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Original poster

Curve-ball classics for a very strong avid reader

37 replies

Hiddeninplainsight · 11/02/2019 11:00

Rather than hijacking the existing classics thread, I'm going to start a new one. My DD is a very strong, avid reader. She flies through books (although she does re-read them, thank goodness). I wanted to get some recommendations of books that would challenge and engage her (she is chomping at the bit to dive into YA, but she is only 10, and so I want to find other things to engage her).

I'm starting a new 'classics' thread for your more obscure recommendations please!

She could read pretty much anything, but although she has enjoyed the classics, what she really loves the pace of all things Rick Riordan. She is reasonably varied in her tastes (although she has no interest in animal stories) and is currently reading a pile of old Chalet School books, but I would like to find her something that will both engage and challenge her a little. Any thoughts of classics that we might not have thought of? Thanks!

OP posts:
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haba · 11/02/2019 18:59

What about The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C O'Brien
Carrie's War by Nina Bawden
The Coral Island by RM Ballantyne
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

hiptobeasquare · 11/02/2019 18:55

*diaries

hiptobeasquare · 11/02/2019 18:54

If she likes dystopian fiction you could try ‘The Carbon Dairies. It’s not a classic though.

WhenDoISleep · 11/02/2019 18:45

Also, there are a few 'recommended reading lists' for children looking at taking various 11+ exams - they might throw up a few more titles that she might enjoy.

Herja · 11/02/2019 16:55

Phillip Pullman? The subtle knife series and also another one which starts with The Ruby in the Smoke.

Dianna Wynne Jones? I still enjoy re reading the Chrestomanci series. I think I started readiing them at about 9 and never stoppped. There are also a few slightly older and darker ones.

I loved the swallows and amazons books at that age, which I mention because they fit (in my head anyway) to a similar field as the chalet school ones, which I also still read again.

FindPrimeLorca · 11/02/2019 16:49

Some Frances Hardinge (but not all) is appropriate for that age. Fly By Night is OK.

Haven’t read the other thread, but Artemis Fowl?

pollyhemlock · 11/02/2019 16:45

Rundell, not Randell

pollyhemlock · 11/02/2019 16:44

Katherine Randell : Rooftoppers, Wolf Wilder , The Explorer
Jonathan Stroud: Bartimaeus series, starting with Amulet of Samarkand, and Lockwood & Co, starting with The Screaming Staircase
Catherine Fisher, a very underrated fantasy writer. Try The Book of the Crow series, starting with Relic Master.
Some oldies but goodies : Penelope Lively-, especially Ghost of Thomas Kemp’s and House in Norham Gardens. Also Penelope Farmer- Charlotte Sometimes, a brilliant timeslip story which my dds loved at that age.
Personally I wouldn’t recommend The Knife of Never Letting Go and sequels at this age. Great books but a bit disturbing for Year 5.

FeedMeBooks · 11/02/2019 15:23

Jurassic Park
Horror stories from Horowitz -not exactly classic but they're collections of short stories aimed at tweens which DS really enjoyed. More of a twist than scary unless very sensitive.

RedCabbageStains · 11/02/2019 12:59

I have a very similar 10yo (also working her way through re-reading my old Chalet School books) and she’s really enjoyed some Jane Austen, the original Sherlock Holmes and the first part of Jane Eyre.

dancingqueen345 · 11/02/2019 12:54

Michelle Magorian was my favourite author at that age. I've read A Little Love Song about 100 times, and obviously Goodnight Mister Tom.

Katterinaballerina · 11/02/2019 12:39

Children of Winter?

WhenDoISleep · 11/02/2019 12:35

Also, has she read Nancy Drew/The Hardy Boys - I loved them at that age.

DH started reading Robin Hobb around that age.

BlueChampagne · 11/02/2019 12:31

Emma Tupper's Diary
Leon Garfield
Kevin Crossley-Holland's Arthur trilogy
Archie Greene
Alan Garner eg Elidor?

WhenDoISleep · 11/02/2019 12:31

Re Tamora Pierce - try the Immortals series - there is no romantic relationship for the main character until late book 3/book 4.

ifigoup · 11/02/2019 12:17

Another vote here for Cynthia Voigt.

Has she read Antonia Forest? Some of them are school stories, but they’re a lot richer and more emotionally complex than the likes of the Chalet School (but without being inappropriately grown-up for a ten-year-old).

I also liked realistic sci-fi at that age: stuff that’s often assumed to be for boys, so might not be on her radar, like John Wyndham, John Christopher, Isaac Asimov. Wyndham’s “Chocky” is probably the most accessible. With all these, although they do have quite adult themes, they’re not sexually explicit or anything.

Fazackerley · 11/02/2019 12:10

She also loved Percy Jackson at the same age and the Roman mysteries in year 5

Fazackerley · 11/02/2019 12:10

My dd read it in year6, ditto the hunger games

Original poster
Hiddeninplainsight · 11/02/2019 12:02

So, the Knife of Never Letting go looks like she would be desperate to read it, but is she not still a little young? She is Y5. She has read the Maze Runner series (based on a bookseller recommendation, which I think was probably a mistake - she was 9!). She has read Mortal Engines (which I know is softer). One of her best friends is reading the Hunger Games, which she is utterly desperate to read. Is it the same ilk as those? I was hoping to distract her from teenage stuff.

faintly fantasy and quite dystopian and beautifully written sound perfect! I think we have Skellig somewhere. I'll 'encourage' her to read it :D

And I didn't manage to get her into the Dark is Rising. I did try. I may try again, because I loved them as a child. Same with the Eagle of the Ninth. Again, I may try bribery. Sometimes needs persuasion, and then realises she quite likes it.

OP posts:
lekkerkroketje · 11/02/2019 11:53

David Almond's books are faintly fantasy and quite dystopian and beautifully written

Fazackerley · 11/02/2019 11:47

The knife of never letting go trilogy

Original poster
Hiddeninplainsight · 11/02/2019 11:46

She has read some Terry Pratchett but didn't love them. She tried the Tamora Pierce Lioness Quartet, but she tried it much too young I think (she was 7, and it was based on the recommendation of a friend who was thinking about from her teenage memories I think!). She read the first, and I think part of the second, but it got quite heavily into relationships. I have tried to persuade her back into it, but she isn't keen. She has read both Greek and Norse mythology books (thanks to RR), but I think she has moved past that interest stage now.

I have just bought her the Wolves of Willoughby Chase (from the other list). She doesn't much like historical, but i'm hoping she will make an exception. I will look at the Graveyard book and the evolution of Calpurnia Tate too.

I just looked at Homecoming - it sounds fantastic, but I'm not sure if it would be too real world (!). She doesn't like Jacqueline Wilson. Fussy child :)

OP posts:
Pinnacular · 11/02/2019 11:46

Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising sequence. Currently reading them with my 8yo. Like a more grown up famous five meets Arthurian legend.

StellaMorris · 11/02/2019 11:38

Yes, Terry Pratchett

CMOTDibbler · 11/02/2019 11:37

My ds is the same, and loves Terry Pratchett, and has read a lot of mythology books inspired by Rick Riordan like the Neil Gaiman norse one

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