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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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SthingMustBeScaringThemAway · 14/11/2013 14:48

Thanks Enb76

SthingMustBeScaringThemAway · 14/11/2013 14:47

Oh absolutely The Greengage Summer - just stunning. And pretty much everything else by Rumer Godden.

Yes to Wodehouse. And Agatha Christie. And - if you want different; Josephine Tey. Totally superb, writes better than almost anyone.

Enb76 · 14/11/2013 13:42

Jenny Nimmo - my favourite was Snow Spider but her Charlie Bone stuff is good too. Jenny Nimmo

mistlethrush · 14/11/2013 13:20

Swallows and Amazons?

I liked the Green Knowe series
And the Silver Brumby series - and the Black Stallion series (although I was horse mad).

I read Bleak House when I was 11 so Dickens not out of the question.

Original poster
SolidGold · 14/11/2013 13:16

Dh has all The Dark is Rising books, but dd isn't so keen.

She has read all the Harry Potter books and loved them.

I'm not sure I'd want her to read Jilly Cooper yet. I think I was about 15 when I read them and loved them.

I'd forgotten about the Philip Pullman books, I'll have a look for those.

We do go to the library, but it is a small town and tbh they aren't very good with her age group, aiming more at young children.

However, as she has asked for a Kindle for Christmas, I think it will be a good opportunity to put some books on that are a bit different to the stuff she's preferring at present.

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landoflostcontent · 14/11/2013 13:04

May I suggest The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden Has something for everyone, part thriller, part history, part rite of passage and very readable

oscarwilde · 14/11/2013 12:59

Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-time would be suitable I think.
The Philip Pullman Trilogy is excellent
Presume she has read Harry Potter?

I read Jilly Cooper at 12. Prob not a great recommendation though :) I was voracious reader and read everything I could get my hands on. My mum had a fit when she realised I had read Lace simultaneously "with" her.

Is she a member of a local library? They may be able to recommend a good section of cross over books so she doesn't get sucked into a diet of chick lit as a teenager. Nothing wrong with chick lit when you just want to read some rubbish but it won't help much with English GCSE's etc etc.

Some nice and usual suggestions here - Jeeves & Wooster anyone?
www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/23/recommended-reads-children-11-13?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/the-50-books-every-child-should-read-2250138.html

SthingMustBeScaringThemAway · 14/11/2013 08:21

Alongside Alan Garner:

Susan Cooper - The Dark is Rising series.

Philip Pullman - Northern Lights trilogy.

Also - I think 12 was about the time I got into Jean Plaidy, Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen - they're such a calming relief from the hurly-burly of school.

Original poster
SolidGold · 14/11/2013 08:09

Oh yes, she loved The Family from One End Street. I think we have Goodnight Mr Tom, will check, but no others by her.

Great ideas, thanks.

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marriedinwhiteisback · 14/11/2013 08:01

Chinese Cinderella - couple in the series I think but dd loved them. Can't get any more info out of her at present.

SthingMustBeScaringThemAway · 13/11/2013 23:15

Wow! I think it took me till my mid 30s to read them all - but it was the tracking down that made it slow. And then once I had them all I lost them somehow.Sad

Enb76 This Jenny Nimmo - haven't heard of her at all. Must be beyond wonderful to be mentioned on the same page as Alan Garner? Tell...

I forgot A Tale of Two Cities. And Celandine - Steve Augarde. And The Children Who Lived in a Barn. And The Family From One End Street. And all the other Michelle Magorians if she's read Goodnight Mr Tom. And lots of children never get round to The Wind in The Willows which is really dark....

marriedinwhiteisback · 13/11/2013 23:06

dd is voracious. 15 now but I'll ask tomorrow. I just can't think of the titles and authors at the moment although they are all on the tip of my tongue.

MrsSchadenfreude · 13/11/2013 23:06

Jane Eyre. DD1 couldn't put it down. Also, she might like "A Girl of the Limberlost" - I absolutely loved this and still re-read it. I also got some of the same author's books free on Kindle, some of which were linked to the Limberlost one.

Enb76 · 13/11/2013 23:00

Try Alan Garner and Jenny Nimmo.

Original poster
SolidGold · 13/11/2013 22:59

We borrowed the Chalet School books from a friend, she said it was the whole set. Not sure how many, but there were a lot.

Some more good ideas I'll look out for. She's asked for a kindle for Christmas, so I'll get some of these for it.

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booksteensandmagazines · 13/11/2013 22:58

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Some more modern but still excellent books with good story line and writing:

All Fall Down by Sally Nicholls
maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
she is not invisible by Marcus Sedgwick

SthingMustBeScaringThemAway · 13/11/2013 22:53

Wait Shock You say she's read all the Chalet School books?

All 56ish? (Forgotten exact number.) Impressive.

I would recommend I Capture The Castle -Dodie Smith; Lorna Doone - R. D Blackmore; The Pied Piper - Neville Shute; all the Richard Hannay books - John Buchan and a future classic by Meg Rosoff - How I Live Now (conveniently just made into an apparently inferior film.)

ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 13/11/2013 22:39

DD (similar kind of age) suggests other Eva Ibbotsons

Journey to the River Sea
The Star of Kazan
The Dragonfly Pool

SantanaLopez · 13/11/2013 22:38

Possibly Pride and Prejudice?

Black Beauty might go well with the Secret Garden etc.

SantanaLopez · 13/11/2013 22:37

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings

I second Rosemary Sutcliffe, loved her.

Ballet Shoes- Noel Streatfield(?)

MacaYoniandCheese · 13/11/2013 22:37

Jane Eyre?

Oh please, NOT Watership Down! Wink.

Thewhingingdefective · 13/11/2013 22:37

Sorry for the random 'a'...

Thewhingingdefective · 13/11/2013 22:34

Not classics but what about The a Children of Green Knowe and The Box of Delights?

Original poster
SolidGold · 13/11/2013 22:33

I'll look for When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit. I read it ages ago and loved it. She enjoyed Anne Franks Diary so should enjoy it.

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Original poster
SolidGold · 13/11/2013 22:32

She loved The Silver Sword but won't read Watership Down.

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