Challenging reading for a 14yo?

[ObviouslyNotNow]

I was wondering if any school librarians or other experts might suggest some books for my dd over the summer? Her report recommended challenging literary reading (she’s academically able and loves English lessons) but beyond Jane Austen (which she loves) I’m not sure what would be suitable. She enjoys fiction, doesn’t go for dystopias much (which is what her friends tend to read) and I’m happy for her to read about adult themes, though nothing too graphic.

Maybe start working through some of the 50books you must read type of lists. They often have a good mix of traditional and modern books.

At 14 I was reading things like Pat Barker and her Regeneration trilogy which was incredibly moving and emotional, with some definitely adult themes but I absolutely loved them and feel they were defining books of my adolescence.
Actually I'd really recommend she try some fun new stuff like Jasper Fforde. His Thursday Next series is great fun (books about books) and whilst it helps if you have a good literary knowledge to get all the in jokes, it's also a great backdrop from which to discover lots of new books.

At 14 surely she can pick books? I liked American Psycho and stuff like that

Jasper Fforde and Pat Barker are good calls, thank you. I think we have those on a bookshelf somewhere.

And yes she can choose, but I want to sprinkle in a few of the type of books her teacher has recommended, as well as whatever catches her eye in the library.

jasper fforde is a great call but PG Wodehouse is also good, as is Agatha Christie.

the thing about being 14 is that your emotional maturity is the barrier, not your reading skills, so books with a really good plot work best / are most enjoyable. My dad is now 15 but she’s also enjoyed Magnus Mills and The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon (thin and hilarious)

My DD

ffs

Have a look at the old GCSE specifications. To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Purple Hibiscus would all be good and there's a decent chance she won't get to read them at school anymore.

No one should read American Psycho at any age.

If she likes Jane Austen, there's a whole world of Victorian literature out there. I fell in love with Middlemarch at that age. I also really loved (and still love) Edith Wharton and I started reading her in my mid-teens.

I read 1984 and Brave New World at that age and loved them, but I know you said she's not a fan of dystopia.

As others have said, the top 50 essential reading lists (or whatever they're called) would be a good starting point!

My 15yo is enjoying Wolf Hall currently

At 14 I read the entire star trek series (but i liked star trek). What does she enjoy reading? Like theme wise? Is she a sci fi fan? I remember at 14 reading of mice and men, great expectations, number the stars,

Also enjoyed most of the Lois Lowry books. I read the entire Anastasia Krupnik series and the giver (a good book, deep themes though)

I'd give her this just and tell her to pick what she fancies from the blurb.

www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml

Not all classics, but a good range of modern and older fiction. But not American Psycho as there's absolutely no need to read that, ever.

How well does she cope with a little bit of trauma? If OK, then how about Hardy (Tess or Madding Crowd). The Go Between is good for that age. Or I Capture the Castle. If she likes a good yarn, then Kim is worth a look.

I'd be tempted to give her a theme/genre and get her to pick a novel that fits the theme.

Sci-Fi
War
Russia
Set in 1960s etc, etc

Anna Karina by Tolstoy
Crime and punishment by Dostoïevski

I read both these at 14.

The Far Pavillons by M M Kaye

Georgette Heyer novels

Ngaio Marsh mysteries

What Katy did, if she'dvnot read it

Little women ?

I loved the children of the earth at a younger age so she might enjoy that ? It's quite a long epic. There are some sex scenes (quite metaphoric though) but I went through them unscathed as a child.

But it would help to give us a more specific idea of what she likes, mystery ? Historical novels (what era ?) the Conn Iggulden books about ancient rome aren't bad. Also the Philip Kerr books (mystery/thriller in nazi Germany).

If she likes fantasy I liked :

• Mercedes Lackey - the Valdemar series is okay but I actually preferred the dragonjousters.
• Or anything by Robin Hobb.
• The kingkiller chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
• Anthony Ryan "blood song"

For scifi anything by Lois McMaster Bujold is good. Or Orson Scott Card. David Weber is good too but probably a bit boring for that age.

Urban fantasy :

• Clandestine magic by Colleen Cowley (world in which women can't use magic but men can, with a sort of suffragette angle to it ? Hard to describe quickly but very fun)
• The house in the cerulean sea (kind of a dystopia in a kafkaian sense but also light-hearted and fun)
• The Cadfael series (historical mystery)
• The Temeraire series (alternate universe about napoleonian wars with dragons. Very well written. In fact anything by Naomi Novik is usually a good bet).

Those are not specifically YA books, they are books I have/would have enjoyed at a similar age.

My recommandation is for her to browse through Amazon after filtering out stuff she's not interested in. I do that regularly and have found unexpected gems that way.

@newtb The Far Pavilions! I loved this at about that age. Might reread it.

@ObviouslyNotNow I’d just let her read whatever she likes. I read anything and everything as a kid and DS chooses his own books. He’s the same age.

Maybe give her Amazon credit, or even better, take her to a nice bookshop for a browse?

School reading list has lots of recommendations along with a brief synopsis of each text.
Love reading 4 kids can be filtered by age. If you create an account, you can save favourites and download short extracts to try before you buy. The link is for 13+ but you could also try the YA section.
Love reading 4 schools is similar to the one for kids.
Readers digest has some great classics!

I think at that age I refused anything my parents recommended (19th century English novels, Austin, Bronte, Dickens, Bennett) and instead read Orwell, Wilde, Fitzgerald, Susan Hill, PD James, Kerouac).

My 14 yo loves reading.

Some of her recent requests were

Shadows and bone trilogy
Dead poets society
One last stop
All the light we cannot see
The book thief
Anything by sally rooney
The bell jar

She has also been looking at the bridgerton book set

Also seems to quite like the classics - partly driven I think by the fact Waterstones so them in a range of beautiful covers she wants to collect!

I have to add I love reading but just general mass market fiction stuff! She loves nothing more than a browse around Waterstones (especially if she had unlimited cash to buy)

I’ll bite. Why not?

She reads a lot, so quite a few suggestions she’s already read, but those lists look really helpful. And she’s enjoyed historical and mystery as genres - not keen on SF or fantasy. I’m happy to let her choose randomly in the library / bookshop / Amazon for 90% of what she reads, but I was hoping to steer her towards the sort of books her teacher recommended she read for the other 10%.