DD is in desperate need of books!

[amcal]

DD is an avid reader - she devours books and I'm running out of them!

She has read all the Rick Riordan various series, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, she's started on the kids Left Behind series but, it's too young for her so, I'm debating letting her read the adult version.  Twilight is out - she's only 10. 

She's big on books that come in a series.  She tried the Lord of the Rings but, just couldn't get into them.  She didn't care for Artimis Fowl. 

I'm really trying to find something that will be interesting and exciting for her to read but, keeping in mind her age. 

[ollyoxenfree]

There's a thread right now in the Childhood subforum that might help. 

Series or Trilogies: 

Anne of Green Gables

Emily of New Moon

Little Women 

Wizard of Oz 

Septimus Heap - Angie Sage

Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy

The Shadow Children - Margaret Peterson Haddix 

His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper

Rowan of Rin - Emily Rodda

Airborn and sequels - Ken Oppel

Leviathan and sequels - Scott Westerfeld 

BTW, I am NOT a fan of Twilight, particularly for tweens, but if she managed The Hunger Games without issue, she can probably handle Twilight as long as she has a little consciousness-raising about Meyer's portrayal of women, men and relationships. 

[Owen'nZoe]

Have to second the Dark is Rising series, especially given the books she's enjoyed reading so far.

[Igraine]

We loved the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness Series. There were a few scary parts, but my kids were reading aloud with us so there was not issue. If she could manage Harry Potter all the way through, she will be fine with these books!

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/harperchildrens/kids/gamesandcontests/features/chroniclesofancientdarkness/default.aspx

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi. This has also been made into an anime series. The first and second books were wonderful. We are waiting to see if more have been translated. 

http://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/book.asp?bookid=141

[beanma]

My girls are on either side of your dd at 11 and 8 and are avid readers, too.

I third the Dark Is Rising. My kids really liked it. 

My kids also loved the Pure Dead Magic series. Funny and dark, but mostly funny.

You might try the Golden Compass/His Dark Materials series. My kids really liked the movie, but haven't read the book.

I am not a fan of the Left Behind series. Have you read them? If you're looking for a Christian series she might like the Narnia books. 

Other books/series we've really, really loved:

The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

The Gaia Girls by Lee Welles

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

They also love Lauren Myracle's Ten, Eleven, Twelve, etc series about a girl named Winnie

And Megan McDonald's Sister's Club books.

I could probably go on and on and on if you need more suggestions. My girls tend to like both fantasy and contemporary true-to-life stories about girls. 

[meemee]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree 

BTW, I am NOT a fan of Twilight, particularly for tweens, but if she managed The Hunger Games without issue, she can probably handle Twilight as long as she has a little consciousness-raising about Meyer's portrayal of women, men and relationships. 

i totally agree with this. how did she do with hunger games? a lot of dd's 4th grade class is reading this and this is the first time i have told her absolutely a no no with this particular book. she is in a freakout stage and i can see the effect of the intensity of the book adn the question it raises really doing a number on her. dd wanted to read twilight and after a year of asking i finally said yes to her persistence. she read maybe two pages of the book and gave it away. maybe your dd might do the same.

how about the Pseudonymous Bosch series. and H.I.V.E. i am not sure if The Familiars are a series or not.

How about Battle of the books list from different states.

this one is from alaska http://akla.org/akasl/bb/2013tentativeList.htm

[Melanie Mayo]

The Fairy Realm series by Emily Rodda is fantastic and is ten books in length. It is really well written and full of adventure without being dark or frightening. Plus, the main characters are almost all women, which is rare. My eight year old daughter adores them. 

[MayM]

I would suggest everything by Shannon Hale, starting with the Goose Girl and the other "Books of Bayern" series

The Goose Girl is a retelling of the old Grimm fairy tale, but it becomes a series set in a mythical collection of kingdoms.

All of her novels feature really strong, interesting, brave and kind girls and women and I have read them over and over as an adult!

I would also recommend Graceling by Kristin Cashores and of course "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine if she hasn't already read it.

[beanma]

Originally Posted by Melanie Mayo 

The Fairy Realm series by Emily Rodda is fantastic and is ten books in length. It is really well written and full of adventure without being dark or frightening. Plus, the main characters are almost all women, which is rare. My eight year old daughter adores them. 

While I really like that series I think it's a little young for a 10 yr old who's read all the Harry Potters and Hunger Games. We liked Fairy Realm a lot when dd1 was about 6 or so, though, and I really appreciated that they are great books for sensitive young girls when my dd1 was younger and super sensitive to suspense and violence. She's 11 now, though, and surprising me with being fascinated by the Holocaust and WWII when she was terrified of Swiper the Fox and the Grumpy Old Troll as a 4 or 5 yr old. She picked up Harry Potter at about 8 or 9 and hasn't looked back.

[littlest birds]

I wouldn't personally choose Twilight or Hunger Games for a 10yo --but I have no objection to others' choices. 

I actually own a bookstore.  I guess that isn't especially important as we all have experience with kids who read... but I do encounter a lot of books and talk to a lot of people about them :) 

One of my all-time favorite series for this age:  Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Ancient-Darkness-Wolf-Brother/dp/0060728272/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332985265&sr=1-1  This is the first book, "Wolf Brother".  Love, love, love this series.  Friends who I have recommended to have agreed enthusiastically!

