Some Peril

 Recently, I came across my kids’ Christmas lists from 2011. My son was three at the time and my daughter was six. He was into books featuring Spiderman or Super Friends and loved Duplo Blocks. She couldn’t get enough of Disney fairy books and doll accessories for her knockoff American Girl doll. 

As they’ve grown up, holidays have become simpler and yet, more complicated. This year, my son wants to build his own computer. My daughter pines for some roller skates she saw on Instagram. They are sold out. Some peril is involved in deciding what to get her instead. 

One constant is that Santa will always bring them a book or two for their stocking. Even if they get cast aside on Christmas morning for shinier objects, they will eventually end up on their nightstands.

For the middle schooler:

Hannah Green and Her Unfeasibly Mundane Existence by Michael Marshall Smith

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Book 1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates 

 

For the high schooler:

Watch Us Rise by Ellen Hagan and Renee Watson

American Street by Ibi Zoboi