Interesting but challenging reads for teen (Y9 going to Y10)

[Scoobydoobydoo]

Hello,
My daughter struggles with creative writing. A lot of this I know is to do with lack of reading quality material.
I know she is old enough to go to the library, do some research and get some good stuff to read.
Alas youtube and tiktok are more fancy!

I was looking for some recommendations of books/series she could read over the holidays.
She did enjoy Divergent Series.
I will do my research too but would be grateful for any pointers on fun but challenging reads for this age group.

Thanks very much
Xx

Noughts & Crosses series (Malorie Blackman)
Northern Lights series (Philip Pullman)
Swallows & Amazons series (Arthur Ransome - older style language helpful for Eng Lang)

Off the top of my heas...

Pride and Prejudice
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tom Sawyer and/or Huckleberry Finn
Of Mice and Men
Education
The Corrections

So 14 rising 15 then?
Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge - anything by her frankly, she’s streets ahead of most generic YA fiction.
His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin - younger age group but fantastic prose
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake is amazing for teens if she can get into it.

Take her into a bookshop with a budget

Now I don't know the last 2, but I would have thought that the first 3 could be quite daunting to a not keen reader?

Of Mice and Men is often studied in school (DD did it in y9) and is beautifully crafted.

However in a similar vein:
Animal Farm & 1984
To Kill a Mocking Bird

On a different note
Three Men In a Boat
PG Wodehouse
Evelyn Waugh’s shorter funnier books
Georgette Heyer’s regency romances are not great literature, but they’re entertaining and very well written prose and would both expand her range and act as a gateway into Austen.

My son loves Animal Farm and is reading 1984 right now.

Although not challenging as such he also enjoyed the Power of Five series and Private Peaceful. His school likes to encourage different books and styles

The latest Hunger Games novel The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes - it goes back to the first games I think. My HG loving daughter has also enjoyed Flowers for Algernon and Lord of the Flies this year.
I teach Year 9 English. Those more on the fantasy side of the reading spectrum enjoy Cassandra Clare's series and Laini Taylor's novels. Agree with PP recommendation of Frances Hardinge too.
You might want to consider the graphic/ upsetting nature of the material but a few of mine have read The Tatooist of Auschwitz this year and I tentatively recommended All the Light We Cannot See on the back of this. The one who got back to me really loved it.
The Help and A Thousand Splendid Suns are usually well received as recommendations in Year 10 - again, assuming a level of maturity.

Hi - she can really access an adult reading list - handmaids tale, the power, the end of men, tattooist of auschwitz. My sister the serial killer so much stuff! The red eye series if she is horror oriented.

Persepolis is a good shout on graphic novels

Just thinking secret history by Donna Tartt would be a great shout.

Shadow of the Wind by Zafon

Tbh, I was just reading adult books at that age...

She could try William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Alastair Reynolds.
Revenger/Shadow Captain are aimed at YA in fact.
Patrick Ness?

Sci-fi/dystopia

• Ready Player One
• 1984
• Gone series by Michael Grant
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Fantasy (all by David Eddings)

• The Belgariad Series, followed up by the Mallorean. 5 short books in each series
• The Elenium & The Tamuli series. 3 longer books in each series

Other Fantasy

• Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• The cruel prince by Holly Black

Also, World of Books is a great site for picking up incredibly cheap second hand books that are in good condition.

Be careful with Ready Player One- unless she's seen a lot of films, it will ruin many for her, so many spoilers

@PhilODox

Be careful with Ready Player One- unless she's seen a lot of films, it will ruin many for her, so many spoilers

Oh that's a good point, I hadn't even considered that 🤦🏼‍♀️ they're all such old films referenced I didn't even think of spoilers as most of the endings are just common knowledge now!

I'd highly recommend the Eyre Affair as a starting point. The plot lends itself to exploring more classic literature.

Another place to start I forgot to mention was the Disc World series by Terry Pratchett.

My dd is 14vand loved the Margaret Atwood trilogy % Oryx and Crake / Year of the flood / Maddadam... She used to be a voracious reader then lost her nterest in it but this trilogy has reignited her spark.

It really does depend on her maturity and interests. Does she need to start with shorter/easier to get into reading or does she already get lost in books and have reading stamina?

I enjoyed plenty of 'younger' books at that age, mixed in with reading adult books.

Younger books that I liked included those by Michelle Magorian, Flambards series, Dear Nobody by Berlie Doherty,, books by Jan Mark and Jean Ure.

English Lit texts such as To Kill a Mockingbird, the Wide Sagasso Sea, The Colour Purple, The Endless Steppe, The Silver Sword, Jane Eyre

I also got into authors like Maeve Binchy and Fiona Walker at that age or a bit older but some of them were v adult themed...

to realise that Ready Player One is full of spoilers and then go on to recommend The Eyre Affair. I love The Eyre Affair, but Jane Eyre is definitely a book which benefits from being read unspoiled.

Has she read The Hunger Games? I rate the books. For challenging reads maybe look at the last few years’ Carnegie prize long or short lists. Patrick Ness (several titles) and The Hate You Give spring to mind.

Not obvious for 14 yr old, 21st century girls, but things like Just William are great for character, plot and dialogue.... and of course, laughs!

My dd loves Run, Rebel by Manjeet Mann.

www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk/books/DisplayBookInfo.php?ISBN=9780241411421

I often look at the NfN website for recommendations for all of my dc.

My daughter has just asked me to order some books for her - they look quite changing and she is just about to turn 14 so looks at the younger end for them.

Girl in pieces
They both die at the end
Girl interrupted
All the bright places

She also enjoys Malorie Blackman

Helpful thread thank you

Wow...thanks so much for amazing suggestions!
Some of these I have read myself and absolutely loved - all the light we cannot see, tattooist of auschwitz, a thousand splendid suns
I am sure if she was ready for some of this because of her reading maturity.

I will make a list of the suggestions and give her a gentle nudge.

Many thanks once again :-)
There are a few in here I can happily put on my own list!

Queen of the Tearling
The Red Queen