Books for Y9 girl

[Temperance15]

I am looking to buy a few books for my niece who is in Y9. She lives in London. She goes to a private school locally and is in the process of choosing her GCSEs, and is coming to light to her and family now that she is a bit lost and lacking inspiration as to what subjects she likes and more broadly, what she would like to become when she grows up.....

I wonder if anybody can recommend any books that were a hit with your DDs and that provide inspiration or opened up topics and interests, or people or role models they did not know about? She is young for her year and on the arty side.

Any other ideas as for gifts with this in mind, whether it is an experience or a course or something else, also welcome....

Okay, I've picked the first five books from my Amazon basket that I would be eager to give a year 9 girl. (Particularly an apparently well educated one with no particular discernible interests.) They are not at all random - but you can look them up to see why they're on this list.

Fly in League With the Night - Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

Diary of a Young Naturalist - Dara McAnulty

Women, Art, and Society (5th Ed) - Whitney Chadwick

seven methods of killing kylie jenner - Jasmine Lee-Jones

People Like Us - Hashi Mohamed

Thank you will research this weekend @PoulePouletteEternellement !

I’m going to add Frances Hardinge - nice strong female protagonists.

The kingdom by Jess Rothenberg - what it means to be human and the feminine ideal

Everless by Sara Holland - not read this one but my daughter liked it.

Court of thorns and roses by Sarah J Maas - maybe a bit older

I have to say that most Y9s won't have a clue about what they want to be when they grow up, and if they do, it will change for most.

Thank you all for the advice - points taken and I have bought some of the books below!

I guess the search for your personal interest is a process that is just starting for her, and every little bit of input helps.

Sorry my books were just general interest rather than specific. I would recommend keeping a broad base gcse and just reading anything that interests her and watching a wide mix of tv (from grand designs to the Tudor Christmas etc...’

Oh certainly, one can't take an instrumentalist attitude to reading undertaken for pleasure - but it's obviously a very good idea to regularly introduce books that a child might not have found or chosen for themselves.