle of the Shallows by Debra A White is great for tweens and teens. It tackles bullying issues very well in a fantasy adventure story. Other themes are familial bonds, friendship, love and respect among others.

  60. I would recommend Slated trilogy by teri terry, altough it has a few bad language though the whole series there isnt that much.

  61. A Thousand Night by EK Johnston. This book is SOO unique and beautifully written and perfectly clean

  62. I highly recommend the Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger. It’s an absolutely amazing series, and it’s very clean.

  63. My son discovered the Bodyguard series by Chris Bradford. No language (at least not in the first 3 that I read.

  64. Love this site! So glad to see there is still demand for clean YA fiction as an author in that genre!

    My debut novel, The Heir of Ariad, is a YA fantasy free of profanity or sexual content. There’s some medieval action, but no gratuitous violence.

    1. Checkout The Gateway Chronicles series by K.B. Hoyle. There are 6 books in this series. The author was heavily influenced by C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and many others. There is a some violence and romance (kissing & feelings of love). I would recommend it for YA readers as the themes could be a little too intense for tweens. K.B. Hoyle also has another series out, The Breeder Cycle, but I have yet to read those.

      Thank you for this website!

    2. Thanks for the suggestions!
      Niki, I put The Heir of Ariad on my list in Goodreads. 🙂

  65. I have read the fable haven and dragon watch series and they are both great and clean. The dragon watch series is still coming out, though the third book of five just came out. I would recommend reading fable haven and then dragon watch because dragon watch is the sequel series of fable haven.

  66. The Kalila Chronicles by Erin R. Howard is a clean YA urban fantasy series. The first two are out now, and the third will be released in February.

  67. This list is amazing! I was looking for a list where lgbq is ruled out too or at least done tastefully, it’s hard to find new YA that I would let a kid read right now. Most of these books above, from what I remember and have read anyway, are pretty ‘straight’ too?

  68. I would like to recommend an action and adventure series for tween/teens for both boys and girls. It’s called, The Fuller Creek Series by David C. Reyes. Beginning with The Mystery of Fuller Creek Mine, this series takes you on a journey of the lives of Jess and Katie who become friends in the seventh grade. From there, it is one adventure after another which spans until their senior year in high school. It has action, adventure, drama, mystery, friendships, and coming of age romance. It is very clean, and it does have some Christian values weaved into the storylines. I have provided a link from Amazon, as well as the author’s website. Amazon Author’s website

    1. Dear Editors; in regards to the comment by David R. (author) please note: that if you wish to receive a free copy of the first book in The Fuller Creek Series for your review, just leave your name and address through my website in my “contact” page, and I will be more than happy to send you a copy.
      Thank you.

    2. Do you think that the first book of the ‘The Fuller Creek’ series would be easy and kiddish for a high schooler to read? could you also tell me if the other books in the series that if for the high school kids if they are as clean as the first book? Thanks.

  69. We just read City of Ember. It is fabulous, and very clean. It is the first in a trilogy, but we’re only halfway through the second book, People of Sparks.

  70. All three of us (my husband, my daughter, and myself) write clean books. Freddie Perez has: Children of the Stars series, Dragon’s World, Rangers of Prydous, and Phoenix Regeneration. Stephanie Perez has: Supernatural Police Academy series and Odd Hollowe. Roseann Perez has the Safe Haven series. All are clean. Mostly SF and fantasy. All available on Amazon.

  71. Any clean books that are not sci fi/fantasy? Something lighthearted, not depressing and dark. Funny, even?
    Thank you.

  72. For the Middle Grade section, “Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes” & “Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard” (a duet), along with any other book published by Jonathan Auxier. They’re clean, beautiful, and read like prose, but are exciting page-turners. Like a proper quirky modern classic, they can be enjoyed by any age.

  73. A few more I should mention: The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson, Furthermore & Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi, “Snow and Rose” by Emily Winfield Martin, Keeper of The Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger (Teen), the Serafina series by Robert Beatty (Serafina and the Black Cloak), “The Girl Who Drank the Moon” & “The Witch’s Boy” by Kelly Barnhill, the Fairyland series (The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making) by Catherynne M. Valente, The Peter and the Starcatchers series by Dave Berry, The Greenglass House series by Kate Milford, The Nevermoor Series by Jessica Townsend, and The Winterhouse Series by Ben Guterson. All of these are appropriate and well written, with minimal violence.

  74. I’m thrilled to have stumbled upon your site! I’m always looking for good reads for my teen boys. It’s tough enough to find good books for boys, much less try to read ahead of them for content. You have several series on here that they have not yet read so we will check them out! Thanks so much. I would also like to return the favor and suggest some additions to your list (I have personally read and approved all books in these series and thoroughly enjoyed them as well!) – the Beyonders Trilogy by Brandon Mull (some violence), the Five Kingdoms Quintet by Brandon Mull (some violence but not as much as Beyonders), The Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan (Language & Violence, I would suggest age 13 for these), The Summoner Trilogy by Taran Matharu (some violence) – I’ve only read the first book and a half of this series so far.

    1. I agree! Even all of the comments give even more ideas of books to check out. My son reads a lot, and it is impossible to stay ahead of him. It baffles my that there is not a better rating system for books like there are for movies and even video games.

