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Original poster

Classics for 12 year old dd?

63 replies

SolidGold · 13/11/2013 21:44

Dd (12) loves reading, but prefers girlie stuff like Cathy Cassidy. I'd like her to start reading more varied stuff including some classics. Any suggestions what she could start with that would catch her attention and make her want more?!

She enjoyed The Little Princess and The Secret Garden, I can't persuade her to read The Hobbit though.

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BlueChampagne · 25/11/2013 15:35

Sherlock Holmes
Black Beauty
Cider with Rosie
Gerald Durrell

Another vote for The Little White Horse, The Dark is Rising, and Green Knowe series. Plus anything by Joan Aiken.

timtam23 · 24/11/2013 23:35

The Kevin & Sadie series by Joan Lingard - I read them when I was around 11 or 12 (about 30 years ago so they may have reached the status of modern classics!)

The Runaways trilogy by Victor Canning - again I read these aged 11/12

Original poster
SolidGold · 19/11/2013 14:12

I remember reading Carrie's War too, will try and find that for dd as well.

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lilyfire · 18/11/2013 23:35

Just finished Carrie's War with my ten year old and we both loved it. I second The Silver Sword and When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit - been on bit of WW2 thing.

lainiekazan · 17/11/2013 17:48

Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan - in translation of course unless 12-year-old is particularly poncey.

Original poster
SolidGold · 16/11/2013 16:04

Great suggestions Smile A long way from Verona sounds good Smile

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SthingMustBeScaringThemAway · 14/11/2013 19:32

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler - E. L. Konigsburg

Elizabeth of the Garret Theatre - Gwendoline Courtney (if you can find it...)

In travel: Freya Stark is absorbing - and empowering.

beatricequimby · 14/11/2013 19:10

Fantastic suggestions here.

Definitely get her Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry - its an incredibly moving story about a Black girl in the US South in the 1930s. I buy it for my friends' children.

How about A Long Way from Verona, by Jane Gardam. Its about a quirky 12-year-old living in the North East during WW1. Its fab. In fact I might go and read it again now.

She might also like Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford. Its got the whole amusing Mitford aristocratic, wacky childhood, then she runs off to join the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War.

AnneEyhtMeyer · 14/11/2013 18:56

I loved Jane Eyre and My Family and Other Animals around that age. Also loved the James Herriott books.

Original poster
SolidGold · 14/11/2013 18:51

Starball, that's what I'm trying to avoid. Smile

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ancientbuchanan · 14/11/2013 17:57

If she likes miss marple .she will like miss silver

D l sayers, prob murder must advertise.
Mary Renault

ancientbuchanan · 14/11/2013 17:56

The London eye mystery

Cs Lewis
Antonia Forrest
The more cheerful Hardys, ie not Jude but the woodlanders, trumpet major, FFTMC.
Sherlock Holmes
John meade Falkner, moonfleet, the nebuly coat
Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series
The didakoi
My friend Flicka
The longest journey
Durrell
The voyage of the kontiki
Any travel books, I read masses at that age
Cranford

CoolStoryBro · 14/11/2013 17:52

I was going to say Murder at the Vicarage too! I was not a Poirot fan, but I loved, loved, loved Miss Marple.

NoComet · 14/11/2013 17:36

Good luck DD2 moved straight on to Twilight and teen rubbish total refuses to red anything I or school suggests

Original poster
SolidGold · 14/11/2013 17:31

Thank you Smile

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SthingMustBeScaringThemAway · 14/11/2013 17:21

So many mis-types! Please ignore.

SthingMustBeScaringThemAway · 14/11/2013 17:19

Well, unlike most people apparently, I prefer Miss Marple to Poirot... And prefer full legnth novels to the short stories.

So I probably suggest Murder at the Vicarage which is the first Miss Marple book. I'm sure it's not the best but a good lace to start.

You absolute don't need to read them in order - but like the Chalet School (which has much better characterisation..) they do become addictive. And the portrayal of the times is very persuasive.

And truthfully - they're only a prelude to Dorothy L. Sayers.... Harriet Vane being (along with Jo March) the ultimate girl heroine.

mistlethrush · 14/11/2013 17:10

A tale of two cities

Original poster
SolidGold · 14/11/2013 16:14

Can you suggest a good Agatha Christie for her to start with?

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CoolStoryBro · 14/11/2013 15:52

I had forgotten how much I loved Little Women. I'm going to put it on my iPad right now!

This was a gazillion years ago now but I really loved reading Agatha Christie's when I was that age. Brilliant for evoking the romance of the age.

hellokittymania · 14/11/2013 15:46

The Giver by Lois Lowry (not sure how to spell)

Gary Paulsen books

Number the Stars

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Original poster
SolidGold · 14/11/2013 15:43

Daddy Long Legs is free for the Kindle, in case anyone is interested.

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Original poster
SolidGold · 14/11/2013 15:29

Oh yes, Daddy Long Legs, I loved that too. I think my mum has it somewhere.

I've never read any Agatha Christie Shock Blush Must look out for some.

I haven't read Curious Incident of the Dog etc, so should maybe read it myself first before deciding if dd can read it.

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lljkk · 14/11/2013 15:14

12yo DD loves Cathy Cassidy but also soldiered thru All Quiet on the Western Front recently (loves history). She loves the "My history" books and says many of the recent ones are well written.

I think I read a lot of Agatha Christie at that age.
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

I would NOT one my 12yo to read Curious Incident of the Dog in Night Time.

Louise1956 · 14/11/2013 15:05

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. Delightful book, I loved it when I was twelve. Judy is a marvellous heroine, and the portrayal of college life a hundred years ago is fascinating.

Another book I loved at that age is A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley, marvellous story. very gripping, and a wonderful evocation of the Elizabethan era when the heroine slips back in time.

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge is another book I liked at that age. A period story, very exciting, with an interesting heroine.

I would say all these books are quite girly.