12 year old obsessed with Jacqueline Wilson books.. Aibu to think there is better out there?

I think I was obsessed with smoking fags at the age of 12, so I really wouldn’t waste your energy worrying about this!

I loved JW when i was younger! Also loved Judy Blume, The Princess Diaries series and anything Malorie Blackman. There are worse books she could read, but thankfully she is reading.

Ive heard JW is releasing a new Girls in Love series for us oldies and I really want to read them 😂

Has she tried Philip Pullman Northen lights series (the dark materials?) They are fab for young tweens/teens

I was reading JW when I was 8 or 9. I'd have thought 12 years old was more than old enough to handle the grittier content!

Would recommend the Cherub series to her, also quite gritty but perhaps not as inappropriate. Great YA books!

Cherub is definitely grittier than JW! I don't recall JW writing graphic depictions of terrorism or the sex trafficking of teenage girls. Actually I'd have said JW was mild compared with a lot of books that might jump off the shelf into a precocious pre-teen's bag. For example John Green, who makes Jacqueline Wilson look like Enid Blyton.

My 12 and her mates have all read all of The Hunger Games series and Noughts and Crosses series. I haven't let her watch the movies / TV adaptation. Top of her list to buy is https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200338241-the-dixon-rule
Described as "hot" and "steamy" I'm still probably going to let her buy it.
Are 12 JW is fine! I like the historical fiction ones. Some of them are a bit "junk food" but probably less harmful than actual junk food.

I love Jacqueline Wilson. I am currently re- reading the "Girls in..." books ready for the adult sequel out soon.
If she wants to read similar style books there's the authors Cathy Cassidy, Jean Ure or Hilary McKay.
Sophie McKenzie has a mix of real life ones but also ones slightly different (like a teen finding out they are a clone).
Does she like the historical Jacqueline Wilson's ? (Hetty Feather etc). She could look at other historical novels. I always loved anything WW2 set (Carrie's War, Goodnight Mr Tom).
I have also recently read classics that I never read as a child thanks to reading the Jacqueline Wilson modern interpretations.

My 9 year old is obsessed with the Beast Quest books at the moment. In my opinion they look like every book is the same and they look dull but I'm not reading them.

I ask her what they're about and she shows me the pictures of all the beasts. They make her happy and she reads every day.

I think we tend to underestimate what children that age are already exposed to from hearing about their friends' lives, and from just living and experiencing the world as it is.

I was reading all sorts of inappropriate stuff at that age; I can still recall a fair few raised eyebrows from the librarians as I'd take another few books from the adult section home and consumed them.

It's no different from many of the things they'd see on TV, either.

I’ve not read any JW in decades, but I’m really surprised by all the negativity! The reason we loved her books then was her writing about people who didn’t have perfect aspirational lives. You could recognise aspects of your own life or friends lives. Reading about single parents, blended families, bereavement, bullying, eating disorders was true to life and so different to the other stories we could find in the library.

I think I read her at primary school predominantly (Tracy Beaker, Double Act, Suitcase Kid etc) and then her YA “Girls in Love” series when I was in year 7 or 8.

Have the topics changed that she writes about now? Why don’t PP want their kids reading the books?

I thought JW books were aimed at younger kids generally (8-11 maybe). She does a few though that are for teens though.

I loved JW books and they taught me so much about a world I didn’t know about, that not everyone came from supportive families, the care system, divorce and step-families for example. Her books have stayed with me through adulthood and honestly I think they taught me great empathy and understanding of people less fortunate than me. The Illustrated Mum was such a powerful book! I would be delighted to have a 12 year old passionate about Jacqueline Wilson- if she’s encouraged to read books she love she will naturally branch out. And like other posters have said it’s a million times better than TikTok

I lived on a diet of Judy Blume and Babysitter’s Club when I was that age. Forever by Judy Blume was quite the summer education 😳 I moved on to other stuff when I’d read them all as I’ve no doubt your daughter will. She’s reading, it’s age appropriate and it’s getting her into good habits. There’s plenty of time for academic reading when she’s back at school.

If it’s content you’re worried about look at some of the classics - Shakespeare, Wuthering Heights, Dickens etc. Full of sex, drugs, child neglect and abusive relationships but on many a study curriculum 😉

Sorry that post should have quoted minou123!

Of all the JW books I’ve read, the only one I recall being utterly traumatised by was The Cat Mummy 🙈 it properly made me cry!

Vicky Angel is a sad one, too.

This was me too! I bought all Agatha Christie's books second-hand (I had a rule that I couldn't pay more than £1.50) and read them obsessively. I now read a wide range of books and, should it be relevant, went to Oxbridge and am now a barrister, so I feel AC did me no harm.

She'll branch out in her own time. She'll also meet people she likes who tell her about other books and start to read them. One of them might be you, OP - keep suggesting things she might like, but don't pressure her. Reading is such a pleasure if you love what you're reading; you don't want to make it into a chore.

I think the one about living in a B&B. I remember starting work and my colleague who started at the same time couldn't understand how this family didn't have a house, like why did the council not put them in a house. And children living with parents that aren't coping like the Illustrated Mum, again she thought children would have been removed and put onto nice Foster homes at the first issue.

I'm currently on the West but previously lived on the East. I have a friend who did the opposite and it's just an ongoing joke that one of us is forever on the wrong side.

Absolutely ADORED JW at that age and into my early teens! What "educational books" would you prefer? I agree with the PP who said reading should be for fun, let her enjoy the storylines. 😃

Just let the poor girl read. I can't abide book snobs who criticise every type of book that they deem unacceptable.

So what if it's not a specifically educational book?! She's still learning regardless of what she is reading.

Please keep your opinions to yourself and don't turn her off reading for life

Just be glad she's reading and enjoying them, I don't think JW is inappropriate for a 12 year old.
"Forever" by Judy Blume was being passed around every girl in my class at that age

Making books an "educational" experience outside of school is a guaranteed way to kill any desire to read

One of them is about a young girl who kisses her teacher. She initiates it and the teacher is horrified but obviously things blow up... can't remember the rest right now of that XD
Then there's being in care, poor parenting, consequences of stupidity, abuse in the Victorian era....

I think it's quite normal for kids of that age to binge on at least one low-brow series or author. It was Point Horror for me. My English teacher used to roll her eyes every time she saw them! Your DD will move on soon enough!

Am I the only one sat here wondering what on earth is mildly inappropriate in a Jacqueline Wilson book?

Surely at 12 she knows about most things?

Just let her read what she wants. Reading should be enjoyable, not an educational chore.