Contemporary fiction for 11 year old.

[lydiarobinson]

I'm looking for some recommendations for my 11 year old niece. She's an enthusiastic reader but not too keen on 'old fashioned' books by Noel Streatfeild, Enid Blyton etc. which is a pity as we have tons of those that we kept from our childhood.

She loved the Olivia series, is a big fan of Jacqueline Wilson and, of course, devoured Harry Potter. I'm trying to think of other contemporary children's books she might enjoy and would welcome suggestions.

Has she read the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness?

James Patterson's teenage books are excellent.

www.jamespatterson.com/

Rebecca Stead's When you Reach Me is brilliant.
Agree that Patrick Ness' Chaos Walking trilogy is great too.

Ruby Redfort
School of fear
anything by David Walliams
The Benedict Society a trilogy like the first two above

This is a good series for that age group

My children haven't really got on well with Lauren Child's books, like Ruby Redfort and Clarice Bean, which is a bit annoying, as I bought them loads on recommendation! Perhaps they will come back to them later.

Mortal Engines series by Philip reeve - very well written series, dystopian future, original

Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - magical story set in Scotland based on the tales of kelpie horses

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by SJ Maas - fairy tale style story based on Beauty and the Beast -

Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke - story about people who bring characters in books to life as they read

Split Second series by Sophie McKenzie - popular contemporary author, dystopian future set in London

She is not Invisible by Marcus Sedgewick - adventure story with young girl who is blind, well written

Gods and Warriors series by Michelle Paver - set in Bronze Age Greece, beautifully written and researched

Cornelia Funke's Thief Lord is good too and Jeanne Du Prau's City of Ember. Both made into very disappointing films.

Lauren St John - mystery books (bit like Enid Blyton adventures in some ways, but very modern), as well as another series

Eva Ibbotson has also been popular with young teenagers I know

Phillip Pullman? Possibly a little hard for that ages group, though I know several who read them, just not sure how much they get out of it.

Thanks for all those recommendations. They are really helpful.

The Secret Hen House Theatre is beautifully written, plus, a follow up has just been released this year. Definitely modern, with a great sense of the old fashioned adventure stories.