  75. Hi! I loved The Crescent Stone by Matt Mikalatos
    Clean and hilarious!!!

    P.s. it is a series that is in the process so I haven’t read all the ones that have come out, but I imagine the rest will be clean as well.

  76. I love all things by Brandon mull. Fablehaven, Dragonwatch, The Beyonders, and Five Kingdoms are all good and I recommend them to people a lot. I also am in love with The Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger. I got my whole family reading and loving it. I’m dying for the 9th and finally book, which won’t be out until November 2021.

  77. Triligy: Howl’s Moving Castle, Castle in the Air, and House of Many Ways all by Diana Wynne Jones. These are some of my Go-To books with my kids.

  78. I’m a huge proponent of clean literature leaning towards fantasy! Here’s what I have recently read and would allow my kids to read:
    The Broken Lands Series by Carrie Summers (3 books in the series) Book 2 has one profanity, light graphic imagery.
    Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George (3 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1.
    Red Rope of Fate by K.M. Shea (2 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1.
    The Lovely Deep by Michelle Pennington. A couple of profanities. Modern fantasy.
    The Dragon Princess by Lichelle Slater. (4+ books in the series) I can vouch for book 1.
    Escape the Woods by Gabriella Catherine. One profanity
    Elven Alliance Series by Tara Grayce (2 book series, book 3 coming soon) I can vouch for book 1-2
    Silver and Orchids (5 book series) by Shari L. Tapscott
    The Four Kingdoms (9 book series) by Melanie Cellier
    Beyond the Four Kingdoms (6 book series) by Melanie Cellier
    Eledntimber by Shari L. Tapscott (7 book series)
    Andari Chronicles by Kenley Davidson (3 book series) Some light profanity throughout
    The Spy in the Silver Palace by Jordan Rivet (3 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1. 4 profanities (same word each time) Warning-face melting scene.
    The Prophet’s Apprentice by Cassandra Boyson
    Fairy Tale Adventures by Angela Marshall (3 book series, book 4 coming soon)
    The Spoken Mage by Melanie Cellier (4 book series, maybe more to come)
    Entwined Tales Various Authors (6 book series) Book 5 has light profanity
    Pathways by Camille Peters (4 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1.
    The Tethered World by Heather L.L. FitzGerald (3 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1.
    The Firethorn Crown by Lea Doue (6+ books in the series) I can vouch for book 1.
    Magic Forged by K.M. Shea. (3 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1. Handful of profanities. Vampires
    The Grimm Laws by Jennifer Youngblood (4 books in series) I can vouch for books 1-3.
    Fae of the North by E. Hall (4 books in series) I can vouch for book 1.
    Ebba-Viva Fairisles: Immortal Plunder by Kelly St. Clare (7 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1.
    The Godseeker Duet by David A Willson (2 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1. Very religious overtones.
    Resistance by Jaye L Knight (9 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1
    Before Beauty by Brittany Fichter (7 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1
    A Reluctant Assassin by J.C. Morrows (10 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1
    The Ravenwood Saga by Morgan L. Busse (3 books in the series) Some religious overtones.
    Protectors of the Spear by MaryLu Tyndall (3 books in the series) Very religious overtones.
    Follower of the Word by Morgan L. Busse (3 books in the series) Very religious overtones.
    A Branch of Silver, A Branch of Gold by Anne Elisabeth Stengl This one is dark but YA doable
    Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (13 books in the series)
    Huntress by Julie Hall (4 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1
    Beauty and the Beast by Jenni James (14 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1
    The Door by Lorilyn Robeerts (6 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1

    My favorite this year has to be, new author, Sylvia Mercedes.
    The Venatrix Chronicles (total of 7 books in series). Handful of profanities in each book. Some books are a bit more violent and graphic than the others in regards to the war going on. Homosexual relationship hinted at in book 2 (if this bothers you, NO details).

    1. A couple more:
      The Subtle Beauty by Ann Hunter (7 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1.
      A Medieval Fairy Tale by Melanie Dickerson (3 books in the series)
      Hagenheim by Melanie Dickerson (11 books in the series) I can vouch for books 1-9

      If you are looking for books other than fantasy, reply and I can try to help with historical fiction & pirate novels!

      1. We would love to hear all of your ideas. Yes, we need more non-fantasy books on our list. Historical fiction would be amazing additions.

