The nights are long, the days are cold,
but there are so many stories to be told!
If wintry tales meets your needs,
then feast your eyes on these festive reads!
Festive and Winter Reads
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Tag Archives: Book recommendations
‘Tis the Season to Read: Festive Book Recommendations for Teenagers
As the holiday season approaches, it’s the perfect time to cosy up with a good book. And for teenagers, there are some excellent options out there that will capture their imagination and get them into the festive spirit. Here are ten of the best holiday books to get for your favourite reader:
“Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares” by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
A heartwarming and charming story set in New York City during the holiday season. The book follows the adventures of Dash and Lily as they exchange dares in a red notebook, leading them on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected romance.
★★★★☆ 3.75/5 on Goodreads
“Let It Snow” by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
A collection of three interconnected holiday romances, this novel captures the magic of Christmas and the unexpected twists that come with it. It’s a delightful collaboration by three popular YA authors, weaving together tales of love, friendship, and the joy of the season.
★★★★☆ 3.69/5 on Goodreads
“My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories” edited by Stephanie Perkins
A compilation of short stories by various YA authors, each tale captures a different aspect of the holiday season, from the enchantment of first love to the magic of celebrating diverse traditions, making it a perfect festive read for every mood.
★★★★☆ 3.66/5 on Goodreads
“Holidays on Ice” by David Sedaris
If your teenagers enjoy humour, David Sedaris brings a satirical and hilarious twist to the holiday season in this collection of essays. His witty observations will have readers laughing out loud, providing a humorous and sometimes absurd take on the traditions and quirks associated with Christmas.
★★★★☆ 3.89/5 on Goodreads
“The Afterlife of Holly Chase” by Cynthia Hand
A modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” this novel follows Holly Chase, a girl visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve. As Holly navigates her second chance at redemption, readers are treated to a poignant exploration of self-discovery and the true meaning of Christmas spirit. A unique and thought-provoking take on the classic story.
★★★★☆ 3.96/5 on Goodreads
“Snow Like Ashes” by Sara Raasch
In this fantasy adventure, Meira, a young orphan, embarks on a journey to reclaim her kingdom from an evil ruler, with the backdrop of a perpetual winter. The story beautifully combines elements of magic, political intrigue, and a quest for identity, making it an enthralling read for teenagers who enjoy epic tales set in wintry realms.
★★★★☆ 3.88/5 on Goodreads
“What Light” by Jay Asher
In this poignant and hopeful tale, Sierra navigates teenage romance against the backdrop of her family’s Christmas tree farm. Set between Oregon and California, the story explores themes of love, forgiveness, and the enduring spirit of the holiday season, capturing the complexities of growing up and finding hope in unexpected places.
★★★★☆ 3.56/5 on Goodreads
“The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks” by E. Lockhart
While not strictly a Christmas book, this novel follows the adventures of Frankie Landau-Banks, a sharp and witty protagonist who challenges the status quo at her elite boarding school. It offers a compelling and empowering narrative for teens who appreciate intelligent and rebellious heroines.
★★★★☆ 3.81/5 on Goodreads
“How to Excavate a Heart” by Jake Maia Arlow
Shani’s paleoichthyology internship takes a backseat when she runs into May. Literally. With her mum’s car. Amidst the chaos, a dog-walking job reunites them on Christmas Eve, sparking a connection that challenges Shani to confront her past heartbreak. And when the two are snowed in together on Christmas Eve, she must decide if this unexpected romance is a fleeting moment or a chance at a more profound commitment.
★★★★☆ 3.86/5 on Goodreads
“Winterwood” by Shea Ernshaw
For fans of fantasy, “Winterwood” offers a magical and atmospheric winter setting. The story follows a girl named Nora who discovers a mysterious boy in the woods, and together they unravel dark secrets against a mesmerising backdrop. The snow-covered landscape sets the stage for a captivating reading experience, making it perfect for the holiday season.
★★★★☆ 3.85/5 on Goodreads
December in Whitehill School Library
Happy holidays from Whitehill School Library!
The school is feeling very festive this month and we’ve even set up a wee tree in the library. Pupils enthusiastically decorated it with origami, baubles- and reading recommendations! Here are some of the book titles that pupils added to our tree. All are available to borrow from the school library.
