Lighthearted books for dd 14

14 replies

ChocolateConnoisseur · 15/04/2023 08:32

Hi all,
Dd, 14 has not had a great few weeks.
Could anyone recommend a nice light hearted book with minimal romance for her to read?

TIA

OP posts:

Firsttimecaller · 15/04/2023 08:43

The perfect silliness of P.G.Wodehouse kept me giggling at that age. The Blandings books are hilarious.

ZaZathecat · 15/04/2023 08:47

Adrian Mole

Squiblet · 15/04/2023 09:31

The hitchhiker's guide to the universe?

NannyGythaOgg · 15/04/2023 09:58

Terry Pratchet's Tiifany Aching series. They are linked to the Disc World but stand alone and are aimed at teenagers

7Worfs · 15/04/2023 10:00

Perfect age to introduce Discworld.
Start with Mort… or Interesting Times.

Luredbyapomegranate · 15/04/2023 10:02

Not a book, but I was watching Catherine Called Birdy with a similar aged sad teen last night and it made her laugh a lot.

cloudjumper · 15/04/2023 10:06

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Beamur · 15/04/2023 10:06

Great suggestions!
Red Dwarf is in the same vein, maybe Dirk Gently too.
Classics might hit the spot too.
David Copperfield
Jane Austen (little bit of romance)
Gormenghast (not exactly light reading)
Rivers of London books (maybe slightly too adult)
Jeeves and Wooster books are great fun.
My DD reads her old favourites when she needs cheering up.

Beamur · 15/04/2023 10:07

Cold comfort farm is also quite entertaining.

BlueChampagne · 17/04/2023 12:44

Second Adrian Mole and Terry Pratchett
Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging (largely failed romance!)
My Family and Other Animals
Corpse Talk (cartoon interviews with historical figues)

BlueChampagne · 17/04/2023 14:02

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

whatsagoodusername · 17/04/2023 14:19

Luredbyapomegranate · 15/04/2023 10:02

Not a book, but I was watching Catherine Called Birdy with a similar aged sad teen last night and it made her laugh a lot.

It's a book, by Karen Cushman!

It's also an excellent movie.

Codlingmoths · 17/04/2023 14:28

The house by the cerulean sea? A little romance but not much.
some of my favorite books ever are the little house in the big woods series by Laura ingalls wilder. I first read them when I was 6 and have been rereading them ever since, they are timeless and a window on another world. I still think of them when I bake and measure shining white piles of sugar. No romance in the first 5 or 6 books.

MargaretThursday · 17/04/2023 16:59

When dd was that age she went through a stage of reading 1950s girls own type stories. Her favourite was by Gwendolyn Courtney "A coronet for Cathy". Very gentle reading with the good ending happily and the bad unhappily, which was perfect for her at that time.

Flip