great fiction books for 10.5 year old girl?

[Wildflower]

She likes myths, fairy tales, anything goddess-y, is homeschooled, would love a series--looking for recomendations, thanks!!!

[LynnS6]

Has she read the Warrior Cat series? (plural -- there are several).

[Jen Muise]

A wrinkle in time, the Hobbit, Ella Enchanted, Watership down and Jonathon Livingston Seagull would be my top suggestions.  This list is pretty good too - http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1894.Best_Teen_Pre_Teen_Books

ETA:  Oh, and the Narnia series of course

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by Jen Muise 

A wrinkle in time, the Hobbit, Ella Enchanted, Watership down and Jonathon Livingston Seagull would be my top suggestions.  This list is pretty good too - http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1894.Best_Teen_Pre_Teen_Books

ETA:  Oh, and the Narnia series of course

Good recommendations, especially Ella Enchanted. That list has a few books that I was going to suggest eg. Goose Girl by Shannon Hale and The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, but I raised my eyebrows at the Piers Anthony Xanth series. It's probably 30 years since I read them, but my recollection is that he is a casually and terribly misogynistic writer. Not something I'd recommend to pre-teens. Or anyone. 

There are quite a few re-written and updated fairy tales and myths, as well as books about magic. Look for books by

-Gale Carson Levine 

-Jane Yolen  (who also writes historic fiction for kids)

-Robin McKinley

-Shannon Hale

-Diana Wynne Jones

Also 

I, Coriander - it isn't an updated fairy tale, but it has both historic and fairy tale aspects - Sally Gardner

The Sea of Trolls and sequels (Norse myths) - Nancy Farmer 

Wise Child, Juniper and Colman (historic witch/healing woman) -  Monica Furlong 

Runemarks (Norse myths) Joanne Harris 

The Dark is Rising series (Celtic myths) - Susan Cooper

The Serial Garden:The Complete Armitage Family Stories - Joan Aiken - who also wrote a good series, starting with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

A Curse as Dark as Gold (the Rumplestiltskin story, might be a little tough for a 10 y.o.) - Elizabeth Bunce 

Chime (likewise meant more for a teen audience but an advanced 10 y.o. would enjoy it) - Franny Billingsley 

Eva Ibbotson writes a variety of books - some with witches and magic and others are historic fiction. Journey to the River Sea is a favourite, but it's non-magic although heavy on appreciating the natural world. 

Karen Cushman writes terrific historic fiction - try The Midwife's Apprentice or Matilda Bone. Again, not magic but lots of historic female healer stuff. 

And it's killing me that I can't recall the title or author of a YA novel about Guinevere, telling the Arthurian legend from her perspective, that might appeal. I haven't read it, so if you find it, I don't know if it's any good, but I know it's out there!! Jane Yolen wrote a short trilogy about the young Merlin (Passager, Hobby and Merlin). 

[MamaInTheDesert]

Good suggestions so far. I'll add some more I remember from around that age.

Good Titles:

The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Elizabeth George Speare

The Girl Who Owned a City - O. T. Nelson

The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton

Sarah, Plain and Tall - Patricia MacLachlan

Misty of Chincoteague - Marguerite Henry

Lord of the Flies - William Golding

The Egypt Game - Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Black Beauty - Anna Sewell

Midnight Hour Encores - Bruce Brooks

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

Short and Shivery: 30 Chilling Tales- Robert D. San Souci

The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert C. O'Brien

Cutting Loose - Frances A. Miller

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years - Rachel Field

Dead Poets Society - N.H. Kleinbaum

A Gift of Magic - Lois Duncan

Silver - Norma Fox Mazer

Summer of the Monkeys - Wilson Rawls

The Indian in the Cupboard - Lynne Reid Banks

Harriet the Spy - Louise Fitzhugh

Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell

Heidi - Johanna Spyri

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Annie on My Mind - Nancy Garden

Maniac Magee - Jerry Spinelli

Witch Child - Celiea Rees

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher - Bruce Coville

Bunnicula - James and Deborah Howe

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

Afternoon of the Elves - Janet Taylor Lisle

Number the Stars - Lois Lowry

The Giver - Lois Lowry

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

Hatchet - Gary Paulsen

The Island - Gary Paulsen

Jacob Have I Loved - Katherine Patterson

Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Patterson

The Great Gilly Hopkins - Katherine Patterson

Good Series:

The Weetzie Bat Books - Francesca Lia Block

Circle of Three - Isobel Bird

Harper Hall Series - Anne McCaffrey

Scary Stories - Alvin Schwartz

Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder

Ender's Saga - Orson Scott Card

The Catwings Collection - Ursula K. Le Guin

Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery

Sweep - Cate Tiernan

Avalon Series - Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Boxcar Children - Gertrude Chandler Warner

Goosebumps - R.L. Stein

Babysitter's Club - Ann M. Martin

Sweet Valley High - Francine Pascal

Bobbsey Twins - Laura Lee Hope

Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene

Hardy Boys - Franklin W. Dixon

Good Authors:

Beverly Cleary

Lurlene McDaniels

L.M. Montgomery

Roald Dahl

Judy Blume

Mark Twain

NOTE: A few of these books of these might not be right for your kiddo's reading level, comprehension level, or maturity level. Additionally, a few of them may contain subjects that you might not feel comfortable with her reading. Read the back of the book, or summary before you buy.