Frozen Charlotte by Alex BellDunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind…
Northern lights by Philip Pullman
Lyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. The destiny that awaits her will take her to the frozen lands of the Arctic, where witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight. Her extraordinary journey will have immeasurable consequences far beyond her own world…
When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerising voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to death before-and survival, for her, is second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever…
Theo Decker, aged thirteen, is left alone in the world after surviving a catastrophe that kills his only close relative – his mother – and tears him away from everything he knows. Tormented by grief, drifting from home to home, he grows increasingly obsessed with a small, enchanting work of art which dominates his imagination and ultimately draws him, as an adult, into a much darker life than he could ever have foreseen.
Lord of the rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power – the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring – the ring that rules them all – which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.
In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.
Happy Halloween
Looking for some spooky reads this Halloween? Check out these terrifying tales:
Click on the covers to learn more about the book.
Holyrood Anti-Racism Library
S6 pupils at Holyrood Secondary organised an Anti-Racism outreach library in the fuel zone. This event promoted anti-racist, diverse books, in a friendly setting – many young people and staff stopped to browse, chat and borrow during their lunch hour. The books were selected from the school library and included biographies, travel and culture, and fiction by authors of all different nationalities and cultures. Huge thank you to our S6 Anti-Racism Leadership Group for organising and making this such a fun lunchtime! Well done to our S1 helpers too, for taking over during BGE lunchtime.
October is Black History Month. Well done to Miss Porch’s S1 class, who took great pride in choosing books about black scientists, sports people, politicians and celebrities for our BHM book display.
Our Holyrood Family is made up of young people from 44 different countries, speaking 62 languages (and counting!). We enjoy celebrating our many different cultures, with books and events in the library. Our library stock is developing to better reflect the diversity of our school community. New ideas on how we can do this, are always welcome. 
October Book Recommendations
Librarian’s choice:
The Happiest Man on Earth: Author, Eddie Jaku survived terrible cruelty in the Nazi death camps. This is an incredible book about hope, courage and friendship that helped him survive.
Student’s Choice
Planet Omar, by Zanib Mian: Good for fans of ‘Wimpy Kid’, Omar with have you roaring with laughter.
Happy Reading!
St Roch’s Reads: September
Our pupil library assistants have been busy this month! They’ve been working on displays, helping this year’s S1 pupils learn to use the library and getting ready for a new batch of volunteers starting in October. They’ve also been going through lots of lovely new books and choosing their favourites to spotlight. Read on for some new book recommendations and to find out what we’re all reading this month in St Roch’s School Library.
New books top picks by Rose and Jorjo
Click the covers to find out more!
This month the library team are reading…
The maze ru
nner / James Dashner
When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he’s not alone. He’s surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade – a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they came to be there – or what’s happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything – even the Grievers, half-machine, half-animal horror that patrol its corridors, to try and find out.
Fear and prejudice still fuel the uneasy truce between humans and witches who are forced to work together when the Haunting Season begins at Mesmortes Coven Academy, and Wolves rise from the swamp to feed. With this approaching, two local boys prepare to make their first sacrifices to the witches in exchange for protection.
But as they become involved with the witches’ plan to end the Wolves’ reign of terror once and for all, old dangers lie in wait.
Heartstopper : volume 1 / By Alice Oseman 
Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they’ve never met … until one day when they’re made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn’t think he has a chance.
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised.
The Raven boys / Maggie Stiefvater 
“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve…
Either you’re his true love… or you killed him.”
Part of a clairvoyant family, Blue has spent sixteen years being told that if she kisses her true love, he will die. So when she meets Gansey’s spirit on the corpse road, Blue knows that either he is her true love – or she has killed him.
The boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and he is a student at Aglionby, a wealthy local private school. With three other mysterious and privileged boys, he is on a quest to find the grave of Glendower – a Welsh king buried somewhere on a Virginia ley line. Whoever finds him will be granted a supernatural favour.
Never before has Blue felt such magic around her. But is Gansey really her true love – the one she is destined to kill?
Death note 1 / Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata 
Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects – and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Noteto rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal…or his life?
Last but not least Miss Barron is reading Wool / Hugh Howey. If you are a fan of sci-fi or dysoptian-end-of-the-world settings, you’ll love it.
In a ruined and hostile landscape, in a future few have been unlucky enough to survive, a community exists in a giant underground silo.
