Books for 9 yr old dd.. she thinks books her age are babyish !

[Louisa111]

Need some advice .. our 9 yr old dd is complaining that a lot of her books are just not interesting her anyone but I'm
Completely stuck about what books to get.
She usually reads
Diary of a wimpy kid,
Harry Potter
Fairy books,
David Walliams books etc

Just lately she says these are a bit babyish and wants books that are more real life but I feel she's too young for teenage books .. she is quite grown up for her age so any recommendations would be appreciated 😊

The London Eye Mystery- Siobhan Dowd,
Murder most Unladylike-Robyn Stevens,
The Girl who wasn't there-Karen McCrombie, The Northern Lights-Pbilip Pullman,
Wonder and Aiggie and Me- RJ Palicio

Also, if your daughter likes Adventure Stories, the Alex Bell has a series of books, the first being The polar Bears Explorers Club, fabulous!

Some really good stuff has been mentioned already. For recent real life books, I’d also suggest Katya Balen, Eve Ainsworth, Elle McNicoll, Libby Scott and Kelly Yang.

Tamara Pierce is fabulous, but not "real life" (fantasy)
I know she's not popular these days, but has she tried Enid Blytons Adventure series? I loved Island of Adventure and similar stories at that age. You can explain that theyre of a time and some of the language isn't appropriate. My parents did the same and I found it easy enough to understand that. I also read a lot of pony books.
Alternatively how about the Anthony Horowitz Alex Rider stories? They're like a teenage bond...

My daughter loved The Boy at the Back of the Class and has just started Vi Spy, which she is also loving. She's started making her way through Narnia too.

Eva Ibbotson! The Abominable is great, and Journey to The River Sea, and The Star of Kazam.

Yes to Louis Sachar! There's a boy in the girl's bathroom is my favourite book ever!

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Hetty Feather, The Illustrated Mum, Queenie, Lily Alone and The Lottie Project are safe Jaqueline Wilsons for that age

Michael Morpurgos can be pretty harrowing - how tough is she? Maybe better for audiobooks you can listen to together so you can discuss afterwards.

I have a nearly-9yo DD who has also enjoyed the Wimpy kid series and HP books. Other titles/series she's recently enjoyed:
Laura Ingalls Wilder (you may need to discuss some of the content with her if she doesn't know the history surrounding the story, but also because a few parts are quite racist)
Varjak Paw
Holes by Louis Sachar (again, some issues around race in this book which may need a discussion)
The Hobbit
The Animals of Farthing Wood

As another option, DD also enjoyed getting a subscription to The Phoenix comic and currently gets The Week Junior, which is often read within hours of finding it on the door mat.

Thankyou everyone.. I certainly have some ideas to go on.
I forgot all about Enid Blyton.. they were my fave books growing up. Will certainly be checking out a few for her.
I loved reading at her age and it's a shame she's stated to lose interest in it .

Caroline Laurence Roman Mysteries historical detective fiction with tween protagonists.

And, as usual, can recommend the mighty girl website for reading lists.
Use your public library for digital borrowing.

The very inconvenient adventures of Bronte Mettlestone. Well written, strong female characters throughout. And funny.

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
The Silver Sword
Anne of Green Gables
Little Women
Narnia

Katya Balan, Natasha Farrant, Emma Carroll, Lesley Parr, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Hilary McKay, Phil Earle and Lucy Strange are all writing really good books for her sort of age.

Sorry forgot The Railway Children

My DD9 has enjoyed some Jaqueline Wilson, the Lottie Brooks series (didn’t love it at first but grew on her), and some Judy Blume eg Blubber. Plus Enola Holmes and also Invisible Girl by Kate Maryon, this was a big hit. Definitely real life - I was worried too gritty - but aimed at 9-12yo. The author has written others we haven’t tried yet

graphic novels always a hit here too, from the babysitters club series to Ghost/guts/smile/sister to Anne of Green Gables or Nancy Drew.

Oh, and for genuine real life, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, by Judith Kerr. Semi-autobiographical account of Judith Kerr's childhood. 'Anna', who represents Judith, is ten in the book.

(There are two other books, following 'Anna' through her late teens and in adult life, but they have adult themes and are definitely not for 9 yos, however advanced their reading.)

I remember loving The Silver Sword, by Ian Serraillier, but I think I was slightly older when I read it.

Pamela Butchart, the Cookie series by Konnie Huq & if they are not too young & the pain & the great one by Judy Blume.
Be careful with Jacqueline Wilson - some of them are great but others have much more grown up themes.

The 'real life' ones that mine liked from about 9-11 were
The cathy cassidy book- the Dizzy, Scarlett, Driftwood etc series and The Chocolate box girls series.
Totally Lucy- characters are 12-13 and has a similar feel to diary of a wimpy kid
The Pony Club Secrets series-

SF Said's )
(Varjak Paw) new novel Tyger is amazing!

Try Jacqueline Wilson's books for younger readers - her books are age graded on her website.

Michael Morpurgo
Philip Pullman
Or have a look here: www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/1/12-great-books-for-9-year-olds/

My dc loved the 'my story' box of history books, all set in a different era.

How about adventure stories?

Helen Ross mystery series
Enid Blyton The Find-outers
The Adventures on Trains series by MG Leonard Is great - not babyish and not fantasy.

Other kids at school really rate Tom Gates books and David Baddiel at this age.

Geek girl series by Holly Smale or Ruby Redfort series by Lauren Child. Light fun.

The Marsh Road Mysteries and Tom Gates series' were big hits here. Also The Impossible Boy.