AIBU to want a spy/action/adventure book with female/girl leads for my daughter to enjoy?

[staveleymum]

My DS (9) has been reading Alex Ryder, Young Bond, Johnny Maxwell as well as Roald Dahl, David Walliams etc. These are all great books and I am sure that when it's time for my DS (6) to start on books some of these will appeal to her too. However, I've been looking around and trying to find books with strong female lead characters is rather thin on the ground in comparison to 'boys books' (FYI I dont advocate that there are books for boys or girls - just books) - but I would love for my daughter to have the choice to read books with strong girl characters that can also save the world!

We are on Worst Witch and have Naughty Little Sister for now but other than fairies, princesses, animal themed books I am struggling to find anything in the 7-9 age group that are more adventure based. I am going to try and find some Nancy Drew (I read those as a girl) but can anyone recommend any alternatives?

The firework makers daughter by Philip Pullman is a great book. My DD loved it - brave young girl on a quest. Lots of adventure and humour - highly recommend.

I loved the Trixie Belden series when I was that age.

Ronia the Robber's Daughter!
www.amazon.co.uk/Ronia-Robbers-Daughter-Astrid-Lindgren/dp/0192789945?tag=mumsnetforum-21

Did you check out Lari Don?

Hi I write books for kids for teens (with my daughter!) but I'm pretty up to date with the middle grade market (horrible US terminology but we all use it). Have you come across Abi Elphinstone's fab Dreamsnatcher series - great 12 year old female lead, Molly. Really adventurous and fun. Or maybe ry Robin Steven's books the Murder Most Unladylike series (Agatha Christie for that age group!) so much fun! let me know if you'd like more recommendations - I have tons! Perdita

Buffy the vampire slayer, twighlight doesn't hold a candle to em

The OP is looking for books in the 7-9 age range. I really don't think Buffy (or Twilight of course) fits the bill, however entertaining and kickass its heroine.

My 11 year old was hooked on the Robin Stevens series - 1920s schoolgirl detectives, think one of them is "Murder Most Unladylike" - I read one of them and it was brilliant - Miss Marple crossed with Malory Towers - very strong female characters etc.

5moreminutes Are you thinking of , Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris? It's definitely not a kid's book. Tyke Tyler is a children's book - the main character's sex isn't mentioned and kids tend to assume that Tyke is a boy and are surprised when it is revealed that Tyke is actually a girl. Good for exploring gender stereotypes and assumptions.

Came on to recommend Skulduggery but I see its been mentioned.
I loved JW growing up.

Whippet that doesn't sound like something I'd read I honestly have no idea - I had déjà vu when I read the link to the Tyke Tyler book, right down to the roof scene detail, but I think I must be half remembering another book with freakishly similar plot overlap but a whole different tone - perhaps some author accidentally partially plagiarised a childhood favourite! As I only patchily remember it I probably read it in some strange context like a long train or plane ride, so maybe it was just airport/ railway station shop fluff... I do wonder what it was now! It was set in a boarding rather than a day school I think and actually I suspect that the main character was actually living with her family in a cottage in the school grounds and attending a state school but blending into the boarding school population from time to time... or something... It was quite creepy actually... Perhaps I'll never know, or its a product of my faulty imagination

I know someone mentioned Ottoline but I haven't RTFT so get the Ottoline books. They are a joy to read.

When she's a bit older (say, 8-12) the Diana Wynne Jones books are EXCELLENT. They're a mixture of female and male protagonists, but I'm thinking specifically of Howl's Moving Castle, which has a superb female protagonist in Sophie.

Also, when I was about seven or eight, I loved a book called 'Floella Hits The Roof' by Jane Holiday. It's about a little girl who has to save the day when a dragon comes to sit on the roof of the town hall.

OH GOSH also, if you don't already own it, you HAVE TO buy a copy of 'The Wrestling Princess and other stories' by Judy Corbalis. They would be good for your daughter already I think. They are seriously kick-ass, funny, original feminist fairy tales. I still re-read them now sometimes!

5moreminutes The girl was the daughter of the boarding/private boy's school's caretaker & disguised herself as a boy & pretended to be one of the pupils. She returned years later as a teacher (male). The Latin master was still there and I think the chapters alternated between him & the narrator. It was all a bit Tyke Tyler gone wrong 😜

Ah that's it! I hadn't thought of that book in years, but when I clicked the link to Tyke Tyler upthread I thought 'I'm sure I've read that - that was never a children's book!' On the other hand there are people suggesting the Hunger Games,so maybe some people honestly think that kind of thing is perfect for a 7-9 year old! Thanksanks for clearing that up!

It doesn't matter how many times Skulduggery Pleasant gets mentioned, it needs more mentioning The title and covers make it look like Skulduggery is the main character but he isn't - Valkyrie is the lead and the vast majority of the text is her POV although they are multiple POV books. A very flawed character, but nearly everybody in that series is extremely flawed...

CHERUB I absolutely love and would recommend to anyone aged 12/13 +, best teen spy series ever created IMHO, but from a female character perspective, you need to be a few books in before the female characters really come into their own. I agree that the boys have shitty attitudes towards the girls, and their method of refusing to put up with it includes violence.

However I personally think 9 is on the young side for CHERUB. For instance, one of Lauren Adams best storylines (IMO) is in book 7, in which she is 12 years old and investigating a human trafficking ring. The whole focus of her storyline is about the trafficking of women and children for prostitution. She gets kidnapped by the traffickers near the end and taken to a brothel where teenaged girls are being held captive. One of the men tries to rape her, and she has to stab him to stop him, before trying to escape.

Definitely for 9 year olds, H.I.V.E by Mark Walden has a male lead character but does have several great female characters, especially Raven (the impossibly badass assassin on 'their side') and Laura (computer and hacking genius). Raven has a lot of chapters from her POV overall, more in the later books though

Rayna in "Attack of the Giant Robot Chickens" and "Revenge of the Giant Robot Chickens" by Alex McCall. Aimed at age 8 upwards.

I remember reading Skullduggery Pleasant and the main character in those is a tweenagey girl, they should work. You're right though, it's utterly diabolical for girls, I find it v frustrating!

Ah I didn't read whole thread, glad there's lots of love for old Skullduggery!!

A less well known series I LOVED when I was younger was 'The Icemark Chronicles'. Especially the first book, 'The Cry of the Icemark'. Fantasy/action. Lead female character. She is the Princess of the Icemark, Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield, also called the Wildcat of the North, who has to save her Kingdom from an invading army. Obviously she is well versed in fighting and extremely intelligent, and leads her army into battle herself.

Plenty of great female characters in 'The Wind on Fire' trilogy, which I also loved to pieces (literally!). Fantasy adventure. The lead characters are twins Kestrel (girl) and Bowman (boy) Hath. Difficult to explain the plot, but they save their people from the coming army of the Morah.

Another of my much-loved trilogies with a sister and brother lead is The Doomspell Trilogy. More fantasy adventure! Rachel and Eric are sucked into a freezing world of magic controlled by a witch. Creepy and fantastic, it's about discovering their own powers and defeating the Witches.

Great thread, so many recommendations! Thank you OP and posters.

Sacrilege to compare kick ass Buffy to -shitty-on-gender-and-many-other-things- Twilight!

A big yes please to more recommendations from the PP who is a US teen author!

Madeleine L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time (and others ...)

How about this one?

www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Night-Stories-Rebel-Girls/dp/014198600X?tag=mumsnetforum-21

A couple more I've just thought of are Under the Egg,same author has a new one called The Gallery out I think now. Also The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and The Red Blazer Girls.