Book recommendations for 12 year old girl, not fantasy, horror or crime

Still enjoying this thread and bookmarking. Astrid Lindgren’s novels are lovely. Seacrow Island is about an idyllic summer on a Swedish island where a family learns to love nature.

I haven’t read the whole thread so apologies for any repeats. Have a look at the Booktrust website - they have a ‘what to read after XYZ’ section with suggestions by theme which might lead you down a rabbit hole!

Some authors she might enjoy:

David Almond
Piers Torday
Helen Peters
Frank Cottrell Boyce
Cath Howe
Louis Sachar
Hilary McKay
Kate Saunders
Kirsty Applebaum
Rebecca Stead
Louie Stowell
Eva Ibbotson
Elle McNicoll
Phil Earle
Tom Easton
Lucy Strange
Marcus Sedgwick

I don't know if she would count this as fantasy, but there are some nice re-written fairy tales. Ella Enchanted is the one I'd recommend, but there are lots of different ones.

She's a perfect age to get stuck into Jane Austen, starting with "Pride and Prejudice".
Definitely "The Swish of the Curtain", as mentioned.
Could she start on the Cazalet series by Elizabeth Jane Howard? There are some mildly adult themes, but much of it is from the point of view of the teenagers - I would have loved this at 15.
Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse are both fab, for lighter reading.

I was going to recommend the My Story books, I loved those growing up.

The Girls in the Velvet Frame by Adele Geras might be a nice one. It's about a family of sisters in Israel in 1913, trying to get in touch with their brother who emigrated to America. It's fiction, but the photograph that inspired it is a real one of the author's mother and aunts.

I read a lot of children's classics at that age too — The Swiss Family Robinson, Anne of Green Gables etc.

I also starting pinching my DM's Agatha Christies and Jeffrey Archers at around that age.

Looking at the list of books/authors she's enjoyed so far I would suggest The Girl Who Stole an Elephant and other books in the series

My sister lives in the US and has written 2 books which have been marketed at the "middle grade" age group - I think it's called junior fiction in the uk. I believe it's aimed for ages 9-13 years so that might be a good way to search for suitable reading material. It might not challenge her reading level but there are some wonderful stories. The books that my sister has written would definitely suit your daughter's reading interests

www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Yvette-Clark/author/B08L8DLVKR?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Doh JB is in the OP - sorry!

Can't see it mentioned but Nina Bawden (Carrie's War particularly but there are others - warning the one about the pig is brutal though!) Also, the Trebizon school series was great.
Can't remember if you or anyone said Judy Blume?

The Tiger Who Sleeps Under My Chair ny Hannah Foley is excellent.

Another vote for Eva Ibbotson - Journey to the River Sea and the Crown of Kazan are great and sit at the younger end of things; Song for Summer, The Morning Gift and The Secret Countess are YA, but gentle in content and beautifully written.

My other go-to is Hilary McKay. The Casson Family novels are great - really loveable characters. The Binny series and Skylarks War are also very good.

At her age, I loved I Capture the Castle and Jane Eyre, too.

I second The Swish of the Curtain, it was one of my favourites, and Ballet Shoes, and White Boots.

My daughter loved The Roman Mysteries, The Lady Grace books, and the My Story books https://www.lowplexbooks.com/products/my-story-collection-20-books-set-box-pack-children-history-stories

She also loved this book, and others in the series https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diary-Young-Waiting-History-Diaries/dp/0749639431#:~:text=Book%20overview&text=Each%20title%20is%20the%20chatty,%2C%20doubts%2C%20hopes%20and%20dreams.

And she loved the St Clare’s and Mallory Towers books, but I guess your daughter has read them already.

My DD liked books written by Emma Carroll at that age. She writes historical fiction.

Alan Garner, Terry Pratchett, James Herriot.

Reminds me of Flowers for Algernon, another brilliant book. Or The Queen's Gambit, which my mum suggested I read when I was about 13.

Definitely Katherine Rundell

Showing my age but

Cynthia Voigt
Flambards
Bridge to Terebithia
Silver Sword
Eagle of the Ninth
His Dark Materials

Even if they're a little young they're classics

Ah great, I was also going to suggest My Family and Other Animals! It made me want to go and visit Corfu, which I later did :)

My guilty pleasure around that age was the Princess Diaries. More mature in the books than the films.

They do reading tests- they're standard in most schools, I'm surprised you've never come across them.

Just seen everyone is saying no to VA. Sorry 🙈 I loved it but it's been a long time since I read it and I had completely forgot about the incest!

My first grown up book was Flowers in the attic. I read it when I was about 13/14. Absolutely brilliant book

Just wanted to say, if she has a favorite author, you can search Google for, say, “authors like Malorie Blackman,” and the first result will probably be GoodReads, who will provide a list of all related authors, links to pages about them, and on those pages, all books they’ve written. I don’t know how you feel about her having any social media you monitor with her (you can have an account on a computer, not required to be on a mobile), but GoodReads is nothing like Facebook or Snapchat or anything, and great for this stuff. Could be something you do together. You’ll NEVER run out of book recommendations for her. For example, here is the “authors like Malorie Blackman” page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/similar/172977.Malorie_Blackman

You can see there are many authors she’s read, and some she hasn’t, and she might be able to look at the authors she’s read and see books she didn’t know about.

Has anyone mentioned Wizards of Once series from Cressida Cowell? She's the author of the How to Train Your Dragon books too. It's full of humour and adventure while touching on serious matters too. Even the ending of the last (fourth) book is great and unexpected. It's so good I had to finish it before my kid, who has since re-read it millions of times.