I need recommendations again - books for an 11 year old who is reading above her age

[Miaou]

Dd1 has just been to the library this morning but was a bit disappointed by what was on offer - we have a very small teenage section! She enjoys Malorie Blackman and Meg Rosoff, has read the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. She is not really into Alex Rider or LOTR and has outgrown Jacqueline Wilson and Harry Potter.

Any suggestions of what we can order in would be most welcome!

Any Terry Pratchett would be suitable, but the Wee Free Men ones are nominally teen books.

Margaret Mahy wrote some great teen books - The Changeover, The Haunting, The Catalogue of the Universe are all great books that I still read now.

Alan Dean Fosters Spellsinger series v popular with that sort of age group

I forgot the Garth Nix Abhorsen series too

green knowe books by lucy m boston. omg i loved them!

The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings? Hobbit certainly was originally a children's story. I agree with other posters that if sci fi/fantasy is an option, this is a good time to get into it. Anne McCaffery and David Eddings are both pretty accessible for that age group - not too challenging but quite fun. And endlessly long series that will keep her busy for ages.

Meg Cabot and the Princess Diaries? Or is that too juvenile? Ditto Artemis Fowl? [disclaimer - I read these, and I'm in my 30s!]

Some of the WW2 stuff? I am David or The Silver Sword?

Is she romantic? I read Wuthering Heights at that age and loved it.

Dark is Rising sequence is great.

What Katie Did - too young?

My dd loves Anne McCaffrey. Also Antonia Forest. I presume she's read all the Louise Rennisons? Has she read Hilary McKay?

How about the Flambards Trilogy by K M Peyton?

How about the Jean Ure series which starts with 12th day of July, Across the Barricades etc. I loved reading them at that age, also Lois Duncan.

Sorry, meant Joan Lingard, not Jean Ure !

Benjamin Zephaniah books are very good - although you might want to check that you are happy with the content before she reads them.

And she's probably already them, but Carrie's War and Goodnight Mister Tom were favourties of mine when I was small.
Oooh and how about Anne Frank?

I need to start checking before I press post - that should read 'she's probably already read them'

If she's into fantasy stuff - Eragon and sequel Eldest - next one out soon. DS read it, then me, then DH - all loved it!

The Spook's Apprentice series - fab too - and Michelle Paver - WOlf Brother series, we are just getting into.

I ADORED the Flambards series when I was about 12 - anyone remember the TV series too?

Also, if she's into horses at all, there's a great series called The Silver Brumbies, by Elyn Mitchell - out of print but in some libraries and in Amazon nearly new etc.

You might find this thread useful. I think it was the nearest we came to compiling the definitive list of teen fiction.

Interesting point - do you mean reading above her age in that she is an excellent reader for her age, or that she is emotionally and intellectually ready for harder stuff. two very different things - I was a bit sad to see the suggestion that some books like Artemis Fowl might be too juvenile - she's only 11, you know!

For waht it's worth, I think it would be an INCREDIBLY rare 11 year old who could really get to grips with the themes in His Dark Materials, for example. Isn't it better to save some stuff until they are 13 or so, and more able to understand the complex issues that are being addressed?

And I've just seen a link to a list of teen fiction. She's not a teen - she's 11!

Terry Pratchett - the discworld series as much as his childrens/teens stuff

Some good stuff on that thread though Seeker. But for younger stuffthis one is worth a look too.

Lots of good suggestions here, many of which are in my own personal collection . A few others: Robin McKinley, Peter Dickinson, Robert Cormier (although a bit scary), David Almond, Jonathan Stroud (Bartimaeus), Angie Sage (Septimus Heap), Obert Skye (Levin Thumps), some of the older Anne Fines (you might want to read these first to judge appropriateness as she spans from adults to early readers). I also really rate Charlotte Haptie (Otto series) although she may have read them already. Joan Aitkin if she's not already read the Wolves of Willoughby Chase series, and Debbie Gliori's Pure Dead series is fun too.

Just thought of two more:

Ian Seraillier's 'The Silver Sword' and
Geoffrey Trease's 'Bows Against the Barons'

And has she read Arthur Ransome?

Seeker, my 11 year old dd read His Dark Materials last year and understood it , in fact she ahd a good conversation about it with the Headmistress of a potential senior school who had just read it herself.

I don't censor books, she chooses them herself.

I like Henry Treece too - the Viking's Dawn trilogy, although they may not be in print any more. There was also a great historical fiction series about a family who were descended from the Plantagenets, but I can't remember who it was written by. I'll have to visit my big sister and raid her bookshelves again!

Ah, I love Google, it was Barbara Willard, and the series is the Mantlemass series. I found both historical novels and fantasy a good bridge to adult fiction.

I'm not suggesting censorship - I'm suggesting not growing up too soon in this, as in any other area!

I think 11 year olds must be able to choose their own books though. As an avid readermyself as a child I read everything I could find in my parents house from the age of 8, such as "Virgin Soldiers" "The Carpet Baggers" etc etc