Books for 13yo dd who has just read Divergent?

Geek Girl

Holes by Louis Sachar is great, as is The Circle of Candles by Jessica Rowan - had us blubbing but in a good way :)

I am seconding Cassandra Clare - both Shadowhunter series are very enjoyable. On the Diana Wynne Jones Front I really can't recommend her fiction for older children enough: Hexwood, Fire and Hemlock and The Homeward Bonders are all utterly brilliant.

My DD is 13 and she loved the Chaos Walking series, has read Hunger Games and the Divergent series (she was very angry about the ending) and is now getting stuck into Stephen King's 'It' and Neil Gaiman - she has read 'Neverwhere', 'Coraline' and 'American Gods'.

When they get to this age you have to strike a balance between letting them read anything and everything and failing to recognise how broad their minds are - DD2 is madly into T.S. Eliot and knows whole swathes of 'The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock' by heart.

Oh and I've just remembered what else I was reading at that age. Mum got me reading Jane Austen. Have you thought about giving her Emma or Pride and Prejudice?

Yes, maybe. I think it's also that the storyline is predictable and the heroine a total Marysue - but both those things are done knowingly, because it's a fairytale, which is its charm, but if you are a cynical but not particularly well read early teen you wouldn't necessarily catch that.

There's quite a lot about the war and its after-effects, eugenics, treatment of people with disabilities (both learning and physical), treatment of foreigners... I think if you were to read it too young you'd miss a lot of the social commentary. You probably need to know the historical context to understand more than just the main romance.

X-post.
Secret Countess was written for adults?
I would never have guessed that.

Oh quite possibly Sadik, I didn't know she had written for adults. I was thinking of things like The Secret Countess which the publisher describes as 12+ but dd found rather young.

I have read and liked both sets

I was referring to the five romances: A Song for Summer; The Secret Countess; The Morning Gift; A Company of Swans and The Magic Flute. They were originally written for adults, but I think they're marketed as YA most of the time now.

Re. Eva Ibbotson - she's written children's books (Journey to the River Sea etc), which are probably aimed more at 10-12 sort of age range, and adult romance, so maybe that's the confusion?

Neville Shute's 'On the Beach' would be good in a year or two, if a bit depressing (set in the 50s/60s, post nuclear war Australia, remote survivors wondering if anyone else made it).

I read a lot of EM Forster in my early teens, but probably spurred on by all those glossy Merchant Ivory productions.

I just thought some of the stuff in A Company of Swans (Harriet being 'ruined') might be a bit much and you get more out of them if you know the historical background - they were written for adults originally. But good to know they will be ok for OP's daughter - I'm recommending stuff I've read myself, rather than DC have read iyswim.

If you want to avoid dystopic fiction how about some comedy. I'd read Hitchhiker's Guide by then. And I loved any Pratchett I could get hold of. Has she read Wee Free Men?

My 12yo loves reading.
She has devoured the Noughts and Crosses series
She is reading the Sally Lockhart mysteries now (Philip Pullman) after loving the Dark Materials trilogy
She likes the Eva Ibbotson books, and has read a few Agatha Christie (miss Marple)

My 12yo loves reading.
She has devoured the Noughts and Crosses series
She is reading the Sally Lockhart mysteries now (Philip Pullman) after loving the Dark Materials trilogy
She likes the Eva Ibbotson books, and has read a few Agatha Christie (miss Marple)

Eva Ibbotson definitely not too old - my 11yo found them young. (She also found them rather sappy, but that's just a matter of taste, I think - they are very sweet and she's probably a bit cynical.)

Re romance, I like the Eva Ibbotsen ones (there are about five of them, set from about 1915-1950) but they might be aimed bit too old?

My Family and Other Animals and James Herriot are good too.

CocktailQueen - does your dd's school have a library? If so, that's probably the best place to find YA books / get recommendations - from the librarian + pupil helpers / other library users.

Inkheart trilogy
All of Terry Pratchett's discworld (start with the Tiffany Aching books for a good introduction
The Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde
The Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare (all called 'City of...') (they have some magic battles, and there are a few deaths, but it's not really dark, good wins out and there's even a be proud of who you are gay subplot).

"I was also reading romance and crime at that age. Aren't any modern stories like this?"
There's loads of YA/teen romance around - Rainbow Rowell, David Levithan, John Green (to be fair there's more to all those authors than just romance) - and stacks of others.

I guess people have tended to recommend fantasy/SF on here because the example given was Hunger Games?

Ive thought of another fab series.

Tomorrow, When The War Began.

Set in current day Australia but Oz is invaded by another country. A group of six teenagers are on a bush camping trip when the invasion happens so miss being captured and rounded up like the rest of their town. They then become a resistance movement blowing up bridges, etc. Really good.

Wool trilogy is great, dystopian YA fiction.

What about the David williams books?

There's a lot of fantasy and sci fi on this list. I love those myself but I agree - I was also reading romance and crime at that age. Aren't any modern stories like this? Agatha Christie was great, but dated even in my day...!