I will recommend a series of fantasy books that got me into reading when I was around that age.

The Edge Chronicles.

One book I will never forget from that age bracket was Bridge to Terabithia.

My recommandation are old but I still thinks good books can be timeless :

-Enola Holmes series. Read it when I was 13 it was amazing!

-A series of unfortunates events

-Percy Jacksons series (a TV show is coming soon)

-Artemis fowl series (Read it at 13 and enjoyed it as well)

Honestly, I don't think a book would be a good gift in this situation. I would assume these children have access to books through their school libraries, public libraries, and free libraries. They are underserved children who probably need clothes and who rarely get toys.

I can definitely see your point. I suppose I could get clothes that I think might fit and give them the receipt so they can exchange it, but I'm at a loss for what toys they would like at that age. It's also been suggested to get them gift vouchers, but it would be nice if they had an actual thing they could unwrap I think. Maybe just nice snacky bits and sweet treats? But then you run into the problem with allergies and intolerances. Buying for older kids is hard!

The compound

Wonder.

Scott Westerfeld's series Uglies is a great set of books for kids that age.

The Inheritance Cycle

The Lord of the Rings

Call of the Wild

-Books I read from 12-15 that were a bit more mature but helped me grow as a person:

A Child Called 'It'

The Long Road Home

I would argue this one's kinda sad for Christmas but I was that kid looking for books of any sort under the tree and also loved this one

Be careful with vouchers and gift cards, a lot of parents in these situations will take them and use it for themselves. It sucks, but I had to deal with it growing up. Same with games or anything that can be pawned off.

Instead of books you could put gift cards to Barns and Nobles Gift cards to anything really- it's hard being the one 15 year old with no pocket money Also skateboards are excellent gifts- hours of fun

Any of the Terry Pratchett Young Adult books would be good. The ones I know best and which won literary prizes were called Nation, and The Amazing Maurice. There is also a series about Tiffany Aching starting with The Wee Free Men. Some of the books he wrote for adults also go over well with that age group. The first of his Discworld Series is called The Colour of Magic.

I think a book is a great idea. People are probably going to suggest books they enjoyed as a kid, which is great, but there's so much more diverse authors and topics being published today, I'd try to find something that was written more recently. Take a gander at Amazon for ideas for middle grade or YA books. You don't need to buy from them, but they have books grouped by age.

Maybe a STEM toy?

Hi there. Per rule 3.3, please post book recommendation requests in /r/SuggestMeABook or in our Weekly Recommendation Thread. Thank you!