12 year old obsessed with Jacqueline Wilson books.. Aibu to think there is better out there?

[Breakdancing]

My 12 year old has come back from the library with another stack of Jacqueline Wilson books. I've flicked through some & they are mildly inappropriate but are in the young readers section.. I love that she is a bookworm but aibu to be annoyed with her obsession with Jacqueline Wilson?

I loved Jacqueline Wilson at her age. And I will confess I've read a few more she's written since I was an adult. I saw somewhere that she is bringing out an adult novel to follow up on the Girls in Love series.

I think some of the storyline are quite mature but she writes in an age appropriate way. To be honest some books really opened my eyes to some life situations outside my own cosy middle class, nuclear family upbringing. When I started a job working with the public I wasn't quite as blinkered as some colleagues who couldn't even imagine how some people's lives were.

Oh god, I'd forgotten about Judy Blume and all the horror books I avidly consumed as a young teen. Totally not appropriate but guess mum thought if she banned them they might only become more attractive.

I grew out of James Herbert and Steven King too.

Sorry just cross posted with your update 😂

When I was 12 I was reading Suedehead and Skinhead, be very grateful 😂😂😂

The next phase is Cassandra Clare and Coleen Hoover!!!

You sound a bit of a book snob...

JW writing about hard hitting, slightly inappropriate topics is what MAKES them interesting for young teens.

She'll start reading something else eventually. But she's reading and she's happy and that's the important thing.

Would recommend the Cherub series to her, also quite gritty but perhaps not as inappropriate. Great YA books!

Let her read JW if that’s what she likes! She’s 12 and it’s the school holidays. Malorie Blackman books are a similar style/subject material. I loved those too.

I ended up with an Eng Lit degree so it didn’t do me any harm 😂

What situations? I'm not a fan but curious now.

I live at the south end of the Pennines @Wrongsideofpennines . Which end is the wrong end? 😁

Feeling like I should go read some JW books, I thought they were all aimed at primary age / pre-teen. What sort on content is inappropriate?

She's read the Murder Most Unladylike series & devoured it!

Has she read the Lemony Snicket books yet? I remember really enjoying those at 12ish, too.

Just let her read what she wants. Reading should be enjoyable, not an educational chore.

Am I the only one sat here wondering what on earth is mildly inappropriate in a Jacqueline Wilson book?

Surely at 12 she knows about most things?

I think it's quite normal for kids of that age to binge on at least one low-brow series or author. It was Point Horror for me. My English teacher used to roll her eyes every time she saw them! Your DD will move on soon enough!

One of them is about a young girl who kisses her teacher. She initiates it and the teacher is horrified but obviously things blow up... can't remember the rest right now of that XD
Then there's being in care, poor parenting, consequences of stupidity, abuse in the Victorian era....

That's it, I haven't objected at all as it would only make her more determined to get more JW books hence why I am posting my frustrations on mumsnet!

Making books an "educational" experience outside of school is a guaranteed way to kill any desire to read

Just be glad she's reading and enjoying them, I don't think JW is inappropriate for a 12 year old.
"Forever" by Judy Blume was being passed around every girl in my class at that age

Just let the poor girl read. I can't abide book snobs who criticise every type of book that they deem unacceptable.

So what if it's not a specifically educational book?! She's still learning regardless of what she is reading.

Please keep your opinions to yourself and don't turn her off reading for life

Absolutely ADORED JW at that age and into my early teens! What "educational books" would you prefer? I agree with the PP who said reading should be for fun, let her enjoy the storylines. 😃

I think the one about living in a B&B. I remember starting work and my colleague who started at the same time couldn't understand how this family didn't have a house, like why did the council not put them in a house. And children living with parents that aren't coping like the Illustrated Mum, again she thought children would have been removed and put onto nice Foster homes at the first issue.

I'm currently on the West but previously lived on the East. I have a friend who did the opposite and it's just an ongoing joke that one of us is forever on the wrong side.

This was me too! I bought all Agatha Christie's books second-hand (I had a rule that I couldn't pay more than £1.50) and read them obsessively. I now read a wide range of books and, should it be relevant, went to Oxbridge and am now a barrister, so I feel AC did me no harm.

She'll branch out in her own time. She'll also meet people she likes who tell her about other books and start to read them. One of them might be you, OP - keep suggesting things she might like, but don't pressure her. Reading is such a pleasure if you love what you're reading; you don't want to make it into a chore.

Of all the JW books I’ve read, the only one I recall being utterly traumatised by was The Cat Mummy 🙈 it properly made me cry!

Vicky Angel is a sad one, too.

Sorry that post should have quoted minou123!