What Deutsch or English books for dd aged 12? She is not yet ready for romance, and doesn't like fantasies.

[Nighbynight]

dd is representing our town in a reading competition, in German.

She has to choose a book, ideally by a German author, and as mentioned above, she thinks kissy books are Beaughh, and fantasies are stupid. She likes real books about real people. She has had enough difficulties in her life not to like books with sad endings.

She recently enjoyed Bruder zu Verschenken ("Brothers to Give Away Free"), by Sandra Saborowski, in fact she read it in the first round of the competition.
We are now looking for something similar - it's got to be suitable from 12 years old (we suggested The Railway Children, but apparently that was too young).

any ideas??

OMG, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is ab 12 J alt on amazon....thunk

and Oliver Twist is ab 11 JA. crazy

oh god. Its gonna be Diary of a Wimpy Kid. My children are already quoting it to each other.

"ds, get on with your homework. why did you write Zeitung with a small z?"

"I onwy ten"

Get something with an audio CD to go with it, so she can listen to it before she drops off at night maybe?

Do't know this diary of a wimpy kid. When is the Vorlesewettbewerb then? I think she has a chance NN. I think she has a fantastic chance but practice a lot and get her to read to the whole family, and then to a small group of people you know, some neighbours, a couple of friends of yours etc so she doesn't have a black-out on the day.

She can do it

YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (I SO want her to win)

She is a natural born dramatist, and is fantastic at reading out loud.
okay I admit it....I soooooo want her to win too!!
Am afraid that she will pick up on this and get nervous. In the last round, we were so laid back.

its in mid feb.

diary of a wimpy kid is american, it is very funny.

ooh not much time, just settle on a book without weighing it up too long I think.

I know zz - I know I shouldnt worry too much about it.
think is, we just got lucky last time, chose a book that I had picked up at a car boot sale, thinking it looked like dd's thing, she read it brilliantly.

Am thinking of Kiffe Kiffe Demain.

well she has chosen a book by Karen Susan Fessel "Und Wenn Schon"

I am not too keen, becuase I think the author might be a little controversial for the occasion, although the book itself looks nice (I havent read it yet).

Does anyone know this author? emkana are you around???

heres another book by the same author:"Danke, ich schaff's alleine!" Die kleine Masturbierfibel für die selbständige Frau von heute.

[thunk]

ok Karen Susan Fessel is OFF.

we have a lousy shortlist, nothign really fits the bill and we have to nominate the book tomorrow
dd is going to ask her teachers advice.

Sorry it's proving difficult! What did dd think about the books I suggested?

We had a policy of not choosing anything that's been read in the previous round, which cut out loads of books. (But perhaps we are wrong about that?)

as we are in a notoriously conservative area, we decided to avoid foreign authors and war books.

dd thought that Rudi Ruessel and Rote Zora were too young to please the judges. (not sure if she is right, but she seemed very adamant)

Erich Kaestner - Das Doppelte Lottchen &
Emmy von Rhoden - Der Trotzkopf are both ab 10J on Amazon - I don't know if this is important or not, because Vorstadtkrokodil is also ab 10J, and it was the unseen text in the last round. But we were told that it should be ab 12 J.

The one that we havent found, but looks good, is Mirjam Pressler - Wenn das Glueck kommt, muss man ihm einen Stuhl hinstellen
I'll try and find it tomorrow too.

I have discovered an inner pushy mother in myself - I have even considered getting dd Speech and Drama lessions

What about
Der lange Weg des Lukas B.?

When I took part in a Vorlesewettbewerb (many years ago) I read Tilmann Roehrig: In dreihundert Jahren vielleicht

Went down well

I love the sound of both of those, and will try to find them tomorrow.

I very much want to get past the new books that are in EVERY bookshop, because fashions have changed a lot in the last 15 years or so. There is so much fantasy and romance now.

thank you again, emkana!

the good thing is, I am realising that dd does actually love reading, and is ready to try more new things than I had thought she would

Thank you emkana!!!
She has chosen Der Lange Weg des Lukas B.
Phew.

As she's now very late returning the form, I am not sure whether they will refuse this choice if someone else is reading it? But we'll just have to see.