Appropriate 13/14yo books for 9yo dd?

[gibbberish]

Help!

9yo dd4 is a voracious reader and has long outgrown Jacqueline Wilson, Enid Blyton and fairy/animal type books.

She has just read all 5 of James Patterson's Maximum Ride series which she absolutely loved (highly recommend them btw).

But what can she now go on to read? She doesn't like books with boys as the main characters. I can't let her read Harry Potter or books about vampires etc as she suffers nightmares and I dont think they are appropriate. And lots of older books feature boyfriend/girlfriend storylines which she would hate and I'm not keen for her to read.

So where do we go from here? Any recommendations? She loves adventure type books with a bit of humour.

Thanks for reading.

Don't forget Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess. I loved that as a girl. And what about Witch Child and others by Celia Rees? I recently read The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean and that is brilliant - unusual and with an interesting female protagonist.

And the Flambards series!

pugsandseals, she LOVES Dr Who! Will def look out for the Sarah Jane books, thanks. And yes, you've definitely helped - I was at my wits end before this!

maryz I loved the secret garden too! Must dig it out again - I'd love to read it again.

Thanks sleepinglion, really appreciate all those suggestions.

Feeling all warm and fuzzy about MN now! Must be careful not to start calling people huns...

DD9 - read Roman Mysteries, Eva Ibbotson, Littleprincess,Secret Garden,Little Women, Lionboy(only the first one), Conelia Funke Inkheart (did not like Inkdeath)- but absolutely would not do HP. Funny isnt it?

I have often struggled to get a book suitable for her without teenage material in it.

Some good suggestions here.She is reading nonfiction at the moment.May be you could try Horrible histories,geography and science if she has not already read it.

Thanks notanidea. Yep, is weird about HP. Glad she's not the only one - was beginning to think it was my fault for not forcing her!

She loves the horrible histories magazines and also the national geographic kids mag.

It's a shame that there does seem to be quite a gap between the fairy/animal books and older teenage books. But loads of good ideas here.

As a children's bookseller, I do have a lot of parents who come into the shop who head straight for the teen section for their 9/10 year olds because their child is an able reader which is a real shame as there are a wealth of wonderful books in the 9/12 section of your local bookshop or library. A lot of these books are just as challenging reading wise as those in the teen section. The teen section is there to house those books with content which may be inappropriate for a younger child - a point in case being the parents who came in to buy their five year old 'Bend it Like Beckham' because she loved the film! Make friends with your local children's bookseller or your local children's librarian. Hopefully, any worth their salt will be able to give you many suggestions similar to those you have received on here.

My big recommend is the Ultimate Book Guide (ISBN 9781408104385) which contains over 700 great books for 8-12 year olds. Some of them are no longer in print but this is not usually a problem with so many second hand books being sold on-line. I defy you to buy this book and then not spend a fortune! You can share it with your daughter and pick out some books you never knew existed but, once read, will never be forgotten!

There is a Ultimate Teen Book Guide but, having a copy of this myself, I would stress that many of the books recommended in there will have a content unsuitable for your child.

You sound a great mum for encouraging your child to read with such enthusiasm.

Aaaw thanks madamehooch.

Yes, the content of teen books do worry me - I've read some and been really shocked at the language and references to sex in some of them!

tbh I worry about my 15yo reading some of them let alone my 9yo...

I'd never heard of the Ultimate Book Guide - sounds brilliant! Infact would be great for me and the other girls too. We all usually have our noses stuck in a book and once we have exhausted a certain author it's sometimes hard to find another we like.

Just saw "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman on DDs bookshelf and remembered how good it was. Its not very scary and its wonderfully written.

A good introduction to Neil Gaiman. He also wrote Coraline.

One other idea I had forgotten about but DD is mad about, is 'Genie Us' & 'Genie & the Phoenix'!(one of the writers wrote Stardust/Sky Horses books) You really must try them if she enjoyed EB when younger.

Love the Ultimate Book Guide BTW, that's really helped me too- ordering as we speak!

Noel Streatfiesld , Antonia Forest, the first 3 Harry Potters (ds got scared by number 4) Hilary Mackay, Karen McCombie.

But if she's read all the Jacqueline Wilsons, I don;t think she needs much protection from too adult themes, to be honest!

Hi Gibberisn

Your daughter may like the "Companions Quartet" books by Julia Golding, the first of which is "Secret of the Sirens."
Another possibility is the Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene, of which are a great number,so is she likes them, they would certainly keep her going for a while.

Sorry, forgot to mention that you should probably check out whether you think the content is suitable for your daughter as she is quite young; maybe reading the reviews will help.

I would say that if she wants to read the classics, fgs try and get her to read the originals! I use some of the simplified versions with my 3yo, and they can be good for learning to read, but after that, getting used to "old fashioned" language will stand her in good stead.

IME, the older books or classics - Anne of Green Gables, Noel Streatfeild, Pollyanna, What Katy Did, etc - have challenging language and concepts but more appropriate content for a nine-year-old accomplished reader. And you get the benefit of a feel for different periods and styles of writing.

I still read and enjoy lots of these!

Have just skimmed through and didn't notice anyone mention Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series, which are a cracking read.

She is a bit old fashioned but E Nesbit stories are good fun too. Ds has just done the Railway Children at school and the whole class loved it.

Also Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness

I would also second the Lemony Snickets, which I loved .

Thanks SO much everyone.

We are off into town now to go to the bookshop armed with a list as long as our arms

Will let you know what we get.

I do agree that the old classics are the obvious way to go if you have a child who's reading a lot and you worry about age-appropriate content. I don't worry too much about that with mine but they (10 and 8) like the classics anyway, maybe cos I've been so enthusiastic about introducing them, having been such a bookworm at their age.

we don't usually have abridged but we've got Treasure Island abridged (I find RL stevenson pretty tough going) and I am looking out for abridged Dickens, not sure if it exists. does anyone know? especially Nicholas Nickelby?

Thanks Fennel (havent seen you around for a while btw).

I have a few classics in the house and though she isn't keen to read them herself I think I will start reading them to her at bedtime. That might give her a taste for them.

Anyway, we took out list to the bookshop. Not many of them were actually there so will need to place a huge order with Amazon. But she did choose the first Lemony Snickett book (thanks Jeffvadar, littlerach and teamcullen) and, as recommended by HoopyFroodDudean, the Ali Sparkes novel called 'Frozen in time'.

dd3 also caught the bug and bought 'Rose' by Holly Webb. Was really pleased because dd3 doesn't read as much as dd4 and I think she does need to move on from the type of books she normally reads.

So thanks again for all your suggestions. Our library is going to be massive!

I'm reading What Katy Did to DD and she is loving it - much more than I thought she would, actually. Often just by reading out loud the first few chapters, my kids will tackle the rest by themselves.

Has anyone mentioned Helen Dunmore's Ingo series of children's books? She's a top-notch adult author (and poet) so the children's books are much better written than a lot of the popular series. They are about mermaids (sort of) but not in a sparkly disney sort of way.