Please recommend some books to get a teen dd (age 14) into reading

[Whatliesbeneath707]

We went to Waterstones today to look for some books. We ended up in the young adult section but the choice of books really surprised me. They seemed to be very dark and many were about watching people die, addiction or being bullied/having a really hard time.
What's happened to all the nice, easy to read first romance type books? Do they not exist now? My daughter can read but struggles to focus to read a book. I want her to be able to sit & get lost in a book & I want her to be able to read a whole book.
Can anyone recommend any nice easy reads please? Nothing dark or sinister. Thanks.

My daughter can read but struggles to focus to read a book. I want her to be able to sit & get lost in a book & I want her to be able to read a whole book.

At 14, I don't think it's up to you any longer. Many people can't read books these days as our attention span is shot to pieces due to the instant gratification of social media and online content. Does your dd actually want to read books? If yes, non-fiction might be more interesting to her? Otherwise her school library would probably hold a good selection of age appropriate books. What are your dd hobbies and interests?

I had been trying to get my now 15 year old back into reading for ages. Her English teacher has been saying for the past few years that it's really important that they read - for many reasons - so I get why you're keen for your daughter to read OP. They have too many distractions with the likes of Tik Tok and other social media which generally isn't good for their mental health and being into a good book can help to minimise the time they spend online which, as far as I'm concerned, can only be positive. I bought her a few new books towards the end of last year including the first in the Magpie Society series by Zoe Sugg & Amy McCulloch and All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue. She absolutely loved them and has continued reading since. She went out and bought the second book in both of these series herself without any encouragement from me! Others she has enjoyed recently are the Shadow & Bone books and They both die at the end by Adam Silvera. Good luck!

Have a look at Michelle Paver's Spirit Walker series, should be OK for a teenager. Difficult to know what to recommend without knowing your daughter.

Be wary of the YA romances they seem to be mainly young woman has one night stand with handsome stranger, gets pregnant, has baby, meets stranger again only to find he's a misunderstood billionaire ex navy seal who's thrilled to meet her again and they all live happily ever after.

Also, I disagree that it's not up to parents anymore to get a 14 year old to read. The instant gratification provided by social media will always make it a more attractive option to teens so they really do need encouragement to read. Maybe take your daughter book shopping and let her pick a couple of books that interest her?

My daughter has recently binged 'The Good Girl's Guide to Murder' series.

I really like Neal Shusterman for young adults. The Unwound series is superb.

Also a big fan of the Extinction Trials series - a kind of Hunger Games meets Jurassic Park. Excellent storytelling.

In my classes I have teen girls reading the Murder Most Unladylike series - these are not dark at all, but my daughter read them slightly younger (11ish) so I'm not sure if she was reading ahead or they (girls in class) are reading younger than their years.

Just a few more ideas (I am sitting in front of DD's shelves):

(authors)
Huntley Fitzpatrick
Jandy Nelson
Sophie McKenzie
Leanne Hall
Lauren Oliver ( Panic is very good)
The Girl in the Blue Coat Monica Hesse
Emily Barr ( Flora Banks )
Cecilia Ahern ( Flawed )
Patrick Ness (leaves me cold, but a lot of teens like his stuff)
Darren Shan (at least it's inventive...)

Do you like reading OP? Maybe it's something you could do together. Sit down after dinner together with a book each instead of watching tv or going on phones.
My dds enjoyed books like "I capture the castle" by Dodie Smith or "My turn to make the tea" by Monica Dickens. Sweet "vintage" books. I personally dislike a lot of YA fiction. It's very dark and quite depressing. A bit of escapism is very nice I think. Agatha Christie is another great suggestion by a PP.

Huntley Fitzpatrick books are awesome.
One of us is lying.
Dash and lily's book of dares is good (gets a lot of rereads in our house)
Kasie West - the boy on the fence
I like Katie mcgarry pushing the limits but 14 is maybe a touch too young (although I don't censor books so would have at it)
The fault in our stars - I thought it was ok ish but DC loved it at 14.

Does she really want light romance?

One thing my dd loved about that age was older "girls own" type books. They're innocent, only very light hints of love and just nice stories.
If you can get it then she loved "Coronet for Cathy" by Gwendolyn Courtney, I think.

What about graphic novels? HeartStopper is a lovely story. Might lead to her getting into the Alice Oseman books too

My dd aged 15 loves the Taylor and Rose detective books.

DD1 loves the Murder most unladylike series (but I agree it's more for a slightly younger audience - DD is 13 in August), anything by Gerald Durrell, Lucy Worsley, Agatha Christie. Plus a load of less tame books. DD1 is an avid reader and easily hooked. DD2 is another matter entirely!

For gentle feel good reading before bed the Gerald Durrell trilogy are go to books for my eldest. I wouldn't say an easy read, but they are funny and warm.

Really for your daughter to not want to put it down it has to be about something she's already interested in. That's the best place to start.

The 48 laws of power
33 strategies of war

biographies of
Leonardo da vinci
Marco polo
Machiavelli
J Edgar Hoover

Or
cherub espionage series
divergent series
hunger games series

I second the Hunger Games series

How I live now by Meg Rosoff

Thanks everyone. You given some great suggestions & I will make a list to show to my dd.
My reason for encouraging her to read is that she has not finished a book since primary school. Now I know that she's only going to dovwhat she's interested in but I'm concerned that she has lost the ability the sit & focus. This is so important as she is moving towards her GCSEs. I would be remiss as a parent if I didn't encourage her to try to read. If any of you have teens, you will know the huge draw is for them to be focused on social media and I feel this is stopping teens getting into books. Johann Hari's book - Stolen Focus sums this well.
Thanks for the recommendations 😊

Being good at reading is not equivalent to not enjoying reading. You can be one without the other. And reading novels is not the be all and end all. There’s so much other reading - magazines, newspapers, websites, texts, social media posts. I don’t think we should get hung up on our kids reading novels - some are just not into that

Matt Haig books.
House on the Cerulean sea.
Good omens.