Inside, men and women live an enclosed life full of rules and regulations, of secrets and lies.
To live, you must follow the rules. But some don’t. These are the dangerous ones; these are the people who dare to hope and dream, and who infect others with their optimism.
Their punishment is simple and deadly. They are allowed outside.
Jules is one of these people. She may well be the last.
Holyrood Library, September Update
What I’m Reading ….
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
our students are reading ….
Bright by Jessica Jung
Both titles are part of our September theme : East and South East Asian Heritage Month, #ESEAHM celebrating the writing and culture of China, Japan, Korea and other countries in this geographical area. 
The book display was created by our S3 Duke of Edinburgh volunteers.
Our Writing for Fun lunchtime club is new this month. Inspired by our White Water Writers project last session, our original group of young writers are now mentoring S1 pupils to enjoy creative writing. They chose fun writing prompts including “Pretend you’re a toothbrush”.
We had a brilliant time. The mentors are busy making plans for next month, including a new theme, and a Competition.
Well done everyone. Some of our S1 and S2 pupils’ creative writing, and illustrations :
Try something new
Thanks to Adam for bringing in a favourite book for me to try. As I’m not usually a fan of Sci-fi/ Fantasy, I’m really enjoying reading a new genre. Happy reading everyone.
Children of Time
The #Rood Reads Library Update
For end of term, our Reading Schools Committee held a celebration event, and chose their highlights of the year:
Fatima, S3 loved the visit from Nadine Aisha Jassatt. Nadine read a poem from ‘Let Me Tell You This’ and told us about her brand-new book ‘The Stories Grandma Forgot’. We shared lots of different words in different World languages, and thought about how to use these in our own poems.
Mehreen, S3 has enjoyed writing about books and sharing book recommendations. Here’s our display to celebrate Eid.
Sam likes chilling out in the Library (me too!). The group has lots of fun together, like the Book Oscars at Easter time, and choosing a book from the rewards vending machine.
Everyone agreed that Zine Club, run by Ailbhe from Glasgow Zine Library was brilliant. “We loved the zine making”.
S1 enjoyed meeting Maisie Chan, and learning about the importance of diversity in books. This was part of the YA-ldi Glasgow Schools’ Book Awards.
the Duke of Edinburgh library volunteers did excellent work keeping the book displays up to date, and helping to run the library at lunchtimes.
International Women’s Day
12 of our young people wrote a novel together as part of the White Water Writers’ Project. An amazing achievement. We celebrated in style with a Book Launch party for parents, friends and teachers.
What a year! So much fun. Have a wonderful holiday, and join us for more reading adventures in August.
Reading Highlights at Holyrood
We hope you enjoy our reading highlights from December/ January. Huge thank you to our visitors, and also to the wonderful Library Helpers and young people for taking part!
Miss Brown’s S2 enjoyed a drawing workshop with Neil Slorance. We were inspired to hear about Neil’s early comics, love of drawing, travelogues and astronomy, and the brilliant graphic novels ‘Dungeon Fun’, and Doctor Who. We learned how to draw faces, adding features to create expressions, and even had a shot at drawing our own comic strips, collaboratively with classmates.
This event was funded by the School Library Improvement Fund.
Also in January, we welcomed author Manjeet Mann, Clare from Refuweegee, and Fraser, Thomas and Clara from the Scottish Book Trust. This event was part of a Scottish Friendly Book Tour. This workshop was amazing! We heard about Manjeet’s journey as a writer, enjoyed readings from her verse novels ‘Run Rebel’, and ‘The Crossing’, tried some free-writing exercises, shared our work to the audience, had a Q. & A. So much great feedback :
“I loved the part when we had activities to do with a famous author. It inspired me to be more imaginative and to write more” Haya (S2)
“S2 are currently looking at equality and empowerment, and this event helped to bring what we had been talking about in class to life. The pupil interaction (writing task) was brilliant. All round super event!” Mrs Ford, PT Pupil Voice
Also impressive was the care and effort put in by all young people and staff to provide a warm welcome. An outstanding day, happy memories were made, and pupils left inspired!
In December, we had visits from Ailbhe and Martha, from Glasgow Zine Library. We loved making our own zines at these fun workshops. GZL is an amazing local resource, and we are very grateful to Ailbhe for setting up links with us and working with our wonderful Equalities Alliance and Anti-Racist groups.
