Best Books to Get for an Avid Advanced Reader 10 yr old Girl -

[rockinhippy]

I can't keep up with her, she can almost get through a book a day & I'm rapidly running out of ideas. I'm also finding its getting more awkward as her tastes & ability seem to be more teenage than 10, so as shes still quite young, I obviously need to take care with content too, hence why I'm asking for any recommendations here:) - I don't mind horror etc, she understands it as make believe & is very sensible & not easily spooked, but nothing sexually explicit, or too much about drugs etc, odd swearing okay, as again she's sensible & probably hears worse in the street.

She's just finished Shift (Em Bailey) which she really loved, said its the best book she's read yet, so anything of that ilk would be great - I can't find any other Em Bailey books - are there more ?

She's now reading, but almost finished Eve & Adam ( Michael Grant/Katherine Applegate) again really enjoyed that & prior to these devoured the whole Karen Mc Combie, Alison world & others, enjoyed, but got a bit bored so wanted more challenging.

She's desperate to get her hands on mŷ old James Herbert books, I'm tempted as some I think she would love, but I just wish I could remember which if any don't have sex scenes - anyone ?

Or any other recommendations at all, she seems keen on anything with a bit of a twist, horror, thrillers & was reading a lot of teen school drama type stuff, but I think she'd want that to be a bit more of a twist to it now, if that makes sense

Any advice gratefully received

TIA :)

[JanuaryBringsTheSnow]

Books I was reading at her age:

Chalet School - Elinor M Brent Dyer - old fashioned but I loved them
the Jennings series by Antony Buckeridge - old fashioned but hilarious

Agatha Christie

James Herriot

Susan Cooper (Fantasy, but brilliant)

The classics - Austin, Bronte etc

I realise these are possibly not her usual type, but something might appeal

[rockinhippy]

Thank you MrsHoarder Tamora Pierce sounds perfect & I don't mind the odd sexual reference as she's very grown up for her age & she's read SE books/chats, school etc, so not totally naive but obviously I want to keep a check on anything too graphic - I recently read J/H Sectet of Crickley Hall & all the way through it I was thinking, she can have this next, she'll love it, until I got to the end & it suddenly went all S&M & paedo - so thought better of it & yes thanks, we are lucky & have that library system for free here:)

Thanks January - but sadly I cannot get her to read any of the classics, tried hard, she tells me the Enid Blyton stuff she read when much younger put her off, as its full of stuffy words no one uses any more - hoping she will come round in time & appreciate the classics for what they are, but for now she's very much a teen in her attitude & its all just stuffy :(

[TheDarkestNight]

What about some 20th Century adult classics? Brideshead? The Importance of Being Earnest? I hate a lot of old-fashioned prose and can't be dealing with 19th century lit at all, but love early 20th century stuff, and it tends to be less raunchy. I can't remember if there's any sex in Brideshead, though... I remember a lot of drinking, but I suppose it depends how you feel.

[TheDarkestNight]

Jut remembered Importance of Being Earnest is actually 19th C... well, Wilde was ahead of his time!

[Vicky13]

Has she tried Conan Doyle? I read Hound of the Baskervilles at that age and loved it although I never read any others.

I have an 11 yr old with similar reading speed, but not tastes. She loves the classics and has loved Swallows and Amazons / Enid Blyton and is now loving Gerald Durrell. We also have just started reading Oliver Twist (me reading it to her, as I think she'd still struggle on her own) and she's really enjoying that.

If she likes horror, maybe that's the way in - Frankenstein, Dracula etc.

[extracrunchy]

I loved Jane Eyre at that age. And Agatha Christy!

[Takver]

Temeraire might be worth a try - although it is fantasy (involves dragons) it is in a relatively realistic Napoleonic war setting (apart from the above dragons of course!). The author was a computer games programmer /writer as her day job and it is very pacey as you'd expect from that.

[Seeline]

How about some autobiographies? My DS enjoyed Roald Dahls two 'Boy' and a second one, the title of which I've forgotten...

[rockinhippy]

Thanks again everyone, the more replies I get, the more awkward I realise she is to please ATM - I've tried all the Agatha Christy type things, she won't consider anything with vampires or the likes, so rules out Dracula et al & shook her head at anything with Dragons & no to autobiographies, or anything obviously historical too - I looked at reviews on lots of suggestions here with here & she just pulled a face - she's only really interested in what she thinks are more modern young adult books - I'm sure that will change, but for now that's what she wants to read


So just incase anyone else is having the same problem - Thankfully someone I know in RL has just finished reading the James Patterson Maximilian Ride - Angel Series -& says they are safe content wise & reading the reviews with her, she got really excite :) & I've just managed to pick up the first 2, The Angel Experiment & Schools Out Forever, & put the next 2 on order at the library & have a list of the first 7 & more to follow which should save me a headache for a little while :)

Funny though, she's not interested in autobiography, yet when the young librarian helping us mentioned she's reading one about a Gypsy girl set in the 80s that she might like as its set locally, she's really keen to read that one next

Thanks again

[JustinMumsnot]

Rockin - I see no one has mentioned Sophie McKenzie yet - has she read the Girl Missing books or the Medusa Project - real life teen adventure, spies etc.
Also she might like Breathe by Sarah Crossan - it is fantasy but set in a close and recognisable future and deals with eco issues.
My DD has liked some of Ali Sparkes recently also and Robert Muchamore. Also try Gemma Malley's The Declaration series - dystopia but more science than fantasy.

[atthewelles]

I moved from children's books to Agatha Christie's and my 11 year old nephew has recently started reading them. She might enjoy those.

[zcos]

I read the James herriot books vet in a spin and the Gerald.durral (sp) books mostly bout animals

[mumzy]

Animal farm
Agree re Sherlock Holmes memoirs

[hippppy]

My son is 10 and has just finished the first two Hunger Games books - and is desperate for the 3rd one :)

[atthewelles]

They're out of print now but if you can get hold of some of the 'Susan' books by Jane Shaw she would probably really enjoy them. They're very funny books about a girl (Susan, obviously) who's about twelve and goes to live with some cousins and gets a little bit too involved in trying to 'help' people. There's one called Susan at School which is the funniest boarding school book you'll ever read. Even now, as an adult, I really enjoy re-reading it and find it probably even funnier than I did as a child.