Classics for 12 year old dd?

[SolidGold]

Dd (12) loves reading, but prefers girlie stuff like Cathy Cassidy. I'd like her to start reading more varied stuff including some classics. Any suggestions what she could start with that would catch her attention and make her want more?!

She enjoyed The Little Princess and The Secret Garden, I can't persuade her to read The Hobbit though.

Jane Eyre. DD1 couldn't put it down. Also, she might like "A Girl of the Limberlost" - I absolutely loved this and still re-read it. I also got some of the same author's books free on Kindle, some of which were linked to the Limberlost one.

dd is voracious. 15 now but I'll ask tomorrow. I just can't think of the titles and authors at the moment although they are all on the tip of my tongue.

Wow! I think it took me till my mid 30s to read them all - but it was the tracking down that made it slow. And then once I had them all I lost them somehow.

Enb76 This Jenny Nimmo - haven't heard of her at all. Must be beyond wonderful to be mentioned on the same page as Alan Garner? Tell...

I forgot A Tale of Two Cities. And Celandine - Steve Augarde. And The Children Who Lived in a Barn. And The Family From One End Street. And all the other Michelle Magorians if she's read Goodnight Mr Tom. And lots of children never get round to The Wind in The Willows which is really dark....

Chinese Cinderella - couple in the series I think but dd loved them. Can't get any more info out of her at present.

Oh yes, she loved The Family from One End Street. I think we have Goodnight Mr Tom, will check, but no others by her.

Great ideas, thanks.

Alongside Alan Garner:

Susan Cooper - The Dark is Rising series.

Philip Pullman - Northern Lights trilogy.

Also - I think 12 was about the time I got into Jean Plaidy, Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen - they're such a calming relief from the hurly-burly of school.

Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-time would be suitable I think.
The Philip Pullman Trilogy is excellent
Presume she has read Harry Potter?

I read Jilly Cooper at 12. Prob not a great recommendation though :) I was voracious reader and read everything I could get my hands on. My mum had a fit when she realised I had read Lace simultaneously "with" her.

Is she a member of a local library? They may be able to recommend a good section of cross over books so she doesn't get sucked into a diet of chick lit as a teenager. Nothing wrong with chick lit when you just want to read some rubbish but it won't help much with English GCSE's etc etc.

Some nice and usual suggestions here - Jeeves & Wooster anyone?
www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/23/recommended-reads-children-11-13?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/the-50-books-every-child-should-read-2250138.html

May I suggest The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden Has something for everyone, part thriller, part history, part rite of passage and very readable

Dh has all The Dark is Rising books, but dd isn't so keen.

She has read all the Harry Potter books and loved them.

I'm not sure I'd want her to read Jilly Cooper yet. I think I was about 15 when I read them and loved them.

I'd forgotten about the Philip Pullman books, I'll have a look for those.

We do go to the library, but it is a small town and tbh they aren't very good with her age group, aiming more at young children.

However, as she has asked for a Kindle for Christmas, I think it will be a good opportunity to put some books on that are a bit different to the stuff she's preferring at present.

Swallows and Amazons?

I liked the Green Knowe series
And the Silver Brumby series - and the Black Stallion series (although I was horse mad).

I read Bleak House when I was 11 so Dickens not out of the question.

Jenny Nimmo - my favourite was Snow Spider but her Charlie Bone stuff is good too. Jenny Nimmo

Oh absolutely The Greengage Summer - just stunning. And pretty much everything else by Rumer Godden.

Yes to Wodehouse. And Agatha Christie. And - if you want different; Josephine Tey. Totally superb, writes better than almost anyone.

Thanks Enb76

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. Delightful book, I loved it when I was twelve. Judy is a marvellous heroine, and the portrayal of college life a hundred years ago is fascinating.

Another book I loved at that age is A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley, marvellous story. very gripping, and a wonderful evocation of the Elizabethan era when the heroine slips back in time.

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge is another book I liked at that age. A period story, very exciting, with an interesting heroine.

I would say all these books are quite girly.

12yo DD loves Cathy Cassidy but also soldiered thru All Quiet on the Western Front recently (loves history). She loves the "My history" books and says many of the recent ones are well written.

I think I read a lot of Agatha Christie at that age.
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

I would NOT one my 12yo to read Curious Incident of the Dog in Night Time.

Oh yes, Daddy Long Legs, I loved that too. I think my mum has it somewhere.

I've never read any Agatha Christie Must look out for some.

I haven't read Curious Incident of the Dog etc, so should maybe read it myself first before deciding if dd can read it.

Daddy Long Legs is free for the Kindle, in case anyone is interested.

The Giver by Lois Lowry (not sure how to spell)

Gary Paulsen books

Number the Stars

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

I had forgotten how much I loved Little Women. I'm going to put it on my iPad right now!

This was a gazillion years ago now but I really loved reading Agatha Christie's when I was that age. Brilliant for evoking the romance of the age.

Can you suggest a good Agatha Christie for her to start with?

A tale of two cities

Well, unlike most people apparently, I prefer Miss Marple to Poirot... And prefer full legnth novels to the short stories.

So I probably suggest Murder at the Vicarage which is the first Miss Marple book. I'm sure it's not the best but a good lace to start.

You absolute don't need to read them in order - but like the Chalet School (which has much better characterisation..) they do become addictive. And the portrayal of the times is very persuasive.

And truthfully - they're only a prelude to Dorothy L. Sayers.... Harriet Vane being (along with Jo March) the ultimate girl heroine.

So many mis-types! Please ignore.

Thank you

Good luck DD2 moved straight on to Twilight and teen rubbish total refuses to red anything I or school suggests