Fantastic books for the teens, toddlers and kids in between on your list

By LA Times books

Nov. 30, 2017 8 AM PT

Gift ideas for young adults, middle graders and picture books for the littlest readers on your list.

YA

What Girls Are Made Of

Elana K. Arnold

Arnold’s novel explores the emotional turmoil of a teenage girl who is devastated after her boyfriend breaks up with her. (Carolrhoda Lab)

Far From the Tree

Robin Benway

This novel of teen siblings separated by adoption, and the families they have, need, leave and seek, won the 2017 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. (HarperTeen)

Lord of Shadows

Cassandra Clare

The second book in Clare’s “The Dark Artifices” trilogy finds young Emma Carstairs navigating the tenuous peace between the Shadowhunters and the Faerie. (Margaret K. McElderry Books)

Turtles All the Way Down

John Green

The new book from “The Fault in Our Stars” author Green deals with friendship and powerful emotions while following a 16-year-old girl and her best friends as they investigate a billionaire fugitive. (Dutton Books for Young Readers)

Always and Forever, Lara Jean (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before)

Jenny Han

Concluding the popular trilogy, a high-school senior helps plan her father’s wedding while trying to decide whether to leave her family and boyfriend behind to go to college. (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Warcross

Marie Lu

A young hacker named Emika accepts a job offer as a spy in the global sensation online game “Warcross” but soon realizes that she’s signed up for more than she bargained for. (Putnam)

Long Way Down

Jason Reynolds

A teenager named Will has decided to shoot and kill the man who murdered his brother, but while on an elevator that makes several stops, he discovers that he might not know the real story behind his brother’s death after all. (Atheneum)

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Erika L. Sánchez

Julia is crushed when her sister Olga dies in an accident, and she has to bear the brunt of her mother’s constant criticisms, despite beginning to suspect that Olga may not have been entirely what she seemed. (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

Dear Martin

Nic Stone

Stone’s debut novel follows Justyce McAllister, a brilliant high-school student who, while driving with his friend, draws the ire of a white off-duty police officer and scrutiny from the media. (Crown Books for Young Readers)

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas

An instant bestseller, Thomas’ debut focuses on a 16-year-old girl who witnesses the shooting death of her unarmed best friend by a police officer. (Balzer + Bray)

Spinning

Tillie Walden

In her graphic memoir, Walden remembers her days as a young, talented figure skater who falls in love with a girl and realizes that the sport she’s given a decade of her life to might not be what she wants to do with her life. (First Second)

American Street

Ibi Zoboi

Young Fabiola arrives in Detroit from Haiti without her mother, who’s been detained by the U.S. government; she’s forced to explore her new home and school by herself. (Balzer + Bray)

Middle grade

Wishtree

Katherine Applegate

An old oak tree named Red has been a mainstay of its neighborhood for years; it helps bring the residents together after a new family moves in and isn’t greeted warmly by all. (Feiwel & Friends)

Rise of the Jumbies

Tracy Baptiste

When children start to disappear from her Caribbean island, young Corinne makes a deal with a sea jumbie (an evil spirit) to get them back — but she has to undertake a dangerous journey first. (Algonquin Young Readers)

See You in the Cosmos

Jack Cheng

Inspired by the Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft, Alex Petroski sets out to record life on earth as he knows it on a golden iPod, a journey that takes him and his dog, Carl Sagan, across western state lines, where he discovers secrets about his family and the universe. (Dial Books)

Real Friends

Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham

Hale’s graphic memoir, illustrated by Pham, tells the story of a young girl whose best friend decides she wants to run with the in crowd, led by a cool girl named Jen. (First Second)

Amina’s Voice

Hena Khan

A young Muslim girl of Pakistani heritage worries about fitting in with her American classmates and is shocked and saddened when vandalism strikes a mosque in her hometown. (Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

The Getaway (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 12)

Jeff Kinney

The latest installment in the mega-popular “Wimpy Kid” series sees protagonist Greg and his family off to a tropical island for a vacation. Thanks to sickness and insects, it doesn’t turn out the way they’d hoped. (Harry N. Abrams)

Winne-the-Pooh and House at Pooh Corner

A.A. Milne

Follow up “Goodbye Christopher Robin,” the new family film about Milne, with this clothbound and illustrated two-book set of his timeless stories about the lovable bear. (The Folio Society)

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 3 The Ship of the Dead

Rick Riordan

The newest volume in Riordan’s Norse mythology-inspired fantasy series follows Magnus, the son of the god Frey, in a race to stop Loki from bringing about the end of the world as they know it. (Disney-Hyperion)

The Glass Town Game

Catherynne M. Valente

The four Brontë siblings (yes, those ones) have invented a fun childhood game to pass the time, and they are shocked when a train brings them to a slightly more dangerous version of the land they’ve created. (Margaret K. McElderry Books)

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground

Rita Williams-Garcia, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Young Clayton loves the blues and his grandfather, who taught him about the music. When his grandpa dies, he runs away from home, hoping the older man’s band will let him join with them. (Amistad)

Picture books

Main Street Magic

Ingela P. Arrhenius

Interactive pop-ups and lift-the-flaps look behind the scenes of a small town’s bakery, fish monger, museum and hair salon. (Chronicle Kids)

Fruits in Suits

Jared Chapman

A delightfully silly board book follow-up to the wildly popular “Vegetables in Underwear.” (Abrams Appleseed)

Her Right Foot

Dave Eggers, art by Shawn Harris

A nonfiction story about the Statue of Liberty’s right foot — yes, her foot — tells kids ages 6 to 9 a bigger story about America. (Chronicle Books)

Newtonian Physics for Babies

Chris Ferrie

Start ’em young with this STEM-centric board-book that promotes science literacy by introducing concepts such as mass, net force and gravity. (Sourcebooks)

My First Book of Patterns

Bobby and June George, art by Boyoun Kim

A visually dynamic board book that shows kids ages 3 to 6 how a circle forms a pattern and a line becomes a chevron. (Phaidon)

I Am Loved: A Poetry Collection

Nikki Giovanni, illustrations by Ashley Bryan

A selection of award-winning poet Nikki Giovanni’s work suited for 4- to 8-year-olds is accompanied by bright illustrations by Ashley Bryan. (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books)

Crinkle, Crinkle, Little Star

Justin Krasner and Emma Yarlett

Shimmery crinkle paper invites babies to touch the stars in this tactile update of the bedtime classic. (Workman)

Princess Hair

Sharee Miller

A playful picture book that celebrates black hair, showing little girls with dreadlocks, blowouts, braids and more. (Little, Brown & Co.)

Sam & Eva

Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Two friends love to draw but also love to argue — until their drawings help them learn to work together. (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Night and Day

Julie Safirstein

Paired opposites and sequences are revealed by pop-ups, lift-up flaps and cutouts in this oversize book for 2- to 6-year-olds. (Princeton Architectural Press)

Danza! Amalia Hernández and El Ballet Folklórico de México

Duncan Tonatiuh

Stunning Mixtec-inspired illustrations tell the story of Amalia Hernández and her famed ballet company, on the centenary of her birth. (Abrams)

Let’s Go, Bobby!

Ruth Weilockx

Trace Bobby’s scooter, helicopter, rocket adventures and more by following raised paths that stimulate babies’ sensory play. (Clavis)

The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid

Jeanette Winter

The clear and engaging illustrations make this biography of Pritzker prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid perfect for 5- to 10-year-olds. (Beach Lane Books)