11+ fiction book recommendations (vocab)

[Flashcardsagain]

Can anyone recommend good fiction books to help with vocab for the 11+ (kent test)? And not the caldwater ones, actually good stories that will engage.

Bonus points if the lead character is a girl or it's a female author (DD is not keen on male protagonists bar Potter).

Often older books are particularly good for widening vocabulary - has she read all the female-led 'classics' like The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, The Secret Garden, The Railway Children, Little Women, Alice in Wonderland etc?

To add to @BestZebbie's list, DD loved Anne of Green Gables. Challenging but amusing, strong female character.

For vocab (especially the stuff on the 11+) I’d head straight to Rosemary Sutcliff. Joan Aiken too

A Series of Unfortunate Events is great because they explain the meaning of the tricky words within the text. Great stories too!

The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. There is an order to them, but the best one is 'The Dark Is Rising' and you could read that first and then go back to the start without ruining anything.

I also loved anything by Diana Wynne Jones at that age - Charmed Life, The Ogre Downstairs etc

Thank you, these are great suggestions!

This is a really good answer.