to not want my 16yo dd to read this book?

[BrittanyBelle]

16 yo dd wants to read the millenium trilogy - girl with dragon tatto etc. i have read them myself but think they are too graphic/violent. TBH i don't think she'll manage more than 50 pages as she's not a very voracious reader but i'm aware that showing my reluctance will motivate her even more. this is my first posting so thanks for your advice

[Scholes34]

My DD's English teacher said Year 9s should be reading adult fiction and I'm now passing on books to her I've read in my book group. It's definitely useful to be reading lots yourself so you can recommend a good book to your DCs and all it takes is one good recommendation and they'll take your suggestions seriously.

If you have reservations about the book, then, as she's 16 and if she really wants to read it, you should pass it on to her with your comments, especially some reassurance that the behaviour of the men in the book isn't typical.

I found out a few months ago that a friend of mine had let her 13 year old DD read the first book in the series, thinking it was an appropriate next set of books after Twilight. My friend hadn't read it herself and I was definitely . I think this illustrates the importance of parents reading and being in a position to recommend good books.

[Cereal]

Ask her what she thinks of the book and show you're willing to discuss it with her.

[Funtimewincies]

DandyGilver - I grew up with the impression that men on the whole were either nice (but a bit dull) or dangerous (but exciting) cads with zero moral scruples.

Actually, turned out to be a pretty fair assessment on the whole .

[TrillianAstra]

You say she is quite a young 16 and that's why you want to stop her reading more adult things - maybe reading more adult books will help her to become a more mature 16 yr old.

[Sn0wflake]

You can't censor her reading at that age. I think I read the Story of O at that age....my mum thought it was a hateful book but she didn't forbid me.

I'm not saying that those ideas are not disturbing but that is the world unfortunately.

[BecauseImWorthIt]

And frankly, it gives you an ideal opportunity to discuss the situation that Salander was in, and the whole issue of rape. That is, if she's a teen who wants to talk about anything with her parents!

[moonmother]

I saw the films before reading the books, and to be honest if it was me I'd rather her read the books than watch the films- the rape scene in the first book was less graphic in the book than in the film ( which was brutal).

Another avid reader here, who in her teens spent most of her time reading Jilly Cooper, Thorn Birds etc.

[porcamiseria]

i hear you, as book 1 is VERY VERY dark, it even freaked me. but she is 16 so little you can do

[BrittanyBelle]

ok i realise iabu and will let her read the book - DH is reading it at the moment so she can have it when he's finished - mind you he's a very slow reader so she'll probably be 18 by then! in the meantime she has started The Thorn Birds (i also then hope her 13 yo sister won't want to read it). thanks for your views on this

[kangers]

I read the rats by James Herbert when 13. Still have flashbacks about the rats chewing the toes off the shagging couple and then the man falling into a grave and the rat chewing his lungs while he is still alive.
There is nothing like that in the dragon Tattoo trilogy.
It'll be fine.

[mumeeee]

YANBU to not want her to read it. But you can't really stop her. She is 16 so should be deciding herself what she reads.

[ChumleeIsMyHomeboy]

I read everything at 13 from the complete works of Agatha Christie to The Exorcist! Jackie Collins, Harold Robbins (all nicked from Dad's study!) to Shakespeare and ghastly Latin poets at school. All it's left me with is an inability to be without a book!

[tyler80]

Clockwork Orange and the Wasp Factory were on our reading list at school at 16, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is fairly tame in comparison imo.

[DandyGilver]

I was an entirely uncensored and voracious reader - large amounts of it Victorian. Hit the Trollope hard in my early teens. Left me with a suspicion of how machiavellian my local minister might be, but no lasting damage.

And lots of Dennis Wheatley around the same time.

[dozyrosie]

When I worked in a children's department of a book shop I met many parents who would have given their right arm to have a teen DC who wanted to read anything. Please don't dampen any enthusiasm, especially if as you say she is already "not a very voracious reader".
Besides she has probably seen graphic films and played violent computer games without you even knowing. Wouldn't you rather her read any book regardless of the content. I'm sure you know that she will probably read it anyway.
You should really be encouraging DD to read anything she wants, certainly not censoring her. You can also use various books as a way to have a chat about difficult issues that you may otherwise find awkward to approach.

[MrsRobertDuvall]

Well I think most of us underage Salacious readers have grown up all right and not too traumatised

[wordfactory]

I'd say all bets are off at 16 and she should read whatever she likes. You can always chat about it afterwards if she wants to. And if she decides it's too graphic (persoanlly I don't find that) then you can steer her to less graphic stuff.

Younger than say 13 and I dunno. I'm a writer myself and I'd say some of the stuff I portray is pretty disturbing. Some DC would lket it go over their head but others might not and you can't unread things can you?

[motherinferior]

Yes, but 13 is very different from 16. Sixteen year olds are reading big serious stuff for GSCE, surely? If you can cope with Othello, you can cope with Stieg Larsson!

And surely this is exactly the right age to be cultivating a bit of lefty paranoia

[mummymccar]

I think that the Dragon Tattoo series should be fine for a 16 y/o. Tbh, she may not make it passed the first 100 pages of heavy economic politics, in which case you'll have been worrying about nothing. If she does read beyond that then she obviously loves reading and you should be nurturing that. Tbh, when I was 16 one of my AS Level texts was 'The Colour Purple' which opens with incestuous rape!

[Avocets]

There is a serious issue here though isn't there. I agree that 16 should be old enough to decide what you want to read - especially if there is a fair chance she might give up - but I am interested to see so many weighing in to celebrate how uncensored their reading was at e.g. 13. Last year, children in my daughter's class ((13 year olds) were reading e.g. The Lovely Bones and similar - "thank goodness she's reading" - was the usual justification - or - "when I was her age I read e.g. Stephen king/Jackie Collins" etc etc. I told my daughter what it was about and not to read it as it was a book written for adults not children. It's a fine balance, I think.

[motherinferior]

I think if she gets through them they will give her a very good political education so should be encouraged

[Portofino]

I had READ all sorts by the time I was 16. I'm with others though, that you have to persevere to get into those books, so she might well lose interest.

[JoJoMummy321]

I agree that you shouldn't try and stop her reading these books but totally understand your reluctance, especially with reference to the description of the very violent rape of Salander.

I think you should let her read them (as you probably can't really stop her) but perhaps keep an eye on where she is up to in the book? When/if she gets as far as that chapter you can keep an eye on her to check she's not upset by it.

[Matsikula]

she's not a voracious reader, and she wants to read something - let her! I read loads of 'unsuitable' books as a kid (having whizzed through the entire children's section of the library pretty much before I went to secondary school). the only one that scarred me was one that was completely age-appropriate. It was about nuclear holocaust and kept me awake at night for months. However, had my mother attempted to discourage me from reading it, there's no way she could have stopped me.

[WilsonFrickett]

YABU.

However, I hated the first and third books (second was great) so I don't imagine she'll get past all the putting the coffees on and exceptionally long descriptions of the first few chapters. I do think some of it is very graphic, but that doesn't mean you can stop her reading it.