        1. Of course!
          These are clean novels & most have some religious overtones. There are a few with very heavy overtones.
          Trouble in Store by Carol Cox
          The Everstone Chronicles by Dawn Crandall (5 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1-2
          The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischof
          The Feud Series by Tamara Leigh (3 books in the series)
          Lady Series by Tamara Leigh (6 books in the series)
          Age of Faith Series by Tamara Leigh (8 books in the series)
          Beyond Time Series by Tamra Leigh (2 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1
          Marisol by Elva Cobb Martin
          In a Pirate’s Debt by Elva Cobb Martin
          Surrender to Destiny by Marylu Tyndall (3 books in the series)
          Escape to Paradise Series by Marylu Tyndall (3 books in the series)
          Legacy of the King’s Pirates Series by Marylu Tyndall (6 books in the series)
          The Falcon and the Sparrow by Marylu Tyndall
          Charles Towne Belles series by Marylu Tyndall (4 books in the series)
          Tears of the Sea by Marylu Tyndall
          Daughters of the Mayflower by various (12 books in the series)
          Ladies of Distinction series by Jen Turano (5 books in the series) comedy
          A Class of Their Own series by Jen Turano (3 books in the series) comedy
          Apart from the Crowd series by Jen Turano (4 books in the series) comedy
          American Heiresses series by Jen Turano (3 books in the series) I can vouch for books 1-2 comedy
          A Tailor-Made Bride by Karen Witemeyer
          To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer
          Archer Brother series by Karen Witemeyer (3 books in the series)
          A Worthy Pursuit series by Karen Witemeyer (2 books in the series)
          Head in the Clouds by Karen Witemeyer
          The Ashford Chronicles series by Laurie Alice Eakes (2 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1
          A Match Made in Texas by various (4 books in the series)
          The Regency Spies of London by Melanie Dickerson (3 books in the series)
          Deeanne Gist books
          Regency Refuge series by Heather Gray (3 books in the series)

          Michelle Griep books
          California Historical series by Cathy Marie Hake (2 books in the series)
          Only in Gooding series by Cathy Marie Hake (5 books in the series)
          Jennifer Moore books
          A Rumored Forturne by Joanna Davidson Politano
          Lady Jayne Disappears by Joanna Davidson Politano
          Second Chance Cinderella by Carla Capshaw
          Legacy of Love Series by Melanie Dobson (6 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1
          The King Raven Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead
          The ChristKeepers by Grace Walton (3 books in the series) I can vouch for book 1

        2. i am a teen and an avid reader, but i despise when books have really bad language and sex scenes, so i am forever grateful for this list!!
          i would like to suggest a couple reads that i adore. my taste is centralized around two specific genres, which are regency romance and military action/suspense. all of the books on this list have absolutely no sex and no language, but great plots.
          – any traci hunter abramson book(my favorites are the guardians and saint squad series). a lot of her books have quite a few religious references, which not everyone may be into, but the guardians series isn’t at all focused on religion if that is preferred.
          – edenbrooke and blackmoore by: julianne donaldson
          – girl from nowhere by: tiffany rosenhan
          – esther hatch books
          – undercover saint duo by: frank holdaway(very religion centered and awesome plot)
          – heidi kimball books
          hope this is helpful!!

  79. Thank you very much for creating this website. I am a reader for 13 years and counting. I am now a big fan of the bookseriesrecaps! I am very particular in what I read and I really want to read good books that are wholesome and free from explicit contents. More power and God bless.

  80. Thank you so much for this website. I have been desperate for something new to read that I know is clean and those has been a lifeline. I will is also like to suggest the Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson (with a sequel due sometime) and the Skyward series also by Brandon Sanderson. (probably another book coming too) They are both clean books with mild language that were really good.

  81. For fans of Cinder, I recently read Renegades (same author) and loved it! Fair warning: There is some violence, especially towards the end of book 3; and one of the main characters’ (shifting POV) adoptive parents are gay. This probably isn’t a big deal for some of you or your kids, but personally goes against my standards so I thought I’d mention it. It wasn’t the focus of the book or anything, though.
    Shannon hale was probably my favorite author in elementary school, and I didn’t see the Ever After High series on here. One of my favorites. Also recommend Brandon Mull- I liked Beyonders and Fablehaven the best. Five kingdoms was good too, but I started to age out/ lose some of my interest waiting for the last two to come out.
    Divergent is great for dystopia fans (no sex, but there are some make-out scenes I didn’t notice until the second read through). Legend is another, although I can’t remember how clean it was, so you might want to double check on that one. But definitely read Slated.
    I read Blue Sword recently, which was good. I hadn’t heard of it until I read on a website or something that it was a childhood favorite of Shannon Hale’s. It is a hard/ advanced/ long read.
    Finally, Brandon Sanderson is my FAVORITE author right now and you absolutely have to read the Way of Kings series (Stormlight Archive). Best series I’ve read in a LONG time- maybe ever. Detailed world building and characters.

  82. ‘The Seed of America’ series by Laurie Halse Anderson is a great series with no sex or language, although it does have some violence.

  83. Hi! The selection series does imply sex in it and talked about rape and how she wishes she could have sex so I would take that off the clean list because it is definitely not clean

  84. Some great clean books
    1. The lost princesses trilogy by Jody hedlund
    2. The unblemished trilogy by Sara Ella
    3. Coral by Sara Ella ( this book does have a trigger warning though so be aware of that)
    4. There you’ll find me by Jenny b Jones
    5. I’ll be yours by Jenny b Jones
    6. Jupiter winds by c.j. Darlington
    7. The max and Liz/order of the seven series by Jenny cote
    8. Gilt hollow by lorie Langdon (could have one or two minor words in it)
    9. A medieval fairy tale trilogy by Melanie Dickerson
    10. The scourge by Jennifer a Nielsen
    11. Circle of stones by Catherine fisher (again could have a word or two)
    12. Windfall by Jennifer e Smith
    13. Also all of Kasie west’s books (there’s a lot )

  85. I am thrilled to find your site. I have 3 girls always looking for clean reads.
    May I suggest my YA Romantic Fantasy (squeaky clean) called Starlight Legend. I can send you a free copy if you’re interested.

