We’re thrilled about the buzz generated by our clean teen books post! Thank you for finding us and for sharing our passion for identifying clean YA books—those without sexual content and without excessive language—for readers of all ages. And YOU, our faithful readers, haven’t stopped at just sharing our passion; you’ve also shared your recommendations! The comment section on our original post (Clean YA Books for teens, tweens, or anyone) has been flooded with reader-recommended books, but we’re excited to share them in this post.
Also see our editor-recommended Clean YA books for teens, tweens, or anyone.
Please join our mailing list for readers who are looking for clean teen books:
Our user and Author-Recommended Clean Books for Teens:
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
The Allegra Biscotti Collection by Olivia Bennett
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
The Traitor’s Game by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The Infinite Minute by Edward Newton
Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch
Social Vampire by James Schannep
The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer
Young Sherlock Holmes series by Andy Lane
The Legends of the First Empire series by Michael J. Sullivan
The Acadian Secret by Tammy Lowe
Track series by Jason Reynolds
Shadows & Starstone: The Immortals Part One ~ A Sword and Sorcery Fantasy Novella
Legends of Muirwood series by Jeff Wheeler
Harbinger series by Jeff Wheeler
The Kingfountain series by Jeff Wheeler
Five Kingdoms series by Brandon Mull
Lanie Speros & The Omega Contingency
Beyonders series by Brandon Mull
The Lost Stones of Argonia by Dawn Shipman
The Crescent Stone by Matt Mikalatos
Only in Gooding series by Cathy Marie Hake
The Prophet’s Apprentice by Cassandra Boyson
The Boys of Benjamin Boulevard
The King Raven Trilogy by Stephen R. Lawhead
The Broken Lands series by Carrie Summers
A Rumored Fortune series by Joanna Davidson Politano
The Blood Vier by Christy R. Harrill
A Class of their Own series by Jen Turano
Charles Towne Belles series by MaryLu Tyndall
Surrender to Destiny series by MaryLu Tyndall
The Feud series by Tamara Leigh
The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischof
Awake in Olaiya by M.E. Duffield
Defy the Stars trilogy by Claudia Gray
Chances Are by Traci Hunter Abramson
Kiss of the Spindle by Nancy Campbell Allen
The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker
Thief of Always by Clive Barker
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
The Door Within trilogy by Wayne Thomas Batson
Isle of Swords series by Wayne Thomas Batson
The River of Time series by Lisa Tawn Bergren
Circle of Nine series by Valerie Biel
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubraker Bradley
The Heritage of Shannara by Terry Brooks
Mr. Terupt series by Rob Buyea
Embassy Row series by Ally Carter
Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter
Not if I Save You First by Ally Carter
The School for Good and Evil series by Soman Chainani
Mickey Bolitar series by Harlan Coben
Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
Dragons in Our Midst series by Bryan Davis
Echoes from the Edge trilogy by Bryan Davis
The Beautiful Pretender by Melanie Dickerson
Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
The Young Refugees series by Ed Dunlop
100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons (*language warning, according to another reader*)
Michael Vey series by Richard Paul Evans
Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett
The Brotherband Chronicles by John Flanagan
The Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan
The Blackhope Enigma trilogy by Teresa Flavin
City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster
Caraval series by Stephanie Garber
Spy School series by Stuart Gibbs
The Half Bad trilogy by Sally Green
Theodore Boone series by John Grisham
The Mapmakers trilogy by S.E. Grove
An Unfortunate Fairy Tale series by Chanda Hahn
Books of Bayern series by Shannon Hale
A Face Like Glass by Francis Hardinge
Gullstruck Island by Frances Hardinge
The Lie Tree by Francis Hardinge
The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
She Loves You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah) by Ann Hood
Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz (*violence warning*)
Warriors series by Erin Hunter
A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter
The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques
Red Rock Mysteries by Jerry B. Jenkins (probably not for older teens)
Viking Quest series by Lois Walfrid Johnson
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
Howl’s Moving Castle series by Diana Wynne Jones
Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene
Children of the Lamp series by P. B. Kerr
The Order of the Rose by Alysha King
Wolf Tower series by Tanith Lee
A Girl Called Fearless by Catherine Linka
The Giver series by Lois Lowry
The Princess in the Opal Mask by Jenny Lundquist
Since You’ve been Gone by Morgan Matson
The Unwanteds series by Lisa McMann
Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger
Miss Burton Unmasks a Prince by Jennifer Moore
The Colors of Madeleine series by Jaclyn Moriarty
Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull
Forbidden Doors series by Bill Myers
Galendor trilogy by W. Eric Myers
Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo
Medoran Chronicles by Lynette Noni
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
The Inheritance Cycle series by Christopher Paolini (violence)
Dragon Keepers series by Donita K. Paul
The Configured trilogy by Jenetta Penner
The Starfire Wars series by Jenetta Penner
The Cooper Kids Adventure series by Frank E. Peretti (for younger readers)
The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty
Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce
Circle Opens series by Tamora Pierce
The Immortals series by Tamora Pierce
Once Upon a Con series by Ashley Poston
Love at First Note by Jenny Proctor
Ravenspire series by C.J. Redwine
Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series by Ransom Riggs (creepy)
Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
Gems of Fire by Diane E. Samson
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman (*violence warning*)
The Dark Side of Nowhere by Neal Shusterman
Unwind Dystology series by Neal Shusterman
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, et al
The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland
Wings of Fire series by Tui Sutherland
The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
The Last Boy and Girl in the World by Siobhan Vivian
The Keeper’s Chronicles by Becky Wallace
The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
To Best the Boys by Mary Weber
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells (*violence warning*)
Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West
The Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld
Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld
Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Man Who Loved Clowns by June Rae Wood
Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede
Children of the Stars by Freddie Perez
Dragon’s World by Freddie Perez
Rangers of Prydous by Freddie Perez
Phoenix Regeneration by Freddie Perez
Supernatural Police Academy by Stephanie Perez
Safe Haven Summer by Roseann Perez
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Fuller Creek series by David C. Reyes
The Seer: The Kalila Chronicles by Erin R. Howard
Dreamhouse Kings series by Robert Lipanulo
Dragonwatch series by Brandon Mull
An Uncertain Choice series by Jody Hedlund
The Heir of Ariad by Niki Florica
The Six: The Gateway Chronicles by K.B. Hoyle
Hostage: Bodyguard series by Chris Bradford
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians series by Brandon Sanderson
The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Bunnicula series by James Howe, et al
Peter Nimble duology by Jonathan Auxier
Furthermore duology by Tahereh Mafi
Snow & Rose by Emily Winfield Martin
Serafina series by Robert Beatty
The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill
Fairyland series by Catherynne M. Valente
Peter and the Starcatchers series by Dave Berry
Greenglass House series by Kate Milford
Nevermoor Series by Jessica Townsend
Winterhouse Series by Ben Guterson
Classic Novels
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
The Three Musketeers by Alexndre Dumas
Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Hi
I thought the Michael Vey series is extremely violent (mind manipulation, torture, talk of cannibalism).
Some awesome books for kids include:
Brandon Sanderson’s Evil Librarian series, Brandon Sanderson’s Reckoner series (Steelheart, Firefight and Calamity. The book Alex Rider Series. I’ve only read the first one Stormbreaker it’s like a kid James Bond. Among the Hidden (series) by Haddix. Bunnicula (series)
Hope those help. I really do appreciate this list!
Thank you for your suggestions! We really appreciate them! We will be adding to our reader-recommended list again soon and will include these books. 🙂
Stolen by Wanda Brunstetter is a clean amazing book.
Hey, I just wanted to share I started reading the Charlotte Holmes books, I am still on the first one. But so far there has been a lot of language, drugs and innuendos. Great book so far I just personally think it should not be on the clean reads list. Thank you so much for this list of clean reads and the other one they are helping me find many books!😃
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! Since this page lists reader recommendations, I haven’t personally read this book. I just looked it up on Common Sense Media based on your comment, however, and I don’t think it meets our criteria for a clean read, especially regarding profanity. I’m glad it appeared on Common Sense so I could read details about the content. I’m going to remove it from this list. Thanks again for taking the time to comment! 🙂
Hi! I LOVE the Arc of the Scythe series and they are pretty free of sex but you may want to include a violence label next to them as they are extremely violent. It’s a series all about Scythes who are permitted to cull the human population as humans do not die anymore but population control is needed so they don’t overwhelm the earth. As you can imagine, power corrupts so some of the scythes are less than ethical in their behavior…
I’ve read the first two and they are amazing books for high schoolers. Provokes a lot of thought between ethical behavior vs lawful behavior, how lawful behavior isn’t necessarily ethical, our responsibility to our community vs our family, etc.