Also in December, over 200 S1 pupils completed the Glasgow Libraries Christmas Reading Challenge and received these lovely certificates. Well done everyone.
Our pupil helpers have been busy creating displays. Here is a selection:
World Hijab Day
Holocaust Memorial Day
Burns Day Poetry
The Reading Schools Committee is back in action. We enjoyed a Christmas party, put together a list of favourite books to read for Christmas and we’re now getting to grips with the YAldi shortlist. YAldi – Glasgow School Libraries’ Book Award – is a new event in the reading calendar, organised by Ms DeLeavey and Ms Sferrazzo 😊. We are looking forward to interviewing Ann Sei Lin via e-mail (what an amazing opportunity)! and voting for our favourite book in April.
Ann Sei Lin
Book Reviews Ending on a high note, our keen readers are always happy to share their book reviews. We hope that these will help you find a book that you will love. Happy Reading !
The Night Circus by Erin Morgensten “I really loved this book. It’s the definition of a fantasy book. It’s so magical and really transports you to another world. Definitely my favourite book.” Isha, S4
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell “Beautifully written and full of historical detail. Deeply moving; I would recommend this book” Ms Blackburn
Mrs Kindness
September 11, 2022
New Term
Our focus this term is to enjoy reading! Our new S1 pupils have been fantastic already. This week we’ve held a Playground library at lunchtime, and also plan to celebrate Roald Dahl day.
September projects :
- Led by Mr, McLeod in Social Subjects, we have started our Superhero Readers project, aimed at encouraging our young people to learn more about the World through reading. The new books include both fiction and non-fiction. Our updated Social Subjects section will be decorated with pupil artwork and Superhero signs! (photo shows work in progress).
This hardworking S1 class are examining the books and deciding on headings such as Climate change, Refugees, Racism, Crime, Poverty
- New book selection and displays will have input from our Rights Respecting School Committee and newly formed pupil Equalities Alliance, to ensure the library is inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
- Last year we were successful in gaining Reading Schools Silver Accreditation. This year we are going for Gold with the fantastic leadership of Ms Longo and the Reading Schools Committee. Here are some of the Committee, enjoying their well-deserved trophy.
Summer Reading Journey
Everyone loves time for reading during the holidays. Books (and films) can also help boost tourism.
In June, I visited St. Abbs. Are you a fan of Marvel Comics and the Avengers movies? In ‘Endgame’ filmed in 2017, St. Abbs beautiful coastline became the location for Thor’s home planet.
In the Visitor Centre you can hold the hammer of Thor, take a quiz, and find out all about the filming.
I also visited Rosslyn Chapel . The intricacy and beauty of this building is testimony to the skill of the craftsmen who built it in the 15th century. By taking a guided tour, I learned about the architecture and secrets of Rosslyn, the struggle to preserve the building, and how Dan Brown’s bestseller the Da Vinci Code, came to the rescue, putting Rosslyn Chapel firmly on the tourist map, and raising much needed income.
The Chapel famously appeared in the 2006 film, with a stellar cast including Tom Hanks, Audrey Tatou and Sir Ian McKellen. After a murder in the Louvre Museum, and a frantic chase through London, Professor Langdon and Sophie Neveu finally solve the secret of the Grail after visiting the Chapel’s crypt.
Staff at Holyrood are enthusiastic readers. Mrs Livingstone has very kindly shared one of her favourite books of the summer : The Alice Network. Having a great interest in history, she has also visited Norte Dame de Lorette, the largest French military cemetery. There can be found information and a small memorial to Louise de Bettignies who was the real life founder of the Allies WW1 spy network , (known as the Alice Network in Kate Quinn’s book).
Historical fiction can often bring incredible true stories to life, and helps us to understand important figures from the past.
Thank you also to Ms Stevenson, Ms Crawford and Mrs McDonald for recommending books borrowed from the school library that they enjoyed over the Summer. (‘Eleanor Oliphant’ is also one of my favourites).
Pupil & staff recommendations are always superb!
Khadija, S3 : “The Ms Marvel Comic is sooo good, especially of you are a Marvel fan! You will love the Ms Marvel series on Disney channel too, It is about a Pakistani girl and it is very diverse”.
Zirsh, S6, read many books during the holidays. This one was perfect for summer reading as it was about friendship, and travelling together, very enjoyable.
Have a wonderful Autumn term
