Books are incredible gifts, because books can demonstrate how to be a better human being. If you're looking for a gift for someone under the age of 25, say, your go-to gift should always be a book, because a book is the thing that's most likely to make a positive impact in their lives. Here are three books I've read this year that I think could make a difference in the lives of young people. They're arranged in order, from the youngest audience (I'd estimate 11 or 12, but your results may vary) to the oldest (college-age or just out of college.)

Randall Munroe, the cartoonist behind xkcd, has been answering absurd hypothetical reader questions for years. Munroe held a sold-out reading at Town Hall this fall, so you probably know his book What If? collects the best of those hypothetical answers. [Sample question: "What would happen if you were to gather a mole (unit of measurement) of moles (the small furry critter) in one place?"] Over the weekend, I intended to dip into a couple questions in What If? I stood up hours later, having readd the whole damn book in one damn sitting. This is good stuff—a collection of science, clever illustrations, and some very funny asides. Adult fans of xkcd already know about (and probably own) What If?, but I think this book deserves a second life as a gift for curious kids. It's relatively clean—any sex talk is framed in the most basic, reproductive sense—and it's probably a better example of scientific problem-solving than you'll find in your standard public school science class. I could see this book launching a whole new generation of kids into the sciences; it's maybe the purest tribute to inquiry you'll find in book form this year.

If you're looking for a gift for an older teenager or young adult who's trying to find footing on political ground, you should consider Jamie Kilstein & Allison Kilkenny's #Newsfail. Kilkenny and Kilstein are hosts of the podcast Citizen Radio, and this book is half podcaster memoir/half political treatise. You won't agree with everything you read in #Newsfail—the part about veganism will turn off most nonvegan readers—but it's always a good idea to test yourself against people who are further down the leftward political scale than you, anyway. And the part of the book calling Jon Stewart out on his bullshit centrism will surely be an awakening for kids who learned to care about politics thanks to the Daily Show.

For young adults who are still learning about where they fall on the gender and sexuality spectrums, local comics company Northwest Press this year published an anthology of comics called Anything That Loves: Beyond "Gay" and "Straight", a full-color examination of what it's like trying to find love when your gender and/or sexuality doesn't fit into one of the socially acceptable boxes. Anything That Loves is packed with dozens of cartoons by well-established cartoonists (including Stranger Genius Ellen Forney, Roberta Gregory, Erika Moen, and Maurice Vellekoop) ranging from manifestos to memoir to dialogues. These cartoons don't pull any punches, so you shouldn't give this book to anyone who wouldn't be comfortable receiving a cartoon of a gigantic boner. But for people who feel like they're living life outside a binary, this is a care package of supportive love notes, a celebration of people who often feel left out. It's the kind of gift that can make a life better.