I agree. I have updated this post to include a note about the violence in this series. Thanks, Christine! 🙂
Quick note: mostly sex-free, but there are two scenes where a character goes into another characters room to, ah, make a move and is rejected.
Also, there wasn’t a lot of language that I noticed in this book, but in book three the f-word is used once.
Thank you for providing further details for our readers! The more information we have to make book choices, the better. 🙂
100 days of sunlight has a lot of language in it.
Thanks for the heads up for our readers! This page contains suggestions from our readers, not from the Book Series Recaps editors, so this is a book neither Sara nor I have read. Our editor-recommend page is the one we fully back, but we love having a second page for reader-suggested clean reads to expand our list. And we always welcome further feedback. I’ll add that warning to the page the next time I update it. Thanks again! 🙂
Hi I just wanted to mention that the opening scene of Caraval is one where the sister is having intimate relations with a person she doesn’t particularly care about. Her sister then walks in on them and the first sister doesn’t seem to mind. I stopped reading it because I was disappointed.
Thanks for the heads up for our readers! This page contains clean reads suggestions from our readers, and we always welcome further feedback. I’ll add that warning to the page the next time I update it. If you want to see clean reads recommended by us (Sara & Stacy, the BSR editors), please check out this page: https://www.bookseriesrecaps.com/clean-ya-books-for-teens-and-tweens/ Thanks again for your comment! 🙂
If you continue to read Caraval you will learn that they didn’t actually have sex. The scene makes a lot more sense if the book is completed. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi! Thank you so much for compiling this list! I just wanted to add a note about the Alex Rider series – I haven’t read all of it, but you may want to put a violence label for it. The first few books are probably okay, but it does get a lot more violent later on. That was one of the reasons I was hesitant to continue reading the series (although it may just be because I’m not particularly fond of violence).
Thanks again!
Wanted to suggest The Book Scavenger series by Bertman. My daughter and I are halfway through the 2nd book, reading it aloud together without any awkward or uncomfortable moments. I would recommend it for tween boy or girls looking for a mystery/adventure book.
My son just finished reading the Age of Myth series by Michael J. Sullivan. I’ve read it as well and it’s excellent! Very clean and really interesting characters.
Great list! Another good book is The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu, it’s interesting, well-written and completely clean!
Thanks for the list. I would also like to suggest the book skyward and the rithmatist. Both are really good a nd completely clean.
Hi as a teen I feel that it’s so hard to sort through so many books to find the clean ones! As a religious teen I have to research tons of books before I read it or flip a through a book at the library to scan for curse words. Here are some books that I found and loved!
We’re in the same boat haha
A few books and series that are great and clean!
The Traitor’s Game series by Jennifer A Nielsen
The Betrothed by Kiera Cass (sequel comes out July 2021)
Princess Academy series by Shannon Hale
The Siren by Kiera Cass
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
Whoops, I just reread the list and saw that Fablehaven series is on the list. My bad!
A few more:
Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Great list! One suggestion I have is if you can add more books for older teens, like 15 and up, because I feel a lot of this books are aimed more towards younger teens.
A few books and series that are clean:
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The princess bride by William Goldman
Before I fall by Lauren Oliver
King Arthur and her knights series by K.M Shea
Enola Holmes series by Nancy Spinger
Timeless fairy tales series by K.M Shea
Stranje House series by Kathleen Baldwin
The fountains of silence by Ruta Sepetys
Fairy tale inheritance series by Shonna Slayton
Girl in the blue coat by Monica Hesse
The code for love and heartbreak by Jillian Cantor
Jo and Laurie by Margaret Stohl
Life at kingston high series by Melody Carlson
The lord of the rings series by J.R.R Tolkien
Here’s a clean book to add to your list. Iridescent by S. H. Everly. It’s a clean, ya fantasy book, and there are a lot of positive reviews.
