Teen/YA books that aren’t about relationships

[VenusClapTrap]

Dd is turning 12 very soon. She wants a big pile of books for her birthday, as she is a bookworm. At Christmas I found the choice for someone her age a bit limited, as she doesn’t like anything about love - which teen/YA fiction seems to be pretty focussed on. This inevitably means she ends up reading a lot of sci fi/fantasy and ghost story type stuff, which she does enjoy, but it would be nice to broaden the subject matter a bit.

Any recommendations?

I don't know, but watching with interest as my goddaughter is the same!

12 is a funny age for books.
Would she like historical set ones? Goodnight Mr Tom and Back Home by Michelle Magorian are brilliant (I read them for the first time aged around 15 - even though they are classed as "children's books")
The Hetty Feather series by Jacqueline Wilson is a nice series.
Classics like....
Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Anne of Green Gables
Little Women
Modern stuff.... Sophie Mackenzie does good teen thrillers.
Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series.
I often find the '8 - 12' section in bookshops better than the 'teen' section.
A lot of classics/modern classics get put there but they are often books more appreciated by teen readers.

The chrestomanci series by Diana wynne jones is great if she hasn’t read those already

I recently read They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera and it's not really about relationships. I read a lot of YA fiction though and I know what you mean.

Moonrise (can't remember the author) is about a guy whose brother is on death row. A great read but maybe not for younger teens? You should check.

His Dark Materials
A Series of Unfortunate Events

She’s not all that keen on historical stuff or classics - which is a shame because I loved all that stuff when I was her age so I have a good collection, but she’s rejected most of it. She actively hated Anne of Green Gables! 😩

Some good suggestions here though, thank you.

Garth nix old kingdom books. There is a tiny bit of romance but not a lot

Wolf Brother series
The Dark is Rising series
Wolves of Willoughby Chase series (including prequels)
Alan Garner books
The Last Wild etc by Piers Torday
Louis Sachar books
White Fang/Call of the Wild
Gerald Durrell books

I've just had a look on my DDs (12) shelves:

Roar series by Jenny McLachlan
Onjali Rauf's books
Alex Rider series / The Power of Five series by Anthony Horowitz
Philip Pullman Northern Lights etc
Ruby Redford series by Lauren Child
Eva Ibbotson

How about trying some biographies? Which ones would depend on her interests. Sports, historical, real life stories, celebrity. Maybe someone in the environmental field?

smile.amazon.co.uk/Extraordinary-Women-History-Remarkable-Difference/dp/B092CHCJJJ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=818T3THPO45A&keywords=Teenagers+books+biographies&qid=1652864275&sprefix=teenagers+books+biographies,aps,130&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

At 11-12 I read all of Gerald Durrell’s books.
The Born Free, Living Free, Forever Free series. Joy Adamson.

My teen DSD loved the Murder Most Unladylike series.

Lucy Worsely (BBC history presenter) has written a bunch of novels aimed at teens based on the lives of historical women when they were younger (e.g. Queen Victoria, Jane Austen) which she really enjoyed too.

Edge Chronicles
Wonder
Murder Most Unladylike
Riddle of the Runes

Some indie bookshops do a subscription service, where they will discuss what the subscriber likes (and doesn't) and send a book a month - is this worth investigating?

Thank you for all these great suggestions. A lot of them she’s already read, but there are plenty of new ones to fill up the birthday basket!

A book subscription service is an amazing idea! I will investigate that.

The Messenger Bird by Ruth Eastham. About a parent / child relationship and Bletchley Park (much better than it sounds, DS and I read it together and were gripped)

Came on here to say the same!

Is she in to sport/animals/adventurers? Is so you could try some biographies/autobiographies.

www.heywoodhill.com/subscriptions

dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/gifts/daunt-books-subscription/

When I was that age I read stuff Lord of the Rings, Mary Renault books, the Song of the Lioness books (some relationship stuff in there though), all the Gerald Durrell books (including his less read ones like the Batfut Beagles, that was my favourite!)

DS1 is almost 11 and a pretty advanced reader, he's just finished White Fang - other books on his class reading list are (copied and pasted directly from his english teacher's email!)

The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings – Tolkien.
A Christmas Carol – Dickens.
Treasure Island – R.L. Stevenson (A challenge for some boys and perhaps something fun to read together).
The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton. Boys will be interested to know the author was seventeen when this was published. A personal favourite of mine. There is some violence that needs to be understood in context. The film is a cult classic with a young Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise and Matt Dillon.
The Old Man and the Sea – Hemingway.
Just Stories – Rudyard Kipling. Plenty of vocabulary to learn in here and perfect for finishing one story in a day.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Joan Aitken

Has she read the Anne of Green Gables books? My Dd loved them at a similar age. Also a huge bookworm that didn't like the love stuff. I'll try and think of some others

Ok, should read the full thread before replying 🤦🏻‍♀️

My dd is 12 and I understand the dilemma! She started reading the Cat Warrior series by Erin Hunter when she was younger, but has really got back into them and is lending them to her friends! Your dd may need to like cats though!

My DD loved the Lauren St John books

• The White Giraffe series


• Laura Marlin series (girl detective)


• One Dollar Horse series (but I think there was some romance in those)

She also liked Philip Pullman's Ruby in the Smoke series (Victorian girl detective)

Harry Potter

Anything by Frances Hardinge. She's amazing. I particularly love cuckoo song, about changelings and sibling relationships and grief. Gullstruck island, again siblings and finding yourself. All her books are fantastical but amazingly well written.