Teen Christmas Fiction

It's the most wonderful time of year...or is it? Christmas Eve is a night of mystery and magic, but not always in ways we expect. Things lurk in the shadows, and they're not the least bit jolly or merry. Let's just say some presents are better left unopened. 'Tis the season to be screaming along with our 13 tales of holiday horrors. Ghosts. Monsters. Demons. And more! This Christmas, be careful what you wish for....

A wonderful holiday excerpt from the classic Little Women features all of your favorite characters as they prepare to celebrate Christmas in their enthusiastic, optimistic, take-no-prisoners fashion.

Here is a charming Christmas tale about a young woman staying with her aunt in rural New England. When Sophie invites her high-society friends to visit her and Aunt Pemy, they quickly - and much to their delight - discover that there's much more to country life than they had ever imagined.

Abby is 12 years old when tragedy strikes a few weeks before Christmas. Soon after, Abby and her mother find themselves out on the streets in the bitter cold. But the heartache has only begun, and each Christmas brings cruel twists of fate that change Abby's life forever. The factory job Abby thought would save her sends her running for her life. When she can run no more and collapses on the street, she is taken in by Lucas, a man she wants to trust, but can't. She accepts the job he offers, buying time until she can escape.

A harried man goes Christmas shopping and picks up a most unwanted companion: a rather demonstrative toy that simply won't shut up.

Out on the prairie, the Joseph family is all astir with concealing their Christmas gifts for one another. But will Santa come this year? After all, the crops had failed this summer and they were on short commons. When their town neighbors, the Ralstons ask to take refuge overnight at the Joseph's on Christmas Eve, they make a shakedown bed in front of the fire. But what will become of the big bundle of gifts they carried in with them?

Snowfall blanketed the night sky as tragedy fractured Toni Bolino's life, shattering her Christmas celebration. She constructed protective walls shielding her core from future losses. Her faith in personal relationships destroyed, she chose a career allowing her to isolate herself from entanglements. But, love, kindness, and the Christmas spirit have a way of softening the toughest exterior. Follow her path as she discovers the true meaning of Christmas in Philidelphia, the city of brotherly and sisterly love. Witness the magic of being home for Christmas.

A collection of original Christmas short stories and three retellings.

Saki's (H. H. Munroe) wonderfully precocious Reginald expounds on the proper manner of gift giving, focusing on the proper presents (rubies are very good, mittens not so much), and instructing his elders on the presents most lilkely to receive a proper and polite "thank you."

Cathleen Ellis is the author of more than 20 romance fiction titles for young adults. Baskets on Christmas Lane is the second title in the Jenny/Ann Trilogy. The story features Ann, a teacher in her early 20s, who witnesses a murder. She's placed in the federal witness protection program with a new identity, new life, and an opportunity to find love.

A beautiful essay by Charles Dickens that reflects on the real meaning of Christmas, and the joy, the love, and the remembrances of those gone and those yet to come. Filled with warm understanding and a real appreciation of the meaning of the season, this is a delightful addition to everyone's Christmas queue.

A brief, tender glimpse of Christmas in an Irish orphanage, and the grand holiday dinner that brings joy into the children's lives.

Siblings Alexina and Stephen are down on their luck this year and resign themselves to not having a Christmas dinner. But when their wealthy, gourmand uncle James invites himself to their house for Christmas, the pair scramble to lay out a sumptuous feast, including his favorite, Mince pie. But 10 minutes before the turkey is done, an unforeseeable disaster occurs that threatens to ruin everything.

In Aunt Cyrilla's Christmas Basket, Lucy Rose tries to talk her folksy Aunt Cyrilla out of bringing her big, bulgy, funny-looking basket to the city to deliver Christmas goodies to their relatives in the city. When their train is stranded during a snow storm, Aunt Cyrilla and her fellow passengers team up to provide a proper Christmas morning for the little ones in their care.

Join Lily E. Quince, the world's most loved talking pterodactyl, her 14-year-old "owner" Celeste, and the rest of PAWS - Private Army of Warrior Sleuths - as they have a holly jolly Christmas solving an array of mysterious cases involving werewolves, the scarlet snurfles, a wicked witch, and other nefarious foes!

Twins Aleta and Merina are back, and this time they’re teenagers! Join them for another magical night filled with merry-making and mischief in their first Christmas Adventure. So excited to get onboard The Christmas Express Train to Santa’s Village with their friends and families, they’re even more excited to see the new mobile restrooms in the village, known as The Peppermint Potties.

After years of bullying, Joshua Harper’s life has completely turned around, thanks in no small part to his girlfriend, Eve Devereaux. With the holidays approaching, he’s started to realize that as tough as being in a relationship is, finding her the perfect gift may be even tougher. Christmas is the season for giving. But what do you give the girl to whom you owe everything? Listen to find out.

Jayda's junior year started off bad when her boyfriend dumped her, and then, it became worse when her mom got laid off. With every week that her mom doesn't find a new job, things get tighter. Now, the holidays are approaching, and there is no money for presents. When she intercepts her little brother's letter to Santa, her heart breaks, knowing they can't get the dog he desperately wants. On a wing and a prayer, she writes her own letter to Santa, penning all of her holiday wishes that she knows can never come true, because, holiday magic just isn't real.

Everyone knows the tale - that whoever you kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve will be the person you spend the rest of the year with. And at 15, Aubrey Lane Arrington is optimistically hoping that her first kiss will be with her best friend and crush, Branson Johnson. He’s hinted at their friendship turning into more, but as the holiday season progresses, she’s still stuck in the friend zone. His cousin, Beckham Johnson, on the other hand, doesn’t believe in the friend zone. And, when he changes his plans to spend New Year’s Eve with her, Lane will have to make a decision.

College freshman Savannah Mason doesn’t believe in magic or true love. She believes in science, and science tells her that love is nothing more than a biological impulse to breed - an impulse that can, thankfully, be ignored. Which is a good thing because no woman in her family has ever been lucky in love. Jordan Merrick is a junior at William and Mary and on the fast track to obtaining his life’s goal: becoming the next Ron Chernow. Like Hamilton himself, Jordan’s drive is to accomplish his goals as quickly as possible. Love can come another day once his career is cemented.