Here’s the description for the book:
For 17-year-old Katrina Peterson, life is never the same after she finds out she’s moving back to California. Upon arrival, Katrina learns that the town has secrets, and at the heart of them is the mysterious and popular Jared, who’s been dreaming about her long before she came to Santa Cruz. Only one thing seems to have all the answers: a map given to her by her mother. But Katrina wonders how long she can keep her own secret from Jared. Will he ever accept her for who she truly is? But, more importantly, can she? A story filled with friendship, family, love, and even faith, Iridescent will take you away to the beaches and ocean waters of Central California, and on a magical journey in this coming of age book.
I’m a parent and loved the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. However it is DEFINITELY NOT clean – there is a lot of cussing. The violence may be acceptable to some, and for older teens, with a *warning* message to the side. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I highly recommend the series for adults though! 🙂
Kirby Larson’s books would be a great addition to the list. There’s Hattie Big Sky and the sequel Hattie Ever After. Other books of hers include The Friendship Doll, Dash, Duke, Liberty and The Fences Between Us.
Other suggestions would be Tom Angleberger’s Origami Yoda series and, if it hasn’t been mentioned already, Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga.
All books by K M Shea are clean. I love her Books! Also The Hero’s Lot series by Patrick W. Carr are clean.
A few books I recommend that I have not seen (or may have just missed), are A Strand of Hope (Christian historical YA) and her Tales of Faith series (Christian fairy tale retellings without romance) by Amanda Tero, the Crown of Stars series by Elizabeth D. Marie (clean fairy tale retellings with a high fantasy feel), Tiger Queen by Annie Sullivan (clean YA fantasy with a historical feel), both The Lost Girl of Astor Street (Christian YA 1920s historical but faith elements are minimal) and Within These Lines (Christian YA WWII home front historical again with minimal faith elements) by Stephanie Morrill, Follow the Dawn (Christian YA historical) by Rachelle Rea Cobb, Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (gen market clean YA historical) and The Sinclair Mysteries by Katherine Woodfine (tween gen market clean historical mysteries)
Hi, once again thank you so much for your site! I absolutely love being able to pick up books that I know are safe. I first found the Ryria Revelations here and absolutely love them! I just finished all four books in the Ryria Chronicles series (prequel to revelations) and I am happy to report that they are all clean! They have about the same level of violence and such as revelations. Definitely worth reading. I would also like to recommend Frances Hardinge’s books. No content at all. She writes dark fantasy books, a little bit spooky but never overly depressing. I’ve read the books Deeplight, The Lie Tree, Cuckoo Song, A Face like Glass, and A Skinful of Shadows and I recommend them all.
Diana Wynne Jones has great clean fantasy/speculative fiction books. Hers vary from children’s and young adult, but most of her books are enjoyable for any age.
I posted this in the other clean reads thread before I found reader recommendations. I am reposting it here!:
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).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B7NTJ8VS/ref=dbs_a_def_awm_bibl_vppi_i1
A few books I’ve read (recommended for more mature teens)
The book thief – Markus Zusak (some violence and language)
The maze runner series – James dashner (violence)
Fahrenheit 451 – ray Bradbury
Before we were yours – Lisa Wingate
Number the stars – Lois Lowry
The guernsey literary and potatoe peel pie society – Mary Ann Shaffer
The line between/A single light – Tosca Lee (some heavy topics)
Serafina series – Robert Beatty (creepy)
Incarnum series by T.R.Sterling is a great one. Nothing too violent or obscene. For teens and adults, I have young in laws that read and loved it and my husband and I couldn’t put it down. It’s fantasy, like lord of the rings, but has a lighter tone about it so it isn’t too intense for younger readers but it keeps adults interested as well.
Hi I would like to recommend KALAHARI by Jessica Khoury it is clean it has one kiss and a deadly disease the kills certain animals and some scary parts but other than that it is a great book😁 one of my favs 💛
Hi I would like to recommend KALAHARI by Jessica Khoury it is clean it has one kiss and a deadly disease the kills certain animals and some scary parts but other than that it is a great book😁 one of my favs