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

Definitely Jacqueline Wilson, but not the ones aimed at teens.

She's a clever girl but has only just got into reading fiction through the Kes Gray books (she was mostly into the Guiness Book of Records before the Daisy books!) so probably not the most mature of readers yet.

More oldies that she's just the right age for - and they're all great books -

The Secret Garden
The Railway Children
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
Ballet Shoes

DD is devouring the Dork Diaries set she got for Christmas. It's the most excited about books she's ever been, it's lovely.

Ok ,it IS a shop. I just use it for the book reviews though.

Not a female lead but my dd found the Mr Majeka books hilarious and very easy to read when she was a bit younger

And the Judy Moody books!

My almost 10 year old daughter loves to read David Walliams, Diary of a wimpy kid,, Tom Gates, and absolutely love Jaqueline Wilson especially the Clover Moon type books.

The Girl with Shark's Teeth

The author was chatting about this on Woman's Hour today and it sounded fab.

Wow - I will definitely try the Dork Diaries and all the others. She's my first child so I haven't really had a good look at what's out there for kids her age.

Thanks, this is why I love MN!

How about Clarice Bean? Not the picture books, there are some longer ones like Clarice Bean Spells Trouble. Modern day, along the lines of the Daisy books but a bit older. And if she likes them she can read Ruby Redfort, the detective series which Clarice reads in the books which is also a real series now.

Modern day - Roddy Doyle's A Greyhound of a Girl includes a very benign ghost but v. v. female-centric. I really loved it.

Journey to the River Sea
The Star of Kazan
? Journey to the Dragonfly Pool

All by Eva Ibbotsen.

The author also writes some sci-fi or detective type books but the 3 above are very different.

Nancy Drew mysteries

Jacqueline Wilson's that she might like are
Tracy Beaker
The Butterfly Club
Rent a Bridesmaid
Double Act

Other books
Ramona books by Beverly Cleary
Some of the Judy Blumes
The My Story series published by Scholastic

Tom Gates, Wimpy Kid, Dirty Bertie etc have the main character as a boy but they are good to read anyway. Also books by Jeremy Strong.

She might like some of the modern Nancy Drew books.

Both my son and daughter (10 and 8) love the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter. Adventure stories about rival clans of cats. DD also likes the Ramona stories, plus Jacqueline Wilson Hetty Feather was popular recently.

My daughter (aged 10) has just finished reading the "murder most unladylike" mystery books by Robin Stevens, she loved them!!

Oh yes, Judy Blume 'Otherwise known as Sheila the Great' and the Fudge series. I've just bought 'Blubber' by Judy Blume for DD but I think most of her other stuff is too grown up yet.

Great post. Lots of ideas for my DD above - thanks all.

My contribution: The Uncommoners trilogy, by Jennifer Bell. Starts with The Crooked Sixpence. I love them too!

What about Harry Potter? My DD read them about 40 times each (not joking!) between the ages of about 7.5-9.5.

The Mysterious Benedict Society books have two female protagonists. There are 4 "gifted" children who have to save the world from an evil genius. 2 are boys: one is an amazing problem solver and one has an amazing memory. Two are girls: one is incredibly athletic and strong, and the other is a stubborn free thinker. Lovely books.

The Wee Free Men :) any of the Tiffany Aching books.

With the added bonus that discworld will last into adulthood :)

A Mighty Girl has excellent booklists, along with toys, costumes etc
www.amightygirl.com

Oh yes, mine loves Tiffany Aching too. Also the My Story series.

Good recommendations here to try. Thanks.

Black Hearts in Battersea series (Joan Aiken)

My DD10 year6 likes;
Goodnight stories for rebel girls
David Walliams
Dork Diaries
Diary of a wimpy kid
Geek Girl
Tom Gates

What about Enid Blyton? The famous five series isn’t exactly modern but I loved them when I was about her age. That was about 15 years ago now though