Summer reading for girl going into Y11 in Sept

[taxi4ballet]

DD's English teacher has suggested she widens her range of reading matter over the summer holidays, and I'm after any suggestions please.

She likes HP & Hunger Games but not ghosts/vampires/gothic etc.

All ideas welcome!

Jilly Cooper 1984 or Brave New World? The Bell Jar, Margaret Attwood

I would second Elizabeth's suggestion of George Orwell, or Lord of the Flies, but perhaps put some range in there with something like Catcher in the Rye, To kill a mockingbird, one flew over the cuckoo's nest. All pretty easy reading but still hold academic value. For lighter reading just for enjoyment she might like Stephen King, John Green or Neil Gaiman.

Also Shock of the Fall (Nathan Filer) and Almost English (sorry can't remember the author) are great and usually on BogoHalfPrice at Waterstones. Their book club usually has good suggestions that are a bit different.

Great suggestions already, I'll add The Scarlet Letter, Love Story, The Lovely Bones, Wide Sargasso Sea, Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde.

Jane Eyre, Middlemarch, Vanity Fair and all Austen were enjoyed by my DDs at that age. Also I remember them reading Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer with relish!

How about Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor?

Or one of Elizabeth Wein's books - she's written a few historical thrillers with teen female protagonists (Rose Under Fire, Code Name Verity).

I also second John Green.

Margaret Atwood, esp Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride and The Handmaid's Tale.

Thanks everyone - I shall be scouring the local charity shops for all these suggestions!

DD is a pretty quick reader, and will only ever read a book once (with the exception of Harry Potter naturally!) so I hardly ever buy new books for her.

The following is a varied list of fab novels - the majority have been published within the last 6 months. I can highly recommend them!! Most should be available in the library - their online reservation is pretty useful.

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
The Year of the Rat by Claire Furniss
Counting by 7s
Looking at the Stars by Jo Cottrill
The Tiffin
Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett

The book thief. Trying to get my dd the same age as yours to read it.

The Eyre Affair is a clever but light counterfoil to Jane Eyre
I Claudius?

taxi, don't you have a local library? You can usually reserve the titles you want even if they don't have them on the shelves.

She's not good with library books, she doesn't take them back and I find them weeks later when they're well overdue!

Also she is going on some residential courses over the summer, and I'd hate her to lose a library book while she is away.

I loved Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder at roughly that age. It was revelatory and opened up an interest in philosophy that has never left me.

For an easier, more lighthearted read, the Lottie Biggs books and whats up with Jody Barton by Hayley Long.

Of mice and men was enjoyable at that age

Maybe some poetry?

Contemporary fiction which is quite easy to read (compared to, say, Victorian Lit.) but develops understanding of wider issues can be good. So The Help, say, or The Kite Runner. One of my Yr 10s read A Thousand Splendid Suns and loved it. Of Mice and Men and TKAM also brilliant for this.

At that age I loved The Bell Jar, Virgin Suicides, 1984, Clockwork Orange, Wasp Factory, Brighton Rock, any Salinger/ Amis/ Douglas Coupland

All excellent suggestions. Try having a look at booktrust.org.uk

I use this all the time to get new ideas. If you go to the term section, the look at book lists you'll find some cracking stuff.

Also google 'queen of contemporary'. This is a book blog run by a 15 year old. She's brilliant.

Teen section not term. Doh.

we were given a list by school. I've spent a bit of time in the local library today. :-)

catcher in the rye
lord of the flies
to kill a mockingbird
life of pi
the fault in our stars
the handmaiden s tale
the great gatsby
never let me go
wuthering heights
northern lights
the book thief
the woman in black

there are more, but those are the memorable ones at the mo.

Over the last couple of years my DD (now 17) has read and liked:
Great Gatsby
Walk Two Moons
Catcher in the Rye
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
My Sister's Keeper
The Tulip Touch
Diary of Anne Frank
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Jayne Eyre
Emma
Bridget Jones Diary
Geek
Animal Farm
Prep (this is a bit rude, so check it out yourself first! About a girl at boarding school in the US but mentions blow jobs, etc. It's quite well done and good for contemplating peer pressure and regret, but not a child's book so it depends on your DD!)
Northern Lights
Lovely Bones

That's an eclectic mix of frivolous teen stuff (eg Geek), classics, and modern but thought inducing.

She also enjoyed Twilight but normally hates fantasy/vampire stuff. She described it as like Harry Potter - accessible weird!

Try one of Siobhan Dowd, Bog Child is brilliant ( imv).
I capture the castle.
Sherlock Holmes
D L Sayers, eg Murder must advertise, even though pre war, brilliant expose of advertising.
Georgette Heyer old fashioned historical romance, try Arabella or Regency Buck it These Old Shades
After Jane Eyre, The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Bonjour tristesse by Sagan
The outsider by Camus
The periodic table by levi
Any of the Donna Leon detective stories
Ditto Camillieri
Stephen Fry ' s essays
Pride and Prejudice. And then Mr Darcy's diary
Franny and Zooey
A portrait if the artist

If she can grapple with long books, now is the age to tackle the Russians, Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, And Quiet Flows the Don.

Ditto the French, The Count of Monte Christo, Les Mis.

Wow, so many brilliant ideas, thank you.

I'm off to the car boot sale in the morning (weather permitting) with a huge list tucked under my arm...!

My 16 year old is enjoying the Bridget Jones books at the moment.