7 Novels by Christian Authors to Add to Your Christmas List

Stories speak the truth, share perspectives, and give us hope for a better future. They let us know we aren’t alone, encourage us to keep moving when the road is rough, and light the fires that transform hearts.

Stories are powerful.

For those reasons, it matters what stories you read. Do you like fairy tale retellings? Allegories? Speculative fiction? Futuristic science fiction?

Far too often, popular young adult fiction preaches a worldview without a Christian lens. Or, it does nothing more than entertain when it could tell a story with a meaningful message.

On this list, you’ll find transformational stories with themes of hope, redemption, and growing up. Stories that heal hearts, pose deep questions, and show us a worldview that doesn’t fit the secular narrative.

Let’s jump in.

1. CORAL by Sara Ella

I’ve heard many good things about Sara Ella’s CORAL, a story that reimagines The Little Mermaid. Three different character points of view battle with the question: What does it mean to be human in a world where humanity seems so lost?

2. STARLORE by Chuck Black

The STARLORE series is a unique allegory of the entire Bible from beginning to end . . . the science fiction stories share heartbreaking and heroic tales of prominent Bible figures over several generations.

3. HEIRS OF NEVERLAND by Kara Swanson

Kara’s debut series is an emotional retelling of the adored fairy tale Peter Pan. It features both new and long-beloved characters. Written in a dual POV with an unreliable narrator, fun voices, and quirky characters, the HEIRS OF NEVERLAND duology spins a powerful tale about growing up.

4. CALCULATED by Nova McBee

In Nova’s CALCULATED series, a young prodigy has been kidnapped because of her gift with numbers. When she finally manages to escape, she’s rough and jaded from her recent past of enduring challenging circumstances, helping her kidnappers steal thousands of dollars, holding multiple identities, and dying twice.

Is there still life for her outside her kidnapper’s grasp, a place she never seemed to fit in as a young genius?

5. THE FIREBORN EPIC by Gillian Bronte Adams

Gillian writes epic fantasy stories, and THE FIREBORN EPIC is no exception. A girl must defeat all odds to unify her kingdom . . . but the greatest threat might be herself.

6. FAWKES by Nadine Brandes

Thomas Fawkes is becoming stone. The clock is ticking on what’s left of his life in the magical world of color and light, and the only cure to his Stone Plague is to join forces with his father in the legendary Gunpowder Plot . . . a plot to assassinate England’s king.

In this moving story, Thomas must learn to fight for the truth, even if it’s not what it seems at first glance.

7. ENHANCED by Candace Kade

Gene editing has transformed Lee Urban’s sci-fi world, with the wealthy having access to genetically enhanced lives and the lowly living as Naturals. Despite being born a Natural, Lee was adopted into the Enhanced society and told to hide her genetic roots . . . but if anyone discovers her origins, lives will be in danger.

Whether you enjoy tales of hope and healing or action-packed stories about making the right choice in the face of impossible odds, I hope this list points you towards a story that tells the truth in love, entertains and befriends, encourages and comforts, and transforms and moves your heart.

Words are powerful. They can ruin confidence, evoke fear, and steal joy. But that’s only the negative side of things—because words used well can bring light and life, healing from suffering, and encouragement to the downtrodden.

Just like us, the characters in these stories aren’t perfect. They struggle with their beliefs. They wrestle with good and evil. They make countless mistakes.

But authors still choose to write their stories.