Mumsnet Talk

She's an avid bookworm, has virtually completed 'Girl Missing' since returning home today <no stealth boast intended.>
What other books can you recommend?
Nothing relationship/boy related or JW please.
TIA

Charmed Life
The One Dollar Horse

Thanks Barry will take a look at 'The One Dollar Horse',she's already exhausted the Chrestomanci Series sadly!

Has she exhausted Alex Rider and Cherub series? Dd1 went though those in year 5 and 6.
She also loved Watership Down in year 5.
Also Joan Aiken series was another dd1 read all.

She's not relationship or JW either. However dd2 is.

I hadn't actually considered the Alex Rider or Cherub series as I thought that they were aimed at boys,DS1 particularly enjoyed them.
I've just bought'Watership Down' and 'The Wolves of Willoughby Chase' on Ebay,hopefully that will keep her going until Xmas morning!

Star of Kazan - or other by Eva Ibbotson?
The Lady Grace mystery series? (bit of a quick read though)
Halo by Zizou Corder?
Hunger Games? (probably done that?)
Does she like fantasy? Theres the Belgariad series by David Eddings.

Does it have to be contemporary? How about some of the classic animal fiction or survival stories: Call of the Wild, Black Beauty (with tissues to hand), the Brumby books, Little House on the Prairie, that very odd series about moles (can't remember its name, sort of Watership Down meets SciFi with less appealing characters);

or PG Wodehouse, Jane Eyre, Little Princess, Silver Sword, Curdie and the Goblin...

I Coriander

Lemon Snicket

Charlie Bone/Silver Spider

Skulduggery Pleasant (can't stand these myself but DD and DS both lap them up)

Terry Pratchett? I know, I know, but Hatfull of Sky/Wee Free Men/I Can Wear Midnight all good for that age.

What's that one with the child who can speak cat and lion language?

Lancelottie - do you mean the Duncton Wood series by William Horwood? That was better than Watership Down IMO.

Or how about something by Michelle Magorian - never read one I didn't like.

Yes! Thank you.

Michelle Magorian also good but makes me cry , though OP's daughter may be made of tougher stuff

And the lion one is Lion Boy, by Zizou Corder.

Can't believe someone recommended THG. ANYWAY:

Diana Wynne Jones.
DD has just read The Enchanted Glass & Dogsbody (one of my all time faves).
Gillian Cross, too, well under-rated. I highly recommend The Great Elephant Chase.

DD is a bit of a history buff, anyway, and has been thoroughly engrossed in the "My Story" books. Some are better than others so persevere.

Also recently read:

Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Enid Blyton (FarAway Tree), Jiggy McCue, E. Nesbitt, Arthur Ransome.

The Jess The Border Collie series, I loved them at that age.

It's about a girl who lives on a farm and her dog, sounds twee, written by the animal ark author(s) I think? But aimed at a higher age range, it has storylines like the family struggling with the farm during the lambing, there's a fire in one of the books, bullying, some environmental issues (oil slick or something IIRC) and covers issues of depression and also serious illness. There are no boyfriends or anything like that, though and it's all done very well.

And um, yeah. Not the hunger games. Excellent books but for 14+ really.

lljkk - to be fair if she has read Girl Missing THG is unlikely to faze her. My Y6 DD has read the trilogy. OP - things my DD has read this year that yours may like:
The Owl Service
The Time Riders series by Alex Scarrow - she should like this if she enjoyed Girl Missing.
The Percy Jackson books
Frozen in Time - Ali Sparkes
The Lady Grace mysteries
The Hobbit
She is keen to get the new Rick Reardon series for Christmas - a PJ spinoff.

Totally disagree about THG being 14+. I would say 11-14.

Fair enough, I am not familiar with Girl Missing.

I let my 10-11yo read the Jacqueline Wilson books for age 13+ but would rather she didn't touch THG yet. My own gut-feeling rating for THG is age 12/13+.

At 11yo DS read lots of Sam Hutton, Connor Clover, The Hobbit, Percy Jackson, Steve Cole.

Sorry if THG seems a bit old. Y6 DD and friends have read it and didn't seem fazed. And I'm normally a bit rabid about her not reading anything inappropriate

I'm confused, who is the author of Girl Missing? Sophie McKenzie or Tess Gerritson. Same title, different books!

Thanks all,some great suggestions here.
Unfortunately she does prefer to read contemporary fiction,any attempts to steer her in the direction of the classics that I read at her age are met with some resistance!
I'm undecided about THG,yes I'm quite sure that it would be an enjoyable and suitably challenging read for her, however at nearly 11 would she have the emotional maturity to actually fully comprehend them?

I adored Mollie Hunter at this age - A Stranger Came Ashore and A Sound of Chariots were huge favourites. Might only be able to get these second hand now, and I'm not sure if they really count as contemporary. Or what about Joan Lingard?

Xposted with you lljkk.Sophie Mckenzie is the author of the 'Girl Missing' trilogy.

Go to public library for advice, most libraries have pretty good idea what their books are like.

Best thing is to read THG for yourself (I did!). I think first volume of THG is okay, within tolerable for many 11yos. Most of the violence is only alluded to, not too graphic. But if they read the whole trilogy it gets more disturbing, a lot grimmer and more explicit. Bit like Harry Potter books in that the series matures with the readers. The real horror is in the society that endorses and glamourises the ritual humiliation. The books are quite political, too, towards the end. So I feel best left for older sensitivities to fully appreciate.

John Grisham does good thrillers, no sex or swearing but tense plots. I wonder about the early James Bond novels, too.

Bollywood Babes (one in a series of at least 3) are contemporary & not unduly about boys or romance.

Avoid Meg Cabot if you want to avoid romance.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, still modern enough methinks.

Darren Shan is very modern but gothic & violent. Ditto Steve Cole.

Okay, seen a review of Girl, Missing by McKenzie.
Rather a lot like Jacqueline Wilson's "Dustbin Baby"!! Maybe you could revisit the "No JW" decision...

I gather there are sequels to Girl, Missing.