Best Dickens for almost 13 year old

[Onemorefortheroad]

My daughter is almost 13 and has to pick a Charles Dickens book to read in her own time as part of English. Not an author I've read - any recommendations for Dickens that isn't too long or complicated?

A Christmas Carol is quite short

Could she read any of his children's stories?
The Magic Fishbone has a child narrator.

A Tale of Two Cities; not too long or complicated.

Definitely Christmas Carol: plus then she can also enjoy muppets Christmas Carol. (I did do English lit as a degree… but muppets Christmas Carol is genius ;-)

It’s long, but David Copperfield is reasonably child-friendly.

Great Expectations? We read that at school around your DD's age.

That's quite a challenge! I'm a huge Dickens fan but not when I was 12.

I think A Christmas Carol, too but the prose is still quite tricky.

Oliver Twist. She'll know the story already.

Bonkers choice of author IMHO.

Completely bonkers assignment. Great stories but the text is so hard to read now. I wonder if the teacher has actually read any recently!

Especially the bit where he has the world's worst hangover, the death of his mum and his wife??!

It is funny, though.

One of my all time favourite books.

Oliver Twist or A Christmas Carol. Shorter, and slightly more accessible than some of the longer door-stop-size ones.

DD read Nicholas Nickleby at primary school because they were doing Smike. A Christmas Carol is a better shout though.

Great Expectations or A Christmas Carol.

Good on the school for getting them to read a full length book. That was normal in my day but I have noticed a drop in reading stamina in the past decade or so.

They have to do 70 pages per week in their own time of reading and work through a number of 'challenges' the latest being that you have to pick a group of authors and read a book by each one. The selected group includes Dickens, Philip Pullman and Maya Angelou so trying to find choices that won't put her off reading altogether! I do think it's a good thing to encourage them to keep reading but it's trying to find the most appropriate options 🙈

Sorry - should have said thanks everyone!

The good thing with Dickens is it’s episodic and hooky, so if you choose one where she likes the characters, there is always another cliffhanger coming up to keep you going. I’d go for Great Expectations because the main character is likeable, and it’s quite pacy, and there are female characters in it, which I always found held my interest longer. (There’s also a pretty good graphic novel adaptation which uses a good amount of the original text if she does get too bogged down by the text). I seem to remember starting the Bronte’s in y7, admittedly 20 years ago, and quite enjoying it. So don’t let on that you expect her to be put off, and she might not be?

Is Pullman more accessible??

Pullman will be next so happy to take any recommendations on that too 🤣

David Copperfield - lots of great characters and as pp said, episodic. Also a few good tv/film adaptations.

I still find Dickens difficult - I'm a lifelong reader and I've got a degree in English Literature!

I'm a Dickens hater but even I like Great Expectations. And totally agree Xmas Carol so you can watch Muppets version. Catherine Tate has a good sweary nan version as well. There is a Simpsons episode when Lisa explains how prevalent the references to Xmas Carol are in popular culture. Which you can only understand if you have read it.
I adore the opening line as well.
Dickens and the other authors have a highish reading age though so unless your daughter has a good reading age she won't enjoy any of the books in that group, they are odd choices really. But it will be a challenge, which is good.

Don't know if she has to read a novel specifically, but he did write quite a few short stories too, including Xmas and crime ones, which may appeal more?

Se, now, if you know me form Dickensalongs on MN , you will know I love Dickens but, aside from a few passages, I hate Great Expectations. More to the point, my DS did it for GCSE and hated it and didn't read it properly.

This task could actually backfire on the English teacher. Forced reading is not a very successful strategy, whilst I applaud the sentiment behind it.

I'd vote for Christmas Carol too. How long has she got to complete the whole challenge?

I really enjoyed Pullman's Sally Lockhart series which begins with The Ruby in the Smoke, is set in the 19th century and is reminiscent of Dickens but with easier language. The book seems to be listed as having a 12+ reading age but it does include a rough criminal underworld, murder and drug use, all in a historical context. Pullman started writing novels for children when he was working as a middle-school teacher so some of his earlier works are for slightly younger children and will be quicker reads if you want to play safe.

If non-fiction is allowed, I've just come across mention of Maya Angelou's book 'Letters to my Daughter' which I hadn't heard of before and I think I'm now going to read myself. The blurb says it's 'A collection of wisdom and life lessons... Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to my Daughter reveals Maya Angelou's path to living well and living a life with meaning. Told in her own inimitable style, this book transcends genres and categories: it's part guidebook, part memoir, part poetry - and pure delight.' It's only 200 pages or so, so will be a quick read but I don't know if it's age appropriate.