  86. I enjoyed ‘Cinder’ by Marissa Meyer, however be warned, the next in the series ‘Scarlet’ contained what I would call extreme violence. It is a shame that the author chose to go in this direction as the series was enjoyable up to that point. I won’t be reading any more of the books in the series. Also should it really be in the ‘clean’ list as it most definitely isn’t squeaky clean – it’s the stuff of nightmares.

  87. While I appreciate your intentions – as a mom with advanced readers, it was hard to navigate when they were 11 but read like seniors -I am concerned that your list is overwhelmingly white. Please consider books by authors of color.

    Jason Reynold’s Track Series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu)
    Ibi Zoboi – My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich
    Kelly Yang – Front Desk (the sequel drops soon, as well)
    The entire Rick Riordan Presents imprint from Disney Hyperion. Mr. Riordan used his influence as a crazily successful author to promote authors of color writing fantasy novels out of their cultures’ myths, much like he did with The Lightning Thief series and Greek mythology.
    Any and all of Alan Gratz’s books. He’s not an author of color, but he brings various cultures together in super exciting historical fiction novels centered on famous conflicts.
    Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed – probably the most beautiful book cover out there and a great story inside
    I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

  88. Thank you for your post!! It’s hard to actually search for books with very minimal cursing and 1% to nothing sex scene and this really helps A LOT! I have a 10 year old kid and I wanted to make sure that when she grow up a little, she would start by reading clean YA books.

  89. Suggestions:
    -The Hero and the Crown
    -Beauty
    -The Unicorn Chronicles
    -Redwall series
    -Artemis Fowl series

  90. Dianna Wynne Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle series also is a fun clean read. There’s even a anime movie based off the first book. It’s one of my favorite series.

  91. The Young Sherlock Holmes series by Andrew Lane appeals to both boy and girl reader alike and are clean reads.

  92. I would suggest Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger. It is a good book for tweens and teens alike. No language, some minor violence, and no sex.

  93. Ally Carter’s YA books/series Gallagher Girls (6 books), Heist Society (3 books), Embassy Row (3 books), and Not If I Save You First (stand-alone).

  94. I highly recommend the Keeper of the Lost Cities series! I have recently read all of the books that have been released (Up to book 8, Legacy) and they are all clean. I believe there will be two more books in the series that have not been released yet.

    1. Definitely! These books are marketed as middle-grade novels. There is some violence, but nothing graphic, and the farthest romance goes is kissing. They’re full of action and great characters and are super thick, great for higher level readers who want something clean.

  95. Love this idea! Didn’t have time to read all the comments but my 11 year old loves The Land of Stories series. We did the first one on audio as a family and it was clean. I recommend it to so many Friends with tweens!

  96. Hi!

    Morgan Madsen’s Amy and Rogers Epic Detour have on page sex (twice) at the beginning and the end. Just an FYI.

  97. I’d love to get on this list with my YA Fantasy Series – The Arch Mage Series https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0848R1NY4
    I’m also interested in clean YA Fantasy for my 6 children and started writing to help my daughter with her chronic illness, depression and anxiety. I plan to have 5 books in the series revolving around Agnes who was injured as a baby and has scars and chronic pain, self doubt, and still manages to summon the courage to save worlds.

  98. I recommend the Blood Rose Rebellion trilogy by Rosalyn Collings Eves. Excellent YA historical fantasy, great reviews, riveting reads, clean and not too violent.

  99. One of my favorite series is the Faylinn series by Mindy Hayes. It is a cute fantasy and romance series and is a very clean and good read for early teens (13+)
    (all include some kisses, but not like mature):
    1. Kaleidoscope
    2. Ember
    3. Luminary (There is a big battle scene and killing/blood; not super descriptive but still a battle scene).
    4. Glimmer (Two friends end up sleeping on same bed, no sex at all or reference to sex!!; a girl suggests why her guy friend has dated so many girls but doesn’t really suggest sex unless you really think about it, like “I see you dating all these girls, you are living a fraternity-college-guy’s dream”).

    1. Just Ella (and all of Annette K Larsen’s books I’ve read so far) are clean and super fun to read too! I would also recommend the Children of Willesden Lane.

  100. Hi

    This were awesome to read.
    The last thing I remember by Andrew Klaven (4 in the series called Homelanders). – there were some references to God, should that bother you. But only like a quick prayer when something intense is going on.

    Boy Nobody (the unknown assassin series) 3 in the series.
    I would put this on in the elevated violence category.

  101. Some of my personal favorite clean books that have a younger feel are The Renegades by Marissa Meyer and Elementals by Amie Caufman. I also love the Janitors by Tyler Whitesides. Elementals and Janitors are great for young children with absolutely no language and mild violence. I highly recommend them for the whole family.

  102. Margaret Peterson Haddix’s books are clean! Some of my personal favorites are “Full Ride” and “Double Identity”. I also really liked Jenna Evans Welch’s “Love & Gelato” and “Love & Luck”. They were both clean but interesting at a young adult level, which was good!

  103. Megan Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series. I found it in the JFIC section of my library and it’s clean, sex wise, with some violence. It’s a good series for tweens and even for teens who don’t want to read romancy stuff.

  104. Omg I love reading and I just want to say what a great website for us students to read!!!

  105. I think these books are clean-
    House of Salt and Sorrows
    Invictus
    The Betrothed
    10 Blind Dates
    The Fountains of Silence
    Uglies
    Dangerous
    Harry Potter
    You already have a bunch of good ones though! I’m glad you had Shannon Hale and Kasie West on there!! And The Lunar Chronicles is so good! Want to reread that someday!

  106. I think these books are clean-
    House of Salt and Sorrows
    Invictus
    The Betrothed
    10 Blind Dates
    The Fountains of Silence
    Uglies
    Dangerous
    Harry Potter
    You already have a bunch of good ones though! I’m glad you had Shannon Hale and Kasie West on there!! And The Lunar Chronicles is so good! Want to reread that someday!

  107. I would like to recommend the Bring me their Hearts series by Sara Wolf. It is a triology followed by Find me their Bones and Send me their Souls.

    It is a pretty clean series which is intense enough to keep the teens interested. Though, I do have to warn about a bit of violence towards the end of the first book.

    It has a strong and very much likable female lead. Despite her minimum flaws, she has a lot of great qualities to look up to. Compassion being one of them.

    It has the PERFECT blend of humor, sarcasm, friendship, action, adventure, romance. I recommend it for fantasy-loving teens out there.

  108. I recommend The Hidden World: a Novel by Gabriella Sulzbach. It is clean, beautifully written, and by a 12-year-old author.

  109. My almost 13-year old daughter is a voracious reader and always has been! Thanks for this site, it is hard to find clean, high-quality, well-written books with meaningful themes and now that she is moving beyond middle-grade books I’m a bit worried we won’t be able to find engaging series for her to enjoy. We have very high standards for content and try to find not only “clean” books but books with resonant ideas and/or themes.

    Our absolute favorites include:

    House Above the Trees and Wind Boy by Ethel Cook Eliot – both very sweet and enlightening fantasy stories with deeper themes and child-like innocence.

    Classics like Heidi by Johanna Spyri; Anne of the Green Gables Series and Emily of New Moon Series by Lucy Maud Montgomery; Little Women Series by Louisa May Alcott; The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett; Trumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little by E.B. White; Emily’s Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary; Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne; Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong remain some of our favorites.

    She also really enjoyed these series for younger/middle-grade readers The Emily Windsnap Series by Liz Kessler; Phantom Stallion and Phantom Stallion: Wild Horse Island Series by Terri Farley; Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Series and other books by Grace Lin; Animal Ark Series by Ben Baglio; Boxcar Children Series by Gertrude Chandler Warner; The 13-Story Treehouse Series by Andy Griffiths; Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Series by Chris Grabenstein; The Faun and the Woodcutter’s Daughter, The Lady of the Linden Tree, the Goldfinch Garden by Barbara Leonie Picard (compilation of short of fairytales); and the list goes on…

    More recently her favorites have been the Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger; The Warriors Series by Erin Hunter; the Wings of Fire Series by Tui Sutherland; Charlie Bone Series by Jenny Nimmo; The Last Dragon Chronicles by Chris d’Lacey; the Rick Riordon series starring Percy Jackson; The Pendragon Series by D.J. Machale; The Septimus Heap Series by Angie Sage; The Map to Everywhere Series by Carrie Ryan; The Edge Chronicles Series by Paul Stewart; The Jack Blank and Order of the Majestic Series by Matt Myklusch; Wonder and related books by R.J. Palacio; The Green Glass House Series by Kate Milford; A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park; The Silver Wings Series by Kenneth Opal; and more!

    Favorite Graphic Novels: The Smile series and other books by Raina Telgemeier; Magus of the Library Series by Mitsu Izumi; The Complete Chi’s Sweet Home by Konami Kanata; The New Kid and Class Act by Jerry Craft; and others.

  110. My YA novel, Going for the Record (Eerdmans BFYR 2021) is a clean read. I hear from many readers who are as young as 9, 10, 11, and a 7th grade teacher in our area teaches the book in a unit in his classes.

  111. Lockwood & Co

    Super fabulous series. Minimal “violence”…mainly against ghosts. No sex. Don’t remember much cursing either. Great series!

    1. Clean YA books? Oh GOD!!!!! The Gallagher Girl series, it’s AMAZING because they’re clean but you can feel the shift in the writing and the characters as they grow and mature. Another favourite series is The Harry Potter series of course. Any Rick Riordan, Sarah Dessen, or Katie West books. All VERY talented authors, all with very clean books. I’ve read just about every Kasue West, Sarah Dessen, and Rick Riordan books and have loved them all. Another really good clean book I absolutely love is A Secret Service by Joy Jenkins, she is FOR SURE one of the most talented authors I’ve recently read from. She has so many beautiful works on Wattpad and I was beyond elated to discover she FINALLY PUBLISHED! a Secret Service everyone, just check it out.

  112. I’d love to whole-heartedly recommend The Thief series, for young adults, by Megan WhalenTurner. I read them all as an adult and was drawn in, deeply impressed by both their intelligence and story-building suspense. So good!

