Fiction books for girls aged 9 which aren't about princesses/unicorns/fantasy

[flightlessbird1]

My DD (9) enjoyed the Kes Gray "The Trouble with...." Daisy series but they are a bit young for her.

She likes books that have a plucky female protagonist but which are more about real life situations rather than fantasy/sci fi/princesses etc. She liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid and says she would love to read something like that with a girl as the main character. There aren't enough female characters out there! She's read all the rebel girls books but wants fiction rather than non-fiction.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. She's on the cusp of going off reading so I need to act fast. She seems to be a realist type of person so not much into imaginary worlds.....

Thanks all

The Kernowland series?

My DD loves the Tom Gates books.

Thanks will check it out! I forgot to say, she seems to be the only kid who doesn't like Walliams books as well.....She says they are "bad Roald Dahl copies." Ha.

Joirney to the River Sea and Heidi

And the Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens

These are all great - I forgot about Heidi! I so wanted to be Heidi.

My 9 year old likes the 13-storey Treehouse set of books.

Lemony Snicket?

Mine hates David’s Walliams and Wimpy Kid types. She endlessly reads Enid Blyton of all types, Mariella Mystery, ‘My funny family’, chalet school, little house on the prairie and Harry Potter.

Emma Carroll has a lot of female lead characters in her books. They are fab. I, and some of my class, are big fans.

Swallows and Amazons? That was my favourite book when I was nine

Jacqueline Wilson?

My favourite when I was young was the Ramona collection and Amazon still have them as a box set www.amazon.co.uk/Ramona-Collection-Beezus-Father-Collections/dp/0061246476

Anne of Green Gables?
Little Women
Depending on her reading abilities and maturity - The Hunger Games (dystopian rather than fantasy)

The Sun is also a Star

Sorry, I think they are mainly boy characters though. Dork diaries is like the Wimpey Kid with a female character.

Mine loved The White Giraffe too and the other books in that series

And of course any Jacqueline Wilson. My eight-year-old loves them.

All of Jacqueline Wilson.... All of Harry Potter.....

Brilliant thanks - any books set in modern times would be great if you have come across anything?

My daughter's favourite Jacqueline Wilson book is Hetty Feather

Alexander McCal Smith writes children's books about a character from his No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books as a child. They're still mysteries and I can imagine would be quite suitable for a 9 year old.

Have a look at amightygirl.com .It's not a shop, just a website about books for mighty girls :)

Jacqueline Wilson has some modern day stories. As well as the hetty feather types

Ramona Quimby books

There's Joan Aiken's Dido Twite series.

Also try some older books. Monica Edward stories are some of my favourite. They were marketed as pony books but are much more about adventure, Try "The White Riders" as a good start, or Cargo of Horses (ebay usually have a number)

Also classics like Secret Garden, Little Princess etc are good.