Books for a 9 year old girl with female lead characters that aren’t about fairies or cute animals..

[PurpleCloak]

I need some help with my 9 year old DD - her favourite books are the “The Boy Who Grew Dragons” series, would love anything similar to this but more female character focussed? Or just anything generally focussed on female characters that like being active, sporty and aren’t about fairies or cats etc. However, nothing with too much peril or talk of death (we are going for through a sensitive period with those subjects 🤣). Thank you!

Green witch by Susan cooper is based around the girl in a group of siblings.

I've been revisiting vintage classics this summer. Green smoke by rosemary Manning is a nice story about a girl meeting a dragon and learning the Arthur stories on a beach in Cornwall.

Katherine rundell has already been mentioned and her book the explorer is great! All her other books are similar adventure stuff and all have girl leads.

Beast quest if she likes sci fi as the secondary lead is female and she forms a partnership with Tom to slay weird creatures.

Just had a Google, Stevie Day was written by Jacqueline Wilson, well I never, I thought she was much more recent!

The cuckoo sister was another one from the 80s based around girls but may be traumatic as the baby was snatched from a pram and brought up by someone else.

Oooh yes @Rainbowsew I'd forgotten Susan Cooper's "Dark Is Rising" sequence. They scared the bejesus out of me though, I've got the shivers just thinking about the Mari Llywyd...

Patricia Leitch's Jinny books, if she likes horses. Jinny takes no prisoners. (Neither does her mare Shantih as I recall) - but they're quite environmentally-focussed and spiritual.

The Last Dragonslayer Jasper Fforde
Fly by Night Frances Hardinge
Dragon’s Green Scarlett Thomas
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen Alan Garner (Warning: I love Garner and think he is a fantastic writer but some of his other children’s books are genuinely terrifying)
Authors to consider; Eva Ibbotson, Diana Wynne Jones, Jacqueline Wilson

I see someone recommended Jane of Lantern Hill by LM Montgomery. I loved that book at about age 10.

Both Nina Bawden and Rumer Godden wrote some great books with girl protagonists.

Marmalade Atkins is a wonderful heroine- very funny.

I was going to say the star outside my window by onjali p Rauf but that's about death!

The Chalet School books, there are also lots of fill-ins for missing terms & some that write about character's experience of the CS. Lots & lots of books, 62 originals & well over 20 fill ins. Look for Girls Gone By Publishing ones, they are unabridged & often have extra stories in them. You can buy them direct from GGBP or you can sometimes find them on Ebay.

Wolf Girl series by Anh Do, an Australian author. It does involve a lot of dogs, but they are not cutesy dogs but tough, intelligent loyal bad guy fighting dogs. Very strong lead girl too.

Scarlet and Ivy series. Be aware they are set in the 1930s though - so there are so issues relating to corporal punishments, asylums, and unmarried mothers being treated badly that you might have to explain

The Matilda Effect by Ellie Irving

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal

The Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett.

Seconded. Fantastic books

janina Ramirez - the archaeologist from the tv! She writes kids books too. I’ve bought these for my niece and she loves them.

Sorry, I haven’t read all the responses to check if this has been suggested but Greg James’ books have some great female characters. Kid normal series (based on a boy but he the only one without super powers and all the lead superheroes are women) and his most recent The Great dream robbery, also features women as the brains behind the rescues. I read with my son and will keep for my daughter; great modern and funny books.

The Anisha the Accidental Detective series by Serena Patel are good - they are about a ks3 schoolgirl in her normal life with her family, friends (they particularly enjoy science) and rivals, with an occasional fixing of misunderstandings/minor injustices around her.

there are some german ones, not sure if translations are available:

• die kleine hexe (otfried preussler)
• die rote zora (kurt held)
• momo (michael ende)
• konrad (christine nöstlinger)

and of course from swedish astrid lindgren's pippi longstocking

Dido Twite series

Ruby Redford and Murder most unladylike
a is for arsenic