[Jen Muise]

At this age I also loved the choose your own adventure books, and especially the more dungeon and dragons-y Fighting Fantasy series.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_Fantasy

[mtiger]

The Inkheart series, and also The Hunger Games.

[meemee]

yikes - Hunger Games - first check and see if your child is ready to deal with this dark book. its more a middle school book. most of the kids who have read this book (between the ages of 9 and 11) have wished they hadnt read the book. the idea of kids killing kids was just too much for them. these were the sensitive thinker kids.

a huge hit has been the H.I.V.E. series.

btw with the Warrior series - there are two groups of kids. those who love it and those who dont care about it at all.

how about Fablehaven series? those who loved fairy talesy kinda stories devoured the fablehaven series.

[4evermom]

Originally Posted by meemee 

yikes - Hunger Games - first check and see if your child is ready to deal with this dark book. its more a middle school book. most of the kids who have read this book (between the ages of 9 and 11) have wished they hadnt read the book. the idea of kids killing kids was just too much for them. these were the sensitive thinker kids.

I read The Hunger Games after a 10 yo friend recommended it to me:-) My own 10 yo ds asked me to read it to him but I put him off since it is a bit dark and he tends to be sensitive about certain things. So, yeah, use your judgement on that one. 

A different 10 yo girl strongly recommended When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. I haven't read it, yet, but it's a Newberry Award winning mystery novel involving time travel that the 10 yo girl described as "life changing." 

[Dr.Worm]

Thanks for warning about The Hunger Games.  I never read the books.  I saw the preview and thought my dd who is twelve might like the books or movie.  She likes stories with strong female characters but kids killing kids??? How horrible!!

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by 4evermom 

A different 10 yo girl strongly recommended When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. I haven't read it, yet, but it's a Newberry Award winning mystery novel involving time travel that the 10 yo girl described as "life changing." 

Another good recommendation. It references (worships) L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, which is a book that I find charmless, awkward and not at all well written. I'm in a tiny minority with respect to Wrinkle, but oddly enough both my kids and their friends all join me in that minority.  

When You Reach Me was awarded the Newbery, ahead of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, another excellent book for this age group.  

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by MamaInTheDesert 

A Gift of Magic - Lois Duncan

Oh, I adored that book when I was 10. Along with Duncan's long list of books for tweens/teens. Thanks for the nostalgia........

I also really like Weetzie Bat, although I haven't read the sequels. My vague memory is that it's for teens, but I don't recall any specifics why it wouldn't be suitable for a tween. 

The trip down memory lane reminded me of another suggestion - The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Particia McKillip. The protagonist is a young sorceress who uses telepathic powers to communicate with mythic creatures. 

[ollyoxenfree]

And, with some vague reminders and a bit of googling, I just found another fave from back in the 1970's - Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre, about a young female healer who uses snakes in her healing. I read it in my mid to late teens, but I don't recall anything too disturbing for an advanced tween reader. At least, not compared to Hunger Games or Twilight or other stuff that many tweens are reading these days. 

[AnnieA]

All of my kids loved Peter and the Starcatchers as well as the subsequent books. Appeals to both boys and girls!

[librarygirl]

So glad someone mentioned The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate! I adore that book! When You Reach Me is good but not nearly as good as Calpurnia. As for Newbery's, Moon over Manifest is lovely, but Dead End in Norvelt is a bit of drag.

I'm a children's librarian so this is what I do for a living. :) For girls that age, I usually hand them Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli or The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. Jennifer Holm's books are excellent, too. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale is amazing, too.

As for Hunger Games, it is pretty horrible but it's incredibly powerful. I think it's one of the best series published for TEENS in the past decade. Definitely a "what would you do", thought-provoking book. I would NOT recommend it to a 10 year old, because I don't think most 10s are mature enough to handle the concepts and violence, as well as the political power-play presented in Hunger Games. I know it's popular with the 6th graders in my school district, but I wouldn't recommend it to them, even.

I do often recommend Suzanne Collin's children's series, Gregor the Overlander, to kids who like adventure and fantasy stories. A child falls through an air shaft into a world below the earth's surface, where the people have never seen daylight, fly around on giant bats, and are at war with the rats, who are as big as ponies. Somewhat mature themes of a child thrust into a leadership/hero position and facing a war, but not quite as intense as Hunger Games. Princesses, prophecies, bizarre animals/creatures, fantastic exciting adventures, and a wonderful theme of family loyalty and true friendship.

[USAmma]

She would love the books by Shannon Hale

[liberal_chick]

Also the books written by Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson series, The Kane Chronicles, and The Lost Hero.

[Cyllya]

I liked Animorphs when I was at that age. (It is violent, but it's a kids' series.)