  113. Do you mind if authors recommend themselves? I write a contemporary/historical clean series called Between Worlds. It’s about two teen girls a century apart–Juliana today and her great-grandmother Elisabeth a century ago in Eastern Europe. They’re connected via Elisabeth’s diary of drawings, which Juliana’s grandfather–Elisabeth’s son–has to interpret for Juliana despite his being in the early stages of dementia. For parents: it looks at family dynamics, dementia, mental health, and the after-effects of war (but nothing graphic). The arts play an important role, too.

  114. The Ascendance Series (only the first three because the last two books in the series are very recently published.)
    and the Mark of the Thief Series.
    I’ve only read the first book of Mark of the Thief, but I’ve never seen anything inappropriate from Jennifer A. Nelson.

  115. I am so happy to have found this site. I’m the YA author of the Kindle Vella story: The Uncertainty of Fire. (The story image is listed and linked above under The Impossible Princess, which I believe is a different Kindle Vella story that I’ve not had a chance to read yet.) But my story is also a clean and Christian YA historical offering. Though written for teens, I hope moms and adults will also find it enjoyable should they pre-screen. The story is now complete and you don’t have to wait for episodes. And I’m finding new titles on this list that I want to add to my tbr. Thank you for compiling such a wonderful resource.

    1. Thanks for reaching out, Stephanie! Let us know if you publish your story as one complete work, and we’ll update the link. (I think most of our readers prefer a paper book or e-book, but perhaps they just don’t know about Kindle Vella yet.) Don’t hesitate to list any other clean suggestions on this page. We’re committed to finding them! Also, I updated the text link above. 🙂

      – Sara, Author of This Dreamer (Kindle Vella)

      1. Thank you so much. You’re quick! My story has been updated to complete. I was so shocked and thrilled to find this page and see my story listed. I am in the process of publishing it as a book and ebook now with a goal of releasing this spring. This is a series but with different main characters featured as the protagonist. Working on Story/Book 2 now. I look forward to being able to make recommendations here. I love reading clean YA.

  116. The four kingdoms series and beyond the four kingdoms series by Melanie Cellier are great! And clean <3

  117. Signifigance series by Shelly Crane and Starstruck series by Brenda Hiatt. My two favorites.

    Sins of Our Ancestors series by Bridget E. Baker is the one I’m currently reading and it’s amazing.

  118. I actually write clean Fantasy Romance novels for teens and young adults. I have a free Kindle Promotion today if anyone is interested in checking out one of my novels.
    It’s called Unwritten, and it’s the first book in a series called The Written World. I will try to include a link, but if I am unable to, you can simply type in:
    Unwritten Summer McRae
    Copy and paste: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01L4QF7LK/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
    Hope you enjoy!

  119. Anything by K.M. Shea is clean and fun, and same with W.R. Gingell and Brittany Fichter.

    I also write clean fantasy and currently have nine books out. (I’m currently working on an epic fantasy series that involves elemental magic, and a portal fantasy series with one book currently released)
    Here’s the link to my Amazon profile:
    https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B086WRWGVN

    Thank you so much for putting this list together! Finding clean, good books for teens is one of my passions as well!

  120. I recommend “Out of My Mind” by Sharon M. Draper. It is a great book and it’s clean.

  121. Jeff Wheeler has several fantasy adventure series that appeal to both YA and adults that are clean. I pre-read them and my girls have enjoyed them very much. There is violence, but zero language or sex. The favorite here is the first Muirwood trilogy.

  122. A mages influence series : Melanie Cellier
    Spoken mage series : Melanie Cellier
    The hidden mage series : Melani Cellier
    The four kingdoms series : Melanie Cellier
    Beyond the four kingdoms series : Melanie Cellier
    Return to the four kingdoms series : Melanie Cellier
    Inheritance cycle : Christpher Poalini
    Inkhert Trilogy : Cornelia Funke
    Keeper of the lost cities series : Shannon Messanger
    Rangers apprentice series : John Flannagan
    The underland chronicles : Suzanne Collins

  123. I am surprised that Robin McKinley didn’t make this list.
    Beauty
    Spindle’s End
    Outlaws of Sherwood
    Blue Sword
    Hero and the Crown

  124. Michael Vey Series (clean although violence but if I recall correctly the first one is fine and then it gets more violent as the series goes along)

  125. I just finished reading a NEWly published book (it’s only been a week!) called Silver Sparks by J. S. Bowers. Once I finished reading, I thought it would be an excellent clean read for my teenage nieces, who are growing up in a Christian home and visit their grandparents in the countryside often! It has an environmental theme and a touch of fantasy. The main character, Kaneia, grows up in an unorthodox (hippy-dippy?) rural Christian home, and has wonderful interactions with other characters that share her faith, but also characters that have different or non-religious/secular viewpoints. She’s also homeschooled, unlike the other children/teens, but she is never ridiculed for it.

