,

I wanted to create a young adult literature list that has books that don't have sex scenes, violence, and very little if any swearing. I know a lot of parents that would like their kids to read but have a hard time finding a book that shares their values. However, I don't think that should necessarily mean only Christian fiction. There are a lot of books out there that would be great on this list. Please make sure they meet the qualifications above before adding!
1

by
4.12 avg rating — 2,879,660 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.02 avg rating — 426,688 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.13 avg rating — 448,445 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,390,545 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.28 avg rating — 719,504 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.31 avg rating — 3,531,669 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.15 avg rating — 1,669,877 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.04 avg rating — 123,205 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.26 avg rating — 179,484 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.15 avg rating — 149,612 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
3.80 avg rating — 462,490 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.90 avg rating — 129,440 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.34 avg rating — 1,140,836 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.95 avg rating — 43,365 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.16 avg rating — 95,073 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.14 avg rating — 181,041 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
3.91 avg rating — 300,954 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.76 avg rating — 14,837 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.09 avg rating — 517,301 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.33 avg rating — 1,145,304 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.01 avg rating — 313,007 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.77 avg rating — 80,571 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.91 avg rating — 402,308 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.11 avg rating — 143,530 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
3.96 avg rating — 338,794 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.19 avg rating — 312,053 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.14 avg rating — 141,217 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.98 avg rating — 496,428 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.35 avg rating — 43 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.53 avg rating — 32 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.77 avg rating — 338,411 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.95 avg rating — 37,465 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
3.83 avg rating — 96 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.76 avg rating — 46,890 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.03 avg rating — 42,473 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.42 avg rating — 171 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 45,517 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.97 avg rating — 31,705 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.40 avg rating — 163 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.12 avg rating — 17 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.03 avg rating — 104,602 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.93 avg rating — 27 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.97 avg rating — 56,925 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.90 avg rating — 303,177 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.85 avg rating — 689 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.20 avg rating — 63,397 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.15 avg rating — 30,105 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.94 avg rating — 19,673 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.01 avg rating — 7,469 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.91 avg rating — 482 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.15 avg rating — 131,833 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.01 avg rating — 372,784 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.13 avg rating — 55,517 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.06 avg rating — 23,296 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.12 avg rating — 14,254 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.26 avg rating — 30,271 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.21 avg rating — 20,632 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.20 avg rating — 15,961 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.92 avg rating — 37,072 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
4.01 avg rating — 27,309 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.98 avg rating — 23,482 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.35 avg rating — 13,004 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.62 avg rating — 819,975 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.43 avg rating — 42 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.62 avg rating — 40 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.98 avg rating — 150 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.89 avg rating — 12,805 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.65 avg rating — 201 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.70 avg rating — 2,062 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.07 avg rating — 3,788 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.34 avg rating — 193,320 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.81 avg rating — 76,624 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.07 avg rating — 4,966 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.46 avg rating — 158 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.84 avg rating — 194,578 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.03 avg rating — 38,406 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.41 avg rating — 60,498 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
4.26 avg rating — 54 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.59 avg rating — 17 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.58 avg rating — 36 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.80 avg rating — 127 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.09 avg rating — 35,556 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.26 avg rating — 1,082,569 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.48 avg rating — 1,054,317 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.98 avg rating — 12,829 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.15 avg rating — 34 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.01 avg rating — 40,130 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.23 avg rating — 39 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.91 avg rating — 977,460 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.60 avg rating — 17,287 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
4.41 avg rating — 61 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.87 avg rating — 38,361 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.20 avg rating — 87 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,358 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,297 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.94 avg rating — 4,086 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.45 avg rating — 417 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.14 avg rating — 316,298 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.97 avg rating — 65 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
4.55 avg rating — 577 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
430 books · 207 voters · list created August 19th, 2010 by Jenny (votes) .
45 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Jenny 224 books
122 friends
Eric 1460 books
36 friends
Karen 836 books
23 friends
Jessie 6620 books
31 friends
Eric 986 books
49 friends
Heather 861 books
4 friends
Victoria 670 books
9 friends
Mir 15113 books
449 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-16 of 16 (16 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Simeon (new)

Simeon What about kids without values? Priceless kids need books too.


message 2: by Victoria (new)

Victoria Kids that read books that involve swearing don't have any values, obviously.


message 3: by Shélah (new)

Shélah Presumably kids without values could read these as well - unless children with no values can't read.

