Non-Boring Books for Teenagers

As the “Best of” book lists start showing up at the end of the year, I am always struck by how repetitive they are. It’s like a secret cabal gets together somewhere and decides what the big sellers will be and then insists that they will not stop until every single list everywhere hammers those same books down the throats of holiday shoppers. Finally, after entering yet another Barnes & Noble with a big table up front touting those same titles, the shoppers bow down in defeat and buy the damn books. Then everyone unwraps the same thing and says a collective “What the hell?” to the universe. This is not the sort of holiday scenario I’m especially fond of so I’ve kept my eye out for offbeat choices that teens (and a little younger) would like to find under their trees this year. There a little bit of something for everyone here, from fashion to dinosaurs to art to classic adventure. All are beautiful, interesting and guaranteed not to show up in the donate bag by New Year’s. I start with one that adults will love too and, if the world was a perfect place, would be already be a bestseller.