    There are a few things to mention (which I will mention to my nieces’ parents): Even though the characters are about 16 years old/high school age, it reads very pre-teen for the first half of the book. There is some kissing later in the book, and one instance where one of them has an involuntary reaction, and the lead character does the best thing: walks away and pretends not to notice so as not to embarrass him. The author writes intelligently and doesn’t rely on any cursing to relay what a character is feeling, which I appreciate! There is a scene with a frightful accident that could be considered graphic (blood and contusions from a falling injury), but there are no violent, malicious acts towards people and everything ends up okay in the end. Kaneia was also orphaned as a child and is raised by her adopted mother and older sister. They do mention that the parents died in a fire when she was a baby, but the scene isn’t replayed in any way.

    I haven’t finished reading J. S. Bowers’s other book, Wash Away, so I can’t recommend it yet is a clean read. Like Silver Sparks, the cover illustration is gorgeous! If you are looking for a brand new author on the scene and a clean gem of a book, I highly recommend Silver Sparks. There’s a current promotion to get the book for free on Kindle, but I splurged for the paperback version. Worth every penny.

    (I am including a link for reference, not to solicit).

  126. Thank you so much for writing this article! I am 14 now and I am still reading mostly middle grade books because I dare not venture into the teen section. I’d like to recommend anything written by Jennifer A. Nielsen (I have yet to read a book by her that has anything inappropriate) or Brandon Mull. Most of the series written by Erin Hunter are good, but Bravelands is a little heavy for younger readers, and the Warriors series seems to get slightly darker with each series that is written (though I have yet to come across anything bad). Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland is also fairly clean, but the standalone book Darkstalker is, as the name suggests, much heavier and darker than the others. It has more violence and a lot of the characters grapple with problems that younger readers may not sympathize with.

    1. Thank you, Jocelyn! Great suggestions. Jennifer A. Nielsen is a favorite at our house as well!

  127. Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery
    This is an excellent book set (and written) during World War ll. A very special story about a boy faced with the difficult choice of choosing/discovering where he belongs.
    The Letter for the King and the sequel The Secrets of the Wild Wood by Tonke Dragt
    YA, but appropriate for younger readers as well
    Song of Seven by Tonke Dragt
    Creative, mysterious fantasy
    The Great and Terrible Quest by Margaret Lovett
    YA, a bit too wordy for most middle-grade readers to follow and a bit violent for sensitive children
    Jonathan by Margaret Lovett
    A moving story of sacrifice and found family. Historical fiction set during the industrial revolution in England.
    My Diary from the Edge of the World by Jodi Lynn Anderson
    Awesome alternate Earth fantasy story about a family on an extended road trip.
    The Goldsmith and the Master Thief by Tonke Dragt
    This is a compilation of short stories centering around twin brothers. Witty and unique.
    Throne of Athlumney by Charline Davis and C.E. Boyle
    Funny light-hearted medieval novella.
    Sherwood Ring by Mary Elizabeth Pope
    Humorous fantasy historical fiction novel set during revolutionary America. Friendly ghosts and family secrets abound.
    Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, and White) by Ted Dekker
    YA, Action-packed powerfully written fantasy/real-world allegory. (Some mature themes so recommended for teens and up.)
    Red Sails to Capri by Ann Weil
    Amusing historical fiction
    The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
    Enchantingly written fantasy story with a likeable heroine.
    The Giant-Slayer by Iain Lawrence
    This is a sweet historical fiction mashed up with an adorable fantasy story.
    Ronja (or Ronia in some editions) by Astrid Lindgren
    A Swedish classic. Fantasy world with sweet childhood friendship and an important message about standing for what’s right.
    What Katy Did (series) by Susan Coolidge
    These stories written by a Civil War nurse are wonderful for girls. What Katy Did, What Katy Did at School, What Katy Did Next, Clover, and In the High Valley. Easy to find in the library, buy used, or read free online or in iBooks etc.
    Otherwood by Pete Hautman
    Intriguing middle-grade and above fantasy about slipping into alternate worlds. (Does have a sudden death that might be upsetting to younger readers.)
    Wikkeling by Steven Arntson
    Creative middle-school level novel, but funny enough to be enjoyed by all ages.
    Treekeepers by Susan McGee Britton
    Another must-read. This wonderful allegory isn’t heavy-handed like some, but fresh, unique and very special. We read this aloud as a family and it is one of my daughter’s favorites.
    Heartwood Hotel (series of 4 books) by Kallie George
    My daughter loved this novel series back when she only wanted to read graphic novels. There’s enough illustrations to keep struggling readers motivated. Sweet animal friendships.
    The Journey with the Golden Book and The Quest for the Silver Castle by Lela Gilbert
    Fantasy allegories for children you won’t want to miss.
    Prince Vance by Arlo Bates
    This is an old book about a selfish young prince being challenged to become more. Available for free on iBooks etc
    The Bridge, The Crown and Jewel, and The Two Collars (series) by Jeri Massi
    Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
    Middle grades; Medieval historical fiction
    Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. WIlliams
    Middle grades; historical fiction set during WWll.
    GRAPHIC NOVELS:
    Jim Henson’s Power of the Dark Crystal (3 volumes) by Simon Spurrier
    Amazing art, complex world, middle-grade to adults.
    Zita the Spacegirl trilogy and Mighty Jack trilogy by Ben Hatke
    The BEST middle-grade graphic novel series ever!
    The Flying Beaver Brothers series (6 books) by Maxwell Eaton lll
    Elementary age. Silly action and humor.
    Bird & Squirrel series (6 books) by James Burks
    Little Robot by Ben Hatke (author of the Zita and Mighty Jack books)
    Wordless and cute
    Korgi series by Christian Slade
    Another wordless one, creative and with beautiful drawings. Books 1 & 2 are great for young children, but the later ones get quite a bit darker.
    Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
    Interest for ages 8-12. Almost wordless. There’s words in the pictures but not dialogue.
    Kerry and Knight of the Forest by Andi Watson
    Interest for ages 8-14
    Missile Mouse (2 books) by Jake Parker
    Interest for ages 8-14
    Alice in Wonderland Graphic Novel by Russell Punter
    Lightfall: The Girl & the Galdurian by Tim Probert
    Interest for ages 8-14.

