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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.

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Our user and Author-Recommended Clean Books for Teens:

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi

The Allegra Biscotti Collection by Olivia Bennett

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

The Siren by Kiera Cass

The Betrothed by Kiera Cass

Switch by MS Rice

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

Elementals by Amie Kaufman

The Blood Rose Rebellion

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

The Electi by R.E. Boucher

Five Kingdoms series by Brandon Mull

Fight we must by Heidi Alert

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

Scar of the Downers

Charles Towne Belles series by MaryLu Tyndall

Surrender to Destiny series by MaryLu Tyndall

Bombs Bursting in Air

The Feud series by Tamara Leigh

The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischof

Trouble in Store by Carol Cox

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

Abarat by Clive Barker

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

Entwined by Heather Dixon

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

Front Lines by Michael Grant

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

Shug by Jenny Han

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

Everless by Sara Holland

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

Eli by Bill Myers

Forbidden Doors series by Bill Myers

The God Hater by Bill Myers

Galendor trilogy by W. Eric Myers

Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo

Medoran Chronicles by Lynette Noni

Whisper by Lynette Noni

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

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*)

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

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

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

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

Odd Hollow 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

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Dracula by Bram Stoker

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38 thoughts on “Clean Teen Books: Reader-Recommended”

  1. 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!

    1. 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. 🙂

  2. 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!😃

    1. 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! 🙂

  3. 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.

    1. I agree. I have updated this post to include a note about the violence in this series. Thanks, Christine! 🙂

      1. 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.

        1. Also, there wasn’t a lot of language that I noticed in this book, but in book three the f-word is used once.

          1. Thank you for providing further details for our readers! The more information we have to make book choices, the better. 🙂

    1. 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! 🙂

  4. 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.

    1. 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! 🙂

  5. 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!

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. Great list! Another good book is The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu, it’s interesting, well-written and completely clean!

  9. Thanks for the list. I would also like to suggest the book skyward and the rithmatist. Both are really good a nd completely clean.

  10. 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!

  11. 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

    1. Whoops, I just reread the list and saw that Fablehaven series is on the list. My bad!

  12. A few more:
    Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
    Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson
    Beauty by Robin McKinley

  13. 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

  14. 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.

  15. 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! 🙂

  16. 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.

  17. All books by K M Shea are clean. I love her Books! Also The Hero’s Lot series by Patrick W. Carr are clean.

  18. 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)

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

  21. 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

  22. 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)

  23. 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.

  24. 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 💛

  25. 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

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