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?

Oh wow 'Flowers in the Attic'!

I read this when in my first year or so at secondary school, it had me hooked it was so dark and basically screwed up, the brother & sister and the twins

Also I read the follow on books but not as good

In summary being a book worm is not a bad thing at all, I read everything I could get my hands on....I turned out ok, I think

I was reading Stephen King, Christopher Pike and Virginia Andrews when I was 12, so I'd say Jacqueline Wilson is quite tame.

Such a good point, this is a large reason why I love Jacqueline Wilson. It’s so important for representation and to show children in a range of situations including less than ideal circumstances- this is real life.

I didn’t actually read any of her books until I was an adult working with children who loved her.

I think she’s brilliant and I can see why she’s such a bestseller.

The only thing that matters at 12 is that she's coming back from the library with a stack of books.

WHAT a kid that age reads, as long as it's not Mein Kampf, is less important than the fact that they do. Reading widens and expands the mind, and also teaches sustained concentration. Whatever gives her joy is what matters.

School will give plenty of challenging reading material, too. Let her keep the love and joy in the frame - she will grow up and out of the writer soon enough, but hopefully the halo effect of loving reading will be with her for life.

I still have my copies of the Wakefield family saga books. There was two of them, one following the mother’s family and the other the father’s! (Who naturally gave up a lordship in Wakefield, Yorkshire in order to come to America!)

It's best she reads books she enjoys. You can absolutely suggest other books, but this is harmless.

I read JW to my DDs and thought they were pretty dire. They are now teens and do laugh about the grimness of the story lines.

However I general I don't agree with censoring what kids read.

Mine have moved onto to all sorts from YA books to the classics .

Just to add, I got A* in both my English literature and language GCSEs during the 90s

So all that Judy Blume and Flowers in the Attic didn't negatively impact me at all!

Although I went on to do science and language A-levels

"That's a very good point! It drives me mad as she's very academic but is just obsessed with J. W.. I was hoping she would be reading more educational books during the summer 😩"

@Breakdancing if you work, do you spend your annual leave doing training courses for your job? Leave her alone to read what she likes. It's a hobby not a job.

And JW is a fantastic who deals with gritty issues that a lot of children face. Reading about the types of challenges that other children can face is important as it teaches children the importance of empathy and understanding.

This.

Like a PP, I was reading Stephen King and Dean Koontz at that age, and I don’t think that YA fiction was really a thing.
Not sure that I could say it did me no harm though as I remember sleepless nights imagining Danny Glick at the window.

I watched the film the story horrified me. From the mum with uncle who was great uncle and dad to his children. The grandmother did not want anything to do with them but I do think she took pity on them. Their mother was wicked trying to kill them off so she she can remarry.

I had never heard of that book but I've just read the plot summary and I'm pleased that I did not read that when I was a child.

They are all ishooos based books as I remember. So clunky.
What about some Eva Ibbotson?

They’re fine - similar sort of topics to the Judy Blume and Paula Danziger books that we were all obsessed with back in the day.

I actually think Judy Blume was a quality writer (although I should admit I missed out on Forever as I was reading her stuff in primary school and just wasn't interested in sexual themes at the time, so I started it and thought it was boring). I think I first learnt (indirectly) about the Holocaust from reading Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself.

Anyway, my parents let me read whatever I liked, I read some awful shite (as well as some good stuff) and now I have a PhD in literature and still read a mix of highbrow and trash.

At 13 I liked Jirassic Park (novel) and others by Michael Crichton. Could she give those a whirl?

*Jurassic
Needs glasses

They were banned at my school (along with Mizz magazine) naturally that made sure we read every single one!

I would steer away from "Love Lessons" (the one with the teacher-pupil relationship which is not framed as grooming, and the pupil gets blamed for it in the end) and some of the very early ones like "Falling Apart" (main character attempts suicide)

I suspect it's a similar misogyny that makes books aimed at women "Chick-lit" and almost identical books with a male protagonist as "an interesting character study"

I think I wasn't much older that that & I was reading Jacqueline Susann, Harold Robbins & Jackie Collins.

Don't think there was much specifically for that age group when I was 12!

I'm not even sure what you mean by 'educational' books when you're talking about fiction, OP? And it's hard to tell from your post whether you think JW is too adult for your daughter, or that her books are poorly written.

My 10yo is also obsessed with JW and I can completely understand why - she introduces kids to the slightly darker side of life in a way that is safe and age-appropriate.

I'm am English teach and I adored Jacqueline Wilson as a child. Even now, I think they are great books, she is such a gifted writer with so much depth to her books. They introduce more sheltered children to situations so outside their own norms and help to create tolerance and empathy.

Also, pushing her to read more 'educational books' is a bad idea. Let her enjoy reading as a hobby, whatever it is she likes to read!! You run the risk of making reading a chore. And let her enjoy her holidays!

At least she’s reading like a Pp said it could be bloody TT I wish my DD would read more and I also was another who read the flowers in the attic series at a VV young age . I used to also steal books from the sixth form section at school that is lowers wernt allowed 🥲🤣

If you're not despairing of what a child is reading you're probably not doing things properly...

I really struggled with reading/writing - had remedial classes with the special teacher in primary school and then once the penny dropped, my reading age was off the charts (actually!) by the last two years of primary...

Everything with words, I read - from Enid Blyton to Dick Francis, Nevil Shute, Agatha Christie - all the dire drippy Pony Books from the Pullein-Thompson sisters, Monica Dickens, Ruby Ferguson, Patricia Leitch..

Mother hated it, but kept that hatred to a low simmer really, and kept the book supply coming (I did have to buy the pony books with my own money from charity shops though, she drew the line there).

These days... I am a writer, and on my kindle right now are several fantasy novels, a recently republished Patricia Leitch from the Jinny series of pony books and Irving Finkels - The First Ghosts.

11yo DD is really into the Crookhaven, Skandar and Scarlett & Ivy books atm I think they'd be worth looking at. Skandar is an interesting take on unicorns (scary wild monsters which need to be tamed, go on quests etc), Crookhaven is about a school for young criminals and Scarlett and Ivy are twins at a 1920s(?) boarding school who solve mysteries (but definitely not Blyton-esque type boarding school)

I definitely read JW at a similar age and loved them 😁