Clean Reads for Tweens

Young Adult and Middle Grade novels that are clean reads for tweens - older elementary to young high school. 'Clean' as in no reference to sex and limited violence however there may be some action. Use your best judgment.

Showing 1 - 20 of 26  There are a total of 432 valid entries on the list.

1. Ashes

Book cover for "Ashes"
Star rating for Ashes
Series:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
As the Revolutionary War rages on, Isabel and Curzon are reported as runaways, and the awful Bellingham is determined to track them down. With purpose and faith, Isabel and Curzon march on, fiercely determined to find Isabel's little sister Ruth, who isenslaved in a Southern state.
Book cover for "The book thief"
Star rating for The book thief
Average Rating:
4.4 stars
Description:
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.
Book cover for "Bridge to Terabithia"
Star rating for Bridge to Terabithia
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
Jess Aarons gains the strength to cope with unexpected tragedy by going to a secret kingdom in the woods invented by Leslie Burke, a newcomer to his rural Virginia community.
Book cover for "Chains"
Star rating for Chains
Series:
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War.
Book cover for "Countdown"
Star rating for Countdown
Series:
Sixties trilogy volume 1.
Average Rating:
3.3 stars
Description:
Franny Chapman just wants some peace. But that's hard to get when her best friend is feuding with her, her sister has disappeared, and her uncle is fighting an old war in his head. Her saintly younger brother is no help, and the cute boy across the street only complicates things. Worst of all, everyone is walking around just waiting for a bomb to fall. It's 1962, and it seems the whole country is living in fear.
Book cover for "The curious world of Calpurnia Tate"
Star rating for The curious world of Calpurnia Tate
Series:
Calpurnia Tate volume 2.
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"In rural Texas in 1900, when a storm blows change into town in the form of a visiting veterinarian, twelve-year-old Callie discovers a life and a vocation she desperately wants. But with societal expectations as they are, she will need all her wits and courage to realize her dreams"--
Book cover for "The evolution of Calpurnia Tate"
Star rating for The evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Series:
Calpurnia Tate volume 1.
Average Rating:
4.7 stars
Description:
In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.
Book cover for "Fever, 1793"
Star rating for Fever, 1793
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
Sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793.

9. Forge

Book cover for "Forge"
Star rating for Forge
Series:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Separated from his friend Isabel after their daring escape from slavery, fifteen-year-old Curzon serves as a free man in the Continental Army at Valley Forge until he and Isabel are thrown together again, as slaves once more.
Book cover for "Inside out & back again"
Star rating for Inside out & back again
Average Rating:
3.6 stars
Description:
Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.
Book cover for "The invention of Hugo Cabret"
Star rating for The invention of Hugo Cabret
Average Rating:
4.6 stars
Description:
When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.
Book cover for "The lions of Little Rock"
Star rating for The lions of Little Rock
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
In 1958 Little Rock, Arkansas, painfully shy twelve-year-old Marlee sees her city and family divided over school integration, but her friendship with Liz, a new student, helps her find her voice and fight against racism.
Book cover for "A long walk to water"
Star rating for A long walk to water
Average Rating:
4.2 stars
Description:
When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in Sudan. When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva becomes separated from his...
Book cover for "Mark of the thief"
Star rating for Mark of the thief
Series:
Average Rating:
4.6 stars
Description:
When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds himself in possession of an ancient amulet filled with magic once reserved for the Gods, and becomes the center of a conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and destroy Rome.
Book cover for "Revolution"
Star rating for Revolution
Series:
Sixties trilogy volume 2.
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
It's 1964 in Greenwood, Mississippi, and Sunny's town is being invaded by people from up north who are coming to help people register to vote. Her personal life isn't much better, as a new stepmother, brother, and sister are crowding into her life, giving her little room to breathe.--From publisher description.
Book cover for "Rise of the wolf"
Star rating for Rise of the wolf
Series:
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Now a driver in the chariot races, Nic is still a target of the Praetors because of the magical amulet he found, and they will do anything to get their hands on it--and meanwhile Atroxia is beginning to wake up.
Book cover for "Russian roulette"
Star rating for Russian roulette
Series:
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
Presented with an unexpected assignment, Alex Rider's greatest nemesis, Yassen Gregoravich, recalls his life and the path that led him to become an assassin while his one-time friend, Alex's uncle, became a spy.
Book cover for "Sophia's war"
Star rating for Sophia's war
Author:
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
In 1776, after witnessing the execution of Nathan Hale in New York City, newly occupied by the British army, young Sophia Calderwood resolves to do all she can to help the American cause, including becoming a spy.
Book cover for "The spy catchers of Maple Hill"
Star rating for The spy catchers of Maple Hill
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Hazel Kaplansky and new student Samuel Butler investigate rumors that a Russian spy has infiltrated their small Vermont town, amidst the fervor of Cold War era McCarthyism, but more is revealed than they could ever have imagined.
Book cover for "Stella by starlight"
Star rating for Stella by starlight
Average Rating:
4.9 stars
Description:
When a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town.