  128. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart is another great series. It is also a TV show on Disney +

  129. Fish in a tree by Lynda Hunt
    The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
    The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis
    and my personal favorite, The Wingfeather saga by Andrew Peterson

  130. The Spoken Mage series by Melanie Cellier
    The Four Kingdoms series by Melanie Cellier
    Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull
    Dragon watch series by Brandon Mull
    The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander
    Pathways series by Camille Peters
    Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

  131. Here’s a few more suggestions that I didn’t remember to include in the list last week, but they are too deserving to be missed.

    Rapunzel and the Lost Lagoon and Rapunzel and the Vanishing Village by Leila Howland
    Great for fans of the amazing Tangled the series TV show
    The Mistmantle Chronicles (5 book series) by M. I. McAllister
    Anthropomorphic squirrels, hedgehogs and moles inhabit this (slightly allegorical) fantasy world. It’s full of struggles for honor, truth, and bravery, with endearing, relatable characters and meaningful relationships. Highly recommend.
    The Tripod series (4 book series) by John Christopher
    Well-written and action-packed, this series is perfect for any sci-fi fan.

  132. I’m a YA author and chose to publish my own books so I could keep them clean. I wrote a Duology that is YA fantasy with some romance, but for ages 15 and up it’s very clean.

    Alliance by E.B. Bridenstine
    Devotion by E.B. Bridenstine

    I would also like to put the Hollow Kingdom trilogy by Clare B Dunkle forward. Great books for this age group!

  133. The Winternight trilogy is amazing but might not be for tweens. The Girl in the Tower has a scene where the main character, a teenage girl disguising herself as a young man, has her breasts forcibly bared to a crowd to ruin her disguise.

  134. Toward a Secret Sky by Heather Maclean is a really good book. It’s been a while since I read it, but I don’t remember any cussing or inappropriate scenes.

  135. The Stoker and Holmes Series by Colleen Gleason is a really good series. It is clean with no sex scenes, good characters, lots of funny things, romance. It has a few swears, but other than that it is good. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to read a clean YA book.

  136. The Book Thief (some language and violence) – Markus Zusak
    The maze runner series (violence) – James Dashner
    Before we were yours – Lisa wingate
    Fahrenheit 451 (violence) – Ray Bradbury

  137. I see the Wings of Fire series was recommended a couple of times in the comments. This is not a clean series. It has strong LGBTQ themes introduced in the later books (10 and on). Book 13, The Poison Jungle, features a lesbian dragon relationship as a major plot point. The Wings of Fire series also contains some gruesome violence.

    1. Agree. The first set of books were decent but LGBTQ was added into the later books

    2. Agree. The first set of books were decent but LGBTQ was added into the later books

  138. Young Samurai series by Chris Bradford is great. Read them to my daughter then to my sons a few years later. Does have some violence.

    Also John Flanagan’s Brotherband series and the Ranger’s Apprentice series are also great books. They do have some violence. Language is mild. No Sex.

  139. The Forgotten Five series- Lisa McMann (probably middle grade)
    Gordon Korman ( all of his books are great)
    The Five Ancestors series-Jeff Stone
    Explorer Academy series – Trudi Truit
    Jennifer Nielsen ( all of her books are great)

  140. The City of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau is a good clean series.
    Stuart Gibbs is also a good author. Haven’t read all of his books, but the ones we have read are clean.
    Also James Ponti’s – City Spies series, and Framed series are good middle grade books

  141. My trilogy, The Lost Stones of Argonia, is a high fantasy clean read, and I would love to have it listed here. (I mentioned it a year or two ago, not sure what happened. :)) Books 1 and 2–Kingdom Lost, and Quest of the Queen are out. 3rd book in the trilogy–Battle for the Crown–is due out in September.

  142. I have just one thing to say: Thank you for existing! Teaching at a Christian middle school is so tough when I am updating my library myself and can’t read all the books or trust commonsense.org to give me the right details.

  143. Can anyone comment on the Ben Archer book series by Rae Knightly? I researched and they seemed clean so sent them to my nephew.

  144. All of Kate Stradling’s books are clean and very entertaining.
    My favorites are:
    Soot and Slipper
    Bone and Brine
    The Heir and the Spare
    Goldmayne (the kids and my favorite!)
    Thrushbeard
    There are a few others as well that I can’t think of at the moment. Check out her books. Totally clean and very captivating!

  145. As a teen I personally love Melanie Cellier’s books. The books are clean by pretty much anyone’s standards, but still deliver action and romance.

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