Mumsnet Talk

She is a fairly good reader and when taken with a book will just read it through in one go.

What's good out there? She has memorised read all Harry Potter, she also liked The Borrowers and recently enjoyed Lemony Snicket. When younger to give you a flavour she loved Magic Faraway Tree and Enid B adventure stories. She also loves J wilson.

She just read Holes in one sitting and I caught her earlier half way through Private Peaceful. We have classics like What Katy Did and Narnia but they don't seem to be working for her (maybe so out dated now in language nd concept?).

Thing is she's a shocking re-reader (can't think where she gets that from ) so I want to keep her trying new stuff! I was toying with Sherlock Holmes stories or even Agath Christie, what do we think?

The Hobbit?

I first read Agatha Christie in last year of primary, so a similar age.

Just William, PG Wodehouse are other series with plenty of books.

Bree Mccready I haven't read them, but DD and her friends have and reccomend them.

Don't know how old she is but my 9 yo dd is a bit obsessed with the Warrior Cats books. There are loads of them and she is seriously hooked. Written by Erin Hunter .

She might like the Percy Jackson books (Rick Riordan) or the Djinn series (Linda ?? Davies) if she enjoyed Harry Potter.

If she liked Harry Potter then maybe:
Charlie Bone series (a bit like Harry Potter) - others by Jenny Nimmo inc the Snow Spider are also good
Diana Wynne Jones books (date from the 70s/80s but not dated language)
Artemis Fowl

dd (10.5) also likes the Roman Mysteries series, there are loads of these & they seem very popular

Another recommendation for the Roman Mysteries.

Dd1 (age 12) in the last 2-3 years has been into the Alex Rider books, Cherub/Henderson boys, Hardy boys and Nancy Drew, Swallows and Amazon series, she read the Hobbit but didn't particularly enjoy it, and she loves Watership Down. She doesn't generally re-read books (except Watership Down for some reason) so she goes through books very quickly. She's read a lot of books from 60s/70s because we have those at home too.

Wonderstruck

Fond memories of the following from my childhood:

Susan Cooper - The Dark is Rising series
Lucy M Boston - The Children of Green Knowe series
Elizabeth Goudge - The Little White Horse
Joan Aitken - Wolves of Willoughby Chase etc.

Some great ideas thanks.

PG Wodehouse brilliant!

We have some of the others mentioned, will try.

She's 11 btw

Philip Pullman His Dark Materials (I think this is suitable for 11 year olds?)

I used to re-read stuff constantly Never did me any harm! It can be really fun to discover new things in books that you missed the first time.

HasshereadanyRicRiordanPercyJacksonandtheLightningThiefsorrykeyboardisntworkingcantdoanypunctuationofreturncursorexclamationmarkveryirritating

Just about old enough for Lord of the Rings, and that should last her ages. Have to read The Hobbit first though.

My 11 year old nephew has just started reading Agatha Christie. I thought they would be too grown up for him as I was fourteen before I started reading them but he loves them.

My 12 year old recently enjoyed hunger games, wolf brother, wonder, re read muderous maths for the millionth time, PG wodehouse, Agatha Christie cat among the pigeons, which according to her is an amazing amazing book.

Sorry for the hijack, what other Agatha Christie is good for a 12 year old?

Goodnight Mister Tom
Michelle Magorian

Far better than the TV version.

If you like one Agatha Christie you will lke them all really.

Cat among the Pigeons is not her best; I would rate Cards on the Table, Five Little Pigs, the ABC Murders, Death on the Nile, Murder on the O Express...

Diana Wynne Jones The Chrestomanci Series.
For an easier but no less pleasurable read try Helen Cresswell's Lizzy Dripping books.

Was going to say Goodnight Mr Tom but someone beat me to it!
However, I will add 'Back Home' by Michelle Magorian (same author as for Mr Tom) - I preferred it. It's about a 12 year old returning to the UK after the war having been evacuated and trying to find her feet in a country which is trying to sort itself after the war, as well as sort out a relationship with her mother. Fantastic book. the author wrote quite a few others which she might also like if she enjoys this.

Yes to The Dark is rising sequence.

A bit left-field but Just William? Funny but the writing is quite sophisticated.

L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables but also Emily of New Moon series.

There's a wonderful follow-up to 101 Dalmations which most children have never heard of: The Starlight Barking (Dodie Smith) - a day comes when all dogs wake up and humans don't - there's a reason for it and it ends with the dogs having to make a collective moral choice.

If she liked school stuff, the Trebizon series? more advanced than Malorey Towers!

Noel Streatfeild - I loved them at that age - easy to read but I loved the stories.

More adult - My Family and Other Animals - it was when I read it and it started the love affair I had with Gerald Durrell's work.

Has she read the Skullduggery Pleasant series? They're by Derek Landy and really fantastic. Another vote for Artemis Fowl as well.

If she's ok with less modern books then Swallows and Amazons will keep her busy for a while, and I had a deep and abiding love for the Jennings series at that age.

Other things: The Exiles by Hilary McKay, I think there are about 3 books? It's a series about four sisters.

Also Ally's World is great, I loved those. Although just looked it up and there is a boyfriend in it. The main character is 13 so maybe in a couple of years they would be good.

I've just launched a website called www.booksteensandmagazines.com which reviews books and magazines for teenagers. As well as reviewing books, it has a recommendations page and issues a quarterly newsletter - hopefully you can find some book ideas on there.

I thought of a couple more.

Tom's Midnight Garden (I still quite like this one!)
The Indian in the Cupboard series.
And there was one called Moondial by Helen Cresswell that I loved at that age. I even pretended myself into a game of it, and then (because it's a bit spooky) got stranded at the bottom of the garden one night having imagined certain things into 'reality' - I couldn't bring myself to run past them back into the house!

None of mine are modern - they are all books I loved at around that age. And some of them were old-fashioned then! All damn good stories though.

DD loves re-reading books - she has re-read The Hunger Games series, re-reads lots of her Horrible History books, Michael Morpurgo has a huge range of books, so if she likes him she will want them all.

Dd has just turned 11 and likes a series of books which begins with Stormbreaker.