Strong girl character books for dd

[Picklesandbeans]

Looking for book recommendations for dd 8. Shes a great readed and like famous five etc but the more she reads of Anne preparing the meals and washing the dishes whilst julian bravely leads the way the more stereotypical gender roles are being in her head. I need to counterbalance please! A strong girl character needed!

[dynamitegirl]

Another vote for Arthur Ransome. Dick & Dot annoy me now as they are quite gender stereotyped (although perhaps it played into their personalities) but Nancy & Peggy and Port & Starboard do everything.
I also agree, though, about how the lead female is portrayed in some of the classics ... Jo in Little Women, Katy in the Katy Books, Jo, Mary Lou & others in Chalet School. All outspoken, spontaneous, quirky & larger than life. The PP's comment really resonated as I only realised the other day how many of my characteristics are perhaps because I wanted to be like them. It occurred to me that some of those characteristics work better in a novel than in real life!

[PaperMonster]

Definitely Anne of Green Gables - in the unabridged version, the vocab and sentence structure will challenge her as well. There’s a whole series of them.

[TeenPlusCat]

@Talipesmum I'm glad someone else likes Swallows & Amazons series. My favourite was Pigeon Post, mining for gold, the mysterious Squashy Hat, and a missing armadillo...

[Talipesmum]

Definitely agree with the Swallows and Amazons votes. There’s a realistically full range of “girl” personalities- oddly, as varied as actual human personalities
Re-reading swallowdale, for instance, recently, I noticed that 4/6 of them are girls. And it’s a book about people, children, adventure, with girls and boys just getting on with it. And all aspects of life are valued and all come in useful.
It might be that it’s better to read it with her to start with, as it could potentially be a bit harder to grasp as it’s written a long time ago. But it really is very straightforward and she might just need to “tune in” a little.

[surreygirl1987]

Oh and His Dark Materials when she's a little older... the character Lyra is amazing.

[surreygirl1987]

The Babysitters' Club. The Chalet School series is good too in many ways but does massively confirm to gender stereotypes at times too. The Naughtiest Girl in the School? In a few years The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and The Hunger Games would be good. Some Jacqueline Wilson books (like Bad Girls). Nancy Drew?

[GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal]

Has anyone mentioned Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books? They're packed with positive female role models. Not only is Tiffany herself smart, practical and resourceful, but all the women who mentor her are too.

They're funny, too.

[Coronawireless]

The classics as already mentioned - Anne of green gables, what Katy did (might seem dated now), a little princess. Personally I never took to the secret garden but my dc liked it.
The hunger games is too old for her but as a pp mentioned the female role model is exceptional, fit and strong but knows her limitations and tries to steer away from violence and war. She is kind, a loyal friend and has a strong core of decency which is a pleasure to read about. When your DD is a little older!
For now:
Bethany and the beast
The Daisy and the Trouble with series…she’s at the upper age range for these but they are very funny and my DD loves them.
The Slime (Bec Hill)
City of Ember (Jeanne du Pre)
The David Baddiel books
Some of the David Walliams (mixed views on him I know)
Amelia Fang

[generalh]

She may need to be in yr 5 or 6 before she reads this but Tha Shark Caller by Zillah Bethell is amazing. Two strong girl characters
Without giving too much of the plot away they do deal with loss and bereavement.
I have taught it to yr 7 and I cried at the end when I read it to the class. It was so moving.

[Mammyofonlyone]

Apologies, have not RTFT but I bought my daughter aged 8 'Gender reversed fairy tales'. The writing is not overly challenging for an eight year old, but the ideas certainly challenge stereotypes and accepted notions of femininity etc. V though provoking for her. She goes to an all girls school so she is very much into girl power!

She also enjoys books such as 'Women who changed the world' and 'Great women in science'

[batmanladybird]

Also goodnight stories for rebel girls
There are three volumes now

[Mrsfrumble]

But, do be careful what stereotypes and prejudices you bring to the table too. All the books I read as a teen showed that girls ought to be fearless, physically strong and aggressive in fights, sexually active with a variety of partners but emotionally detached, and financially independent with ambitious goals. Basically if a girl wasn’t trying to follow traditional male values then she wasn’t a good girl. Very confusing. I was left with a contempt for femininity, mothering, and housewives, that took decades to shake off

^ This is a good point. I’ve read some book / watched some TV programs and films where the writer has interpreted “strong female character” to mean physically^ strong, showing no weakness and having no flaws. It makes them dull and unrelatable.

[IcedCoffeeMilkshake]

@JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon

The Jinny series by Patricia Leitch, are great. Jinny is a wonderful heroine, and the boys are very much side kicks and supporting characters. She absolutely wouldn't make sandwiches for the boys!

There is also a "wise woman" who is a pivotal character in several of the books.

I was coming on to say the same. Jinny is a proper character. She is flawed like normal people but she aslo has strong morals and boundaries. Plus the books are littered with real women characters like Miss Tuke, Jinny's sister Petra who is the polar opposite to Jinny, Marlene, Sue etc.

(I wanted to be Jinny when I was growing up).

[DaisyDozyDee]

Lots of good suggestions already. Katherine Rundell would be a brilliant choice. Vashti Hardy is another one to look out for, especially for great female STEM role models.
The Girl Who Stole an Elephant, Amari and the Night Brothers, Ship of Shadows all also have excellent strong female characters.

[Keladrythesaviour]

Anything by Tamora Pierce! She worked in a home for girls in care in America and she writes strong, powerful (but also sometimes troubled) women characters, in made up worlds and they come up against various challenges that mimic real world issues (mysoginy etc). I grew up with them and learnt so many life lessons from them. 8 might be on the younger side but I think I started with the Daine series at that age. There are some adult themes but very vague and quite a good introduction to topics (kissing etc)

[Flitter123]

The wizard of Oz

[SoftSheen]

But, do be careful what stereotypes and prejudices you bring to the table too. All the books I read as a teen showed that girls ought to be fearless, physically strong and aggressive in fights, sexually active with a variety of partners but emotionally detached, and financially independent with ambitious goals. Basically if a girl wasn’t trying to follow traditional male values then she wasn’t a good girl. Very confusing. I was left with a contempt for femininity, mothering, and housewives, that took decades to shake off

^^This is a very good point. I would suggest the following books, which contain strong female characters doing interesting things, but not necessarily trying to be 'masculine'.

Swallows and Amazons
The Railway Children
The Bell Family
The Skylarks War
Little House on the Prairie series
Ballet Shoes

[dream75]

My 8 year old loves Pages & Co which is a great book all about a girl who is the hero. Also Harry Potter as Harry would of died if it wasn't for Hermione.

[riverpebbles]

Ramina books by Beverly Cleary. Absolutely wonderful books about a headstrong, creative girl and her older sister.

[Bananarama21]

Little women is a lovely read when she's abit older.

[Bananarama21]

Anne of green gables. The little princess, the secret garden.

[Blossomandbee]

My dd8 is loving Matilda (book and film) at the moment. She's very much a girls girl and loves strong female characters. I've also just bought her Pippi Longstocking as others have mentioned, but she hasn't started those yet.

[whatfreshheck]

Wild magic by Tamora Peirce

[timeisnotaline]

That Julia Redfern

[FazedNotPhased]

@Valhalla17

The Hunger Games....

For an 8 year old?