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Topic: Can you recommend some good books for our 12 yr old girl?

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Subject: Can you recommend some good books for our 12 yr old girl?
Date Posted: 11/25/2007 3:44 PM ET
Member Since: 7/5/2007
Posts: 128
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Hi!

She loves to read and generally goes through 4 to 6 books per week. She likes mostly fantasy and books about animals (like Redwall, Warriors, and Ga'Hoole). I'm about out of ideas for her! Can you suggest any good books, authors, or series? Also, she wants to read Harry Potter. Do you think that it would be appropriate for her age, or should we wait a few years?

Thanks in advance for any help!

dalynnrmc avatar
Date Posted: 11/26/2007 1:01 AM ET
Member Since: 11/11/2007
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Harry Potter would probably be okay, at least the first few books. If you have doubts, read them yourself first. They did "grow up" with that first set of kids, so the later ones are much more gorey (etc - I haven't read them myself) than the first ones....

What about Nancy Drew? I have quite a deal running and could use the credit help. :)

What about Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time, it's a series of 5 and recently republished as well to honor her passing away this past year. Great books, classics.

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Date Posted: 11/26/2007 8:50 AM ET
Member Since: 4/12/2007
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Madeline L'Engle -- A Wrinkle in Time (this is the first of a series, if she likes it).  Also the Emily Windsnap books which begin with The Tail of Emily Windsnap.  Finally, I would recommend the Earthsea trilogy by Ursula LaGuin.

 

- Tracy

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Date Posted: 11/26/2007 12:25 PM ET
Member Since: 4/13/2007
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I just finished, "The Lightening Thief" by Rick Riordan.  It is in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.  It is based on Greek mythologhy and has all the fantasy creatures & Greek Gods in it.    I thought this was a really good book.  I am starting book 2 this week.  I think its called, "Sea of Monsters". 

I also really enjoyed the Inkheart, Inkspell series....still waiting for Inkdeath to come out.  It is by Cornelia Funke and is about a girl and her father who can read things out of books and make them come into our world.



Last Edited on: 11/26/07 12:30 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
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Date Posted: 11/26/2007 4:36 PM ET
Member Since: 7/5/2007
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DaLynn, Thanks for the offer, but she doesn't like Nancy Drew (I practically have to FORCE her to read them!). I'll look into Madeline L'Engle.

Tracy, She just finished the first Earthsea book (Thanks for the idea!). I'll check for Emily Windsnap, I've never heard of it.

Anne, She LOVES Cornelia Funke! We're #3 on the list for Inkdeath. I think our library has the Percy Jackson book, I'll check it out.

Thanks everyone! Any more ideas would be welcome! : )

Last Edited on: 11/26/07 4:37 PM ET - Total times edited: 1

annieannie avatar
Date Posted: 11/26/2007 6:19 PM ET
Member Since: 12/13/2005
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She might like the Animorphs series (scifi/fantasy with animals and aliens), the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane (fantasy with some animals in later books), The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm by Nancy Farmer (scifi/fantasy), and maybe Bruce Coville's fantasy books (he's done some about unicorns and dragons-- Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, for instance). Oh! Diana Wynne Jones' Chronicles of Chrestomanci series is good, too. And if she likes King Arthur, she might like Terrance White's The Once and Future King.

boxtopmom avatar
Date Posted: 11/26/2007 11:50 PM ET
Member Since: 4/13/2007
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I also enjoyed the Septimus Heap series.

They are:

Magyk

Flyte

Physik

They are by Angie Sage

dalynnrmc avatar
Date Posted: 11/27/2007 2:18 AM ET
Member Since: 11/11/2007
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Reading about the Ink-whatever series on this thread made me think of the classic "Neverending Story". Just a thought.

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Date Posted: 11/27/2007 2:55 AM ET
Member Since: 2/21/2006
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I've not read any of the Mistmantle books, but I've heard that they are good, especially if she likes Redwall. 

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles would probably be a light read for your daughter, but my daughter and I really enjoyed them!

~Jori

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Date Posted: 11/29/2007 10:05 AM ET
Member Since: 8/20/2006
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I think she would be fine with the HP series, especially if she enjoys fantasy.

 

Here are a few my 11 yr old has enjoyed (she also reads several books a week):

 

Princess Academy – S. Hale

Listening for Lions – W. Whelan

Out of the Dust – K. Hesse

Halfway to the Sky – Bradley

The Warm Place – N. Farmer

Rascal – S. North

Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles – Edwards

View From Saturday – Konigsburg

The Cricket in Times Square – Selden

Miracles on Maple Hill – Sorensen

Gooseberry Park – Rylant

Williwaw – Bodett

Once on This Island – Whelan

Letters From Rifka – Hesse

Caddie Woodlawn – Brink

A Year Down Yonder – Peck

The Penderwicks – Birdsall

 

I read “Black Ships Before Troy” to my son and we loved it. It is a tamed down version of the Iliad so death and fighting abound.

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Date Posted: 11/30/2007 11:51 PM ET
Member Since: 1/21/2007
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I definitely second Jori.  The Mistmantle Chronicles are great for fans of Redwall, and the Enchanted Forest Chronicles are good too.

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Date Posted: 12/8/2007 9:53 PM ET
Member Since: 1/14/2007
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My 11 year old granddaughter reads all the Harry Potter books; has read them for years!  Also, I just sent her Son of a Witch by Gregory MacGuire (Wicked Series).  I don't think they are too old for an 11 year old.

drewsmom avatar
Date Posted: 12/9/2007 8:16 AM ET
Member Since: 5/29/2007
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My son reads the same genres, and I hightly suggest Obert Sky's Foo series, currently there are 3, there will be 5.  We've been to a couple of his book signings and there are an equal amount of girls and boys in the tween and early teen years.

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Date Posted: 12/13/2007 2:50 PM ET
Member Since: 9/13/2006
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What about the Pendragon series?  My 11yo son can't get them fast enough.

Kare

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Date Posted: 12/14/2007 2:11 PM ET
Member Since: 9/30/2007
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I know that one of my favorites at that age was The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, it fits in there with the age for A Wrinkle in Time.   I read this book many times as I got older then had to go buy it so I can read it,  yet again, and read it to my kids as well, only one of mine is old enough to read this book..it's a vocabulary thing ya know.  Anyways, I hope that you find some great books for her!

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Date Posted: 12/18/2007 8:49 PM ET
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I am reading my son Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke, and it is really good.  It's about a 12 year old girl who lives in medieval times and wants to be a knight.  Her parents own a set of magic talking books, and the night before a big seige occurs to steal the books, her parents accidentally turn themselves into pigs and it's up to Igraine to make things right and protect her family and the books.  We're down to the last few chapters.  I'm going to try and get the Inkheart and Inkspell books the next time Scholastic has them....we have some of the Ghosthunter books here as well as the Thief Lord that we haven't read.

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Date Posted: 1/4/2008 3:50 PM ET
Member Since: 2/19/2007
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"Dragon Slippers" by Jessica Day George

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