books for 14yo DN - not too childish, nor too grown up

[hazyshadeofwinter]

I am always stumped by what to get DN for her birthday. She is about to turn 14 and loves reading and writing (ie writing her own stories and poems) but I can't remember what I loved to read at that age.

Any suggestions for classics that would be suitable or young-adult style fiction for her? She also does school plays and what not, so might enjoy a play to read, but again I can't remember what I enjoyed then and my favourites now are too dark I think.

I would get her some Alan Garner because he's fabulous. The Owl Service in particular is brilliant. If she's totally not into mildly spooky books then I'd get her some classics. 14 is old enough to tackle Dickens.

I was moving on to adult fiction by then, although I still liked some children's fiction. I was reading Agatha Christie, among other things. They Came to Baghdad is a standalone with a young woman heroine. Or Secret Adversary, the first Tommy and Tuppence mystery. If she'd enjoy a bit of light romance, Georgette Heyer is very well written fluff, and well researched.

I don't know if they're still in print, but I also enjoyed Mary Stewart's fairly light romantic suspense novels.

DD is around the same age. She recently read and enjoyed Lies We Tell Ourselves. I think its intended as YA, but I also read it & liked it a lot. It's set in 1959 Virginia, written from the perspective of 2 school students (one white, one black) in the very early days of racial integration in the school system.

Does she like real life type fiction or is she more into fantasy? My dd (almost 15) enjoys both but is more orientated toward fantasy.

On the more real world side has she read any Rainbow Rowan, John Green, Benjamin Alire Saenz, Gae Polisner or Bill Konigsberg?

On the fantasy front we really like Tamora Pierce (the Beka Cooper series is probably good for her age), Maggie Stiefvater (esp Raven Boys), Kristin Cashore, Megan Whalen Turner and Patrick Ness (esp More Than This)

The sort of books I remember being given at around 14, at school, were -

Dickens (didn't enjoy)
Steinbeck - The Pearl, The Red Pony
Hardy - loved The Mayor of Casterbridge and Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Austen - Pride and Prejudice
Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre
Arnold Bennett - The Card
Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird
Gerald Durrell - My Family and Other Animals.

Would any of these appeal?

Not really classics as such (!)but my dd is that age and is currently enjoying the judy blume books that I used to read - are you there god its me Margaret? - and all those ones. She's also really enjoyed the knife of letting go series and the "Gone" series of books.

I loved Tomorrow, when the war began at that age.

It's an Australian book (there are a few books) about a group of teenagers who go bush when Australia is invaded. They camp out and do guerilla missions. But they're just normal teens with normal teen angst and worries. Very well written and extremely gripping with teenage emotions dealt with in a sensitive way, which appealed to me at the time.

I have to say though that my book loving dd would much, much prefer it if you either asked her what she'd like in the way of a book (she'd have a long list - often includes hardback or special edition copies of favourite books), or gave her a book token that let her pick her own.

If you bought her a book, there's a very strong chance she'd have already read it (and if a classic, that as a family we already have a copy).

My 14 year old dd loves

The Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan
The Maze runner trilogy

Some great suggestions here for her too!

If she's into more 'lighthearted' literature try the allies world series www.karenmccombie.com/Mybooks/AllysWorld.aspx

I absolutely loved it at 13-14 it's extremely relatable for a teenage girl. Growing up. Boys boobs fall outs with friends family dramas and very humerous. It's a long series but every book is brilliant. I'm nearly 26 now and remember them fondly!

If she's a keen reader I'd definitely go with a book token rather than guessing - my 13 yo and 9 yo keen readers have read most of those suggested (not so much the classics- but they don't grab them right). But they (and I at that age) live a book token. Having said that, we're reading Littlle Women together. Might be good.and I read a lot of Graham Green at that age.

Artemis Fowl series by Ioin Coifer
His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman

My 12 year old has just read and loved "Leaving Time" by Jodi Picoult. She went on to read "The Storyteller" too but preferred the first.

If she has a Kindle, or uses the Kindle app on another device, she might prefer an Amazon token. She can use it to buy paper books too. The classics - Austen, Bronte, Dickens etc - are freely available for Kindle, so don't need to be bought if she has one.

Mister Pip
Unlundun

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith is a great book, very funny and sad. Cold Comfort Farm is another one.

But I think yes, ask your daughter for a list.

The bee in my bonnet lately is that we should more often be giving kids nonfiction. It's a great way to open a door that they otherwise wouldn't be aware of.

DD wants the Phan book not out until November.
She read & quite liked The Book Thief so many of the other suggestions are ancient
Because DD is politically minded FFS she would probably quite The L-Shaped room.

And this, omg, this is a huge hit with bookish young teens.

Not reading, but if she likes writing, my 13 yo loves her Wreck It Journal. She also love her Novel Journal where the lines are actually the wirds of a novel.

Goodnight Mister Tom is a fab read.

How about Rosemary Sutcliff? The Eagle of the 9th perhaps?

If she like fantasy then:
Sabriel by Garth Nix.
The Chrysalids by John Wynham
Any of the Pern books by Anne McCaffrey.
Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings
Any of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, though I'd probably start her off with Wee Free Men

It also wouldn't be too early for Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre (I think I'd read them by that age).

I absolutely loved the Flambards books at that age.

Whoops, posted too early.

They were a great cross-over between children and adults books.

I also see someone has mentioned I Capture the Castle (an excellent choice) which made me think of Margaret Kennedy's The Constant Nymph, which is in a similar vein.