And I also assume that kids with values (whatever values may or may not be in question here) could probably manage to read books not on this list.

May I just say.


message 4: by Steph (new)

Steph I agree with the three commmenters before me.

And I will add that just because someone has values doesn't mean they have the same values as you.


message 5: by Kaitlin (new)

Kaitlin Hogue The Outsiders???It's a gret book,but it had violence in the book


message 6: by Kaitlin (new)

Kaitlin Hogue Kaitlin wrote: "The Outsiders???It's a gret book,but the book had violence in it.


message 7: by Gabi (new)

Gabi I value violence, sex and swearing.


message 8: by Sarah (new)

Sarah Maddaford This list would at least be useful for recommending books to the parents in small communities that get angry when their kids come in alone and pick up a book that they later object to the content. "Well, your child chose that book with all that 'objectionable' content on his own, but next time you can help him choose from this list."


message 9: by Kim (new)

Kim DeCina I don't think there's all that much value in books that don't reflect life and its difficulties to some degree. "Age-appropriate" is probably a better term for what you're discussing here, and even then, there's some pretty horrific child abuse going on all through Holes. It's also brilliant, deeply ethical, and highlights some major issues. So the importance of a book isn't exactly always proportionate to how "sanitary" it is.


message 10: by Julynn (new)

Julynn True, the Outsiders has violence, but the values it champions are important to society. I teach it to my 9th graders - that's the age kids should be to read it in my opinion.


message 11: by Dayla (new)

Dayla This is a ridiculous list title.


message 12: by Liam (new)

Liam The God Delusion? Seriously? Come on, that's not a novel for kids, and Dawkins is SOOOOO biased. Besides, the summary at the top makes it sound like this list should be Christian. Why is The God Delusion on here?


message 13: by Reader (new)

Reader Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye"?! This is a pornographic book and some parts of it are written from the point of view of a child molester. It's definitely NOT for kids, with values or otherwise.


message 14: by Reader (new)

Reader Liam wrote: "The God Delusion? Seriously? Come on, that's not a novel for kids, and Dawkins is SOOOOO biased. Besides, the summary at the top makes it sound like this list should be Christian. Why is The God De..."

I agree. Dawkins is a ridiculous choice for this list.


message 15: by Linda (last edited Dec 05, 2016 09:55PM) (new)

Linda I agree that The God Delusion doesn't fit here at all, and I agree also about The Bluest Eye - disturbing and graphic subject matter that a YA should not be exposed to. And I don't think The Great Gatsby is full of positive lessons either. Where are the books by Mildred Taylor, like Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry?? (Adding it!)

But the trouble with this list is that "values" are subjective. What one person considers inappropriate or offensive may not bother someone else. I would not put a book entitled Boy Meets Boy on a list of books that teaches values, but that's my personal view.


message 16: by Diana (new)

Diana Beware: Sarah J. Maas books,
A Court of Thorns and Roses,
A Court of Mist and fury,
A Court of Frost and Starlight,
A Court of Wings and Ruin
Empire of Storms
feature adult-aged characters and Explicit NC-17 content: Nudity, Drugs consumption, Rape, Physical Abuse, Abusive relationships.

They're also shelved as New adult, Adult and Erotica, but as they're marketed as YA, many people make the wrong assumption that they're Young adult.


back to top



Related News

Looking for some good summer reading? Why not get literal? And we mean literal in the old-school, classic sense of the term—not the new way, in...

Anyone can add books to this list.