Suitable books for quite an innocent 12yo girl whose a very good reader

I would second any books by Diana Wynne Jones, all books by Frances Hardinge, also Jean Webster's "Daddy-Long-Legs"; Laura Ingalls, Charlotte Sometimes.

Agatha Christie, Catherine Cookson, I loved when I was 12...

A mix of adult and younger but have they read any of Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Jane Eyre, Unladylike Murders, Percy Jackson?

I adored the Stravaganza series by Mary Hoffman at that age - teens visit alternate dimension historical Italy with magic. I loved the worldbuilding, and the most adult it gets is vague allusions to the conception of illegitimate children.

I love this thread, it's making me so nostalgic

Just found this thread as it’s DD3s 12th birthday soon, she’s a fantastic reader and loves creative writing I cannot keep her going in books so there’s lots of great suggestions on here, thank you all

Have you thought about the titles suggested by an inter schools reading drive called Battle of the Books? There are 20 books chosen annually and schools read and then battle with other schools.

I found the titles and books were amazing and carefully chosen - suitable for your child perhaps.
Many countries do it, Hong Kong schools do it, so google, Battle of the Books HK and you will find some super titles.

Goose bumps, I loved the fact it would take you to different page numbers.

Not sure anyone has mentioned Frances Hardinge yet (Fly By Night, The Lie Tree, Deeplight, A Skinful of Shadows). YA but not focused on romantic relationships.

DD has also developed a taste for Sci Fi, e.g. Isaac Asimov, John Wyndham...

@Frenchfancy I mentioned Eva Ibbottson I agree, a great option.

I gave my DD the audiobook of Lark Rise to Candleford to listen to, and remembered how I read it so much around the age of 10/11 that my copy fell apart. I haven’t re read it in years but there isn’t much scandalous in it as far as I recollect.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Eva Ibbotson. Her books like Magic Flute, Dragonfly pool and Journey to the River sea are perfect for an innocent 12 year old.

Percy Jackson and the Heros of Olympus series that followed were also great favourites in our house.

I agree that some of the YA books, including Hunger games, are more suitable for an older age group. They are after all called young Adult books, not older children books.

Pratchett (oddly ds11 didn't like the ones aimed at kids that are similar to other books he likes, but loved Tiffany and then all the Rincewind and City Watch ones).
James Herriot and Gerald Durrell - animals
Antonia Forest's school stories - more grownup than say Blyton. Or the Chalet School (written 1928 to the late 60s)

Little House on the Prairie series

Magical: Diana Wynne Jones (the few for adults are very hard to get hold of so any with modern covers will be good), Barbara Sleigh's Carbonel books, Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow

Classics - The Borrowers, Five Children and It, Bedknob and Broomstick, the Hobbit. I've found tellind ds 'some people love this book and others hate it' works quite well.

Agatha Christie's short stories then novels, PG Wodehouse, Sherlock Holmes. I later went on to PD James but they are more adult.

Science fiction - Asimov, Children of Morrow, Chocky and Chocky's Children, collections of short stories.

Ones I remember enjoying at that sort of age:
TH White - Mistress Mashams Repose and The Once and Future King
Noel Streatfield - A Vicarage Family (her autobiography, and one of my all time favorite books)
Nancy Mitford - The Pursuit of Love and Live in a Cold Climate

Wizard of Earthsea? Amazing writing but not adult themes.

Hilda41 I wouldn’t have thought Sally Lockhart or Woman in White suitable for an innocent 12 year old? Breadwinner might need a bit of discussion too.

www.goodandbeautiful.com/book-list/ This book list is quite good. There are others online, it’s American so some of the books are a little harder to find but our library has lots and I’ve been able to get some from world of books too. My dd is 11 and is on the level 6&7 type books.

Sally Lockhart trilogy by Philip Pullman

Breadwinner series by Deborah Ellis about a girl growing up in Afghanistan

Wilkie Collins - woman in white
Jane Eyre?

Try to find Walter Macken's series of books set in Ireland. 'the scorching wind' is one of the titles.

Precious Bane by Mary Webb; beautiful book.
Alison Uttley is a lovely lovely writer too, anything by her really. The Traveller in Time or The Country Child are my favourites.

I adore the discworld, but agree about the colour of magic! Hogfather is a good starting point, though a little out of season at this time of year! (Unless she still believes in Father Christmas, in which case, avoid!)

Oh god yes, don't give the poor kid The Colour of Magic to start her off in Discworld, it has no discernable plot and would really put her off!!

Came here to suggest Pratchett - although DO NOT START WITH THE COLOUR OF MAGIC - it's not as polished as the later stuff and put me off for years - it's not like there's really an order anyway, except occasionally for individual characters.

I read a lot of Sci-fi at that age - Asimov, Dune, Frederick Pohl, Orson Scott-Card (Ender's game has children as the main characters for instance) - basically whatever the library had that I went past on the way home from School..

they just kiss - really? I obviously projected a whole load more then

I’d imagine the vast majority of readers of The Amber Spyglass assumed the same. There seemed to be a degree of back-pedalling in The Secret Commonwealth.

To add to OP’s list
John Buchan - The Richard Hannay stories are brilliantly entertaining and skim over pretty much everything.
Mervyn Peake - the Gormenghast trilogy is unspeakably wonderful
P G Wodehouse may have been mentioned already.
All the female writers of Golden Age Crime - Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Dorothy L Sayers, Josephine Tey - each stupendous. Brilliant on historical detail, early/mid century manners and mores.

@AnotherEmma they just kiss - really? I obviously projected a whole load more then

To the poster who said Austen might be doable but definitely Charlotte Bronte: I really struggled with Jane Eyre (to the extent that I had to leave it till I was all grown up) but didn't have any problem with Austen (except that S&S took me three attempts and I have no idea why). I read Persuasion first, I think: our music teacher (tenuous link) read us the letter and I thought "I simply have to read this". That was when I was 12.

I really enjoyed The Wool-Pack by Cynthia Harnett. A charming historical tale that really sweeps you in and captures the imagination. She did write others but they are less well known.

I was into horses at that age so any horsey books were great. Look for Girls Gone By publishers they re-issue a lot of school/horsey books.

Pride and Prejudice - never too early to get them onto Austen!
Diary of Anne Frank
North and South
How about some poetry? Stevie Smith, W H Auden, T S Eliot. My dad bought me a copy of Christopher Smart's Rejoice in the Lamb - very religious but.....