I also like Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer.  Agree with PP on The Dark is Rising.  One of our kiddos actually read LOTR twice at that age. 

You might consider Michael Scott's "The Alchemyst" and the sequels in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series.  I haven't read them yet but they are well-loved by many young folks.

My dd really enjoyed the Septimus Heap series which starts with a book called "Magyk".

I LOVE books by Tamora Pierce.  She has written several short series with female heroes such as girl knights.  Awesome!

The City of Ember is a good, though quick read. 

And I have a huge "Warriors" series fan in the house.  There are three series of six books by Erin Hunter.  They are about clans of cats, fantasies based somewhat on Native American tribal life.  Our youngest just started them at 9yo, she's read Percy Jackson as well so is a strong reader.  They are a little "lightweight" but well-loved around here.

ETA: You might also try Half Magic by Edward Eager, it's classic, old-fashioned fantasy.  Quite good.  Also Chronicles of Narnia.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by littlest birds 

I wouldn't personally choose Twilight or Hunger Games for a 10yo --but I have no objection to others' choices. 

Oh, I agree that neither series is really meant for a 10 y.o., but it seems inconsistent to prohibit the reading of one but not the other.

Edgar Eager is a great suggestion. 

I don't think The Hungry City series by Philip Reeve has been mentioned. The first is Mortal Engines. There is a wonderful young female warrior-type character, Hester Shaw, although like Airborn and Leviathan series, she's paired with a boy protagonist. 

For non-fantasy series, there's the Casson Family books by Hilary Mckay (Saffy's Angel, Indigo's Star etc.) DD loved those books when she was that age. 

Polly Horvath is also a terrific author, again not fantasy but beautifully written books. Try The Canning Season or My One Hundred Adventures (a Newbery Honor book).  

If she might like to read about girls in other countries, The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis (the first in a trilogy) or The Shepherd's Granddaughter by Anne Laurel Carter are both wonderful moving stories about strong, resilient girls in harsh environments. 

[chviegrl99]

I would recommend the cs lewis series silver chair etc  and the other series by another auther Brian Jacques, redwall series

[SweetSilver]

Lloyd Alexander's books, The Black Cauldron being the most famous.

[Mama Ana]

Babysitter's Club!

Nancy Drew

Hardy Boys

Boxcar Chlidren

Never-ending Story

ETA: Howl's Moving Castle and other books by Dianna Wynne Jones, Little House on the Prairie books, Walk Two Moons and Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech, Pippi Longstocking

Edited by Mama Ana - 3/30/12 at 8:27am

[SweetSilver]

She might not have like LOTR, but has she read the Hobbit?  Very different story, easier to read.  I read it when I was 8.

[julesz]

Try Gaia Girls by Lee Welles. My niece (13) has been eating them up as each comes out. I think she was 10 when she started on them. I believe the 3rd in the series is coming out soon or has recently come out. Very strong, positive, powerful girl roles with great messages about respecting our Earth etc. Beautifully written, and I highly recommend them.

Also, a friend of mine just published a young adult book called Intangible - by J. Meyers. It is a book about 17 yo twins - the boy has the power to foresee events, the girl has the gift of healing by touch. For me it was scary (but I'm like that - I only read it b/c she asked for my assistance in editing early on) - vampires and the like, the kids' lives are in danger - but it's engaging, intriguing, the main characters are well developed. I'd be happy to send you my copy with the request that you keep passing it on, as a way to introduce others to her work. PM me if you are interested. She is already hard at work on book 2. Oh, and there's a free short story prelude, Kindle only, on Amazon. It's called Intuition.

Enjoy!

J

[RStelle]

Some of my favorites for that age group as far as adventure/ fantasy type books are:

The Circle of Magic and Protector of the small quartets by Tamora Pierce (She has a TON of other books too, lots of strong women and girls, some of them are for a little bit older YA age, they have some sex parts, so you might want to pre-read others by her).

The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper

The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sward by Robin Mckinley  I LOVE these--they were 2 of my favorites when I was 10ish

[neptunemama]

She might like the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz.  Since she was fine with The Hunger Games, the killing in these books probably won't bother her.  The first book is Stormbreaker. 

I second the recs for The Alchemyst series, books by Shannon Hale, and The Dark Materials.  

Other ideas:

Eragon and the rest of the Inheritance series. 

City of Bones and the rest of the Mortal Instruments series. 

Uglies et al and the Midnighters (first one is The Secret Hour) by Scott Westerfeld.

Almost anything by Wendy Mass.  Not a series, but great books.  One or two of her books might be age inappropriate.  A Mango Shaped Space, Every Soul a Star, and Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life are wonderful. 

[Mama Ana]

anything by RL Stine 

also the Percy Jackson books are a series she may enjoy

[NoraC]

My daughter is a bit younger, but she is enjoying

-Sisters Grimm (just ordered the 2nd and 3rd books)

- Theodosia & the Serpents of Chaos (book 1...I think there are three or four)

-the Familiars (have just ordered the second book for her from the library)

I myself have enjoyed recently
-Ranger's Apprentice series

-Wildwood Dancing & Cybele's secret (not a series, but a book and its sequel)

My nephew (a bit older) has enjoyed the Charlie Bone books.

Hope she finds some more books to enjoy!  I love getting new book ideas!

Edited by NoraC - 4/10/12 at 12:17pm