Lovely nooks for an 11 year old girl

[superseagull]

Hi all, looking for recommendations for my daughter, she is just finishing the body in the blitz by Robin Stevens but has been having nightmares about war. I would like to find a warm hug of a book for her next, she has done all of the Robin Steven’s, Lottie Brooke’s, Katherine Rundell, we did Secret Garden a couple of years ago. With her younger brother enjoyed the adventures on trains series and also the adventurers series. She listens to the famous five audiobooks on repeat, really enjoyed Malory Towers and St Claire’s… She’s is in first year of secondary so I want something she can take to school that won’t stand out as being young, but is a lovely inviting escape with a gentle theme and not too much peril… any suggestions? Many thanks

Oh dear.. books not nooks! Not a great start!

I'm not near my bookshelves so might have the name wrong but Alexander McCall Smith's series The Number One Ladies Detective Agency might be good. Very gentle crime set in Botswana. My DD loved them at a similar age and I notice she kept them when doing a book cull.

On a different thread I have been talking about Penelope Lively. The House in Norham Gardens is excellent, as are some of her other "teen" books.

I have to say I'm slightly disappointed by the typo in your title, I was all ready to help you design a cosy reading corner!

Anne of green gables? It's also a bit more trendy because of the Netflix series (which is rather different to the books) but it's so lovely and positive.

Gutted! Came on to look at all the lovely book nook spaces people have made 😂

My 11 loves the books by Emma Carroll. I think they are set in periods in history.

Mine enjoyed some of the lighter Judy Blumes at that age. I introduced them to them because I was an avid reader and remembered enjoying them - plus they deal
with some pre teen/ early teen issues which is a gentle way to start talking about things.

My go-to is Hilary McKay - in particular, the Casson Family books, which start with Saffy's Angel. Such great writing, likeable characters, and the really explore what it's like to be a child or teenager trying to figure out the adults and world around you.

I would highly recommend The Land of Green Ginger, by Noel Langley - it is a very funny sequel to the Aladdin story, about Aladdin’s son who goes to woo the princess Silver Bud, and in the course of this, encounters a flying back garden (created by a magician who accidentally turned himself into a button-nosed tortoise), villains called Rub Dub Ben Thud and Tin Tack Ping Foo, and a donkey who sits on a pin.

My DSD loved the Murder Most Unladylike series at that age. They are murder mysteries, so some dead bodies, but not in a scary way - they are good fun books. Two girls solving mysteries in a 1930s boarding school.

I thought you wanted a book nook 🤣

How about the Arthur Ransome books, @superseagull - Swallows and Amazons is the first one, and if your dd enjoys that, he wrote a whole series of them.

Noel Streatfield’s books are lovely too.

Eva ibbotson has some lovely books - star of Kazan is a good one

Lots of ideas here:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5485450-reading-childrens-books-as-an-adult?reply=150295017

Another vote for Arthur Ransome. Each book works on its own but the children constantly refer to previous adventures so it makes sense to start with Swallow and Amazons. Ransome once said they were not separate books but twelve parts of the same book.

I had forgotten Eva Ibbotson, my DD went through a phase of reading her novels voraciously.

Glad I'm not the only one who wanted to talk about book nooks 😅

I came on to say "Journey to the River Sea"

You are all amazing… thank you so much. Lots to look into, we did all enjoy swallows and amazons last summer so that is a great place to start.
also we are mid house renovations so maybe in time I can come back for the book nook recommendations too 😂

My 9 year old loved the Maggie Blue and the Dark World trilogy, and so did I! They were perhaps a little old for her to have read on her own and would definitely suit an 11-year-old.

I thought the same about the Ladies Detective Agency so read them with my DD around 14. But I was surprised to find that Mma Ramotswe gets raped, falls pregnant and then loses the baby quite early in the first book. I had clearly completely forgotten about that and like you remembered it as very gentle! I think it's the very matter-of-fact tone in which it's told. It would depend on the 11 year old, there's a chance it might just go over their head anyway.

Murder most unladylike is popular with my Y7 DD. She 'has' to have school library books so mostly borrows this series (and they have to read for 20 mins a day at school).

At home she reads a mix of the above PP suggestions but also a lot of graphic novels as they are less heavy. She has a lot of homework so something easier to read at bedtime is much better for her. The Emmie and Friends series is great as is anything by Raina Telegemaier (Sisters, Guts, Drama etc). There is also a graphic novel version of the Enola Holmes books which I have got for her birthday. She is currently obsessed with Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson.