Posted on 12/01/2009 6:14:54 PM PST by highimpact
I'm seeking help finding a new author and/or book suggestions for my daughter for Christmas. She is 12 going on 13, and very smart (gifted student, genius IQ, home-schooled.) She is moving beyond her pre-teen books.
I'm looking for books/authors that are early adult, without graphic sexual/horror situations. She enjoys mystery, history (fiction or non-fiction), adventure, and romantic comedy. She is a big fan of Brian Jacques and Gail Carson Levine.
Enemy Women. A gripping story about women imprisoned during the Civil War. No sex, little violence. But strong.
I appreciate all of your suggestions, but:
“Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls”
Really? For Christmas? I’m still crying 23 years later! LOL
“Enemy Women”
Sounds interesting. Author?
Well, it’s a bit of a read, but Brothers Karamazoff by Dostoyevski. If she’s reading Tolstoy, she’s ready for Dostoyevski.
Anything by Solzhenitsyn.
Anything by Kipling. Especially Jungle Book.
What about Mark Twain? Has she read Tom Sawyer?
I second the once and future king. She will very much love that book!
“What about Mark Twain? Has she read Tom Sawyer?”
She read Huckleberry Finn a couple years ago and didn’t like it. Now that she’s older, I’m sure she’ll enjoy Tom Sawyer. Thanks for the suggestion.
If she likes Arthurian fiction, try Idylls of the King by Tennyson.
Robert Heinlein’s young novels should work for Sci-Fi.
Also Agatha Christie for mystery.
“The Westing Game” by Ellen Raskin
“Understood Betsy” by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
“All Creatures Great and Small” by James Harriot
Yes, "Diary of Ann Frank" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" are good books. But not for Christmas.
Hmm, if she hasn’t read much science fiction, she’d probably enjoy Jules Verne’s books.
“The Count of Monte Cristo”
This. Seconded. Dumas she would love.
Birthday Snow, by Monique Niemaszyk
Spring’s Gift of Hope, also by Monique Niemaszyk
and two by Carmen Marcoux:
Arms of Love
Surrender
Ender’s Game. Awesome. Maybe not if she’s really girlie though.
Two SciFi multiple volume epics come to mind both with very strong female leads; Anne McCaffery’s “Dragonriders of Pern” series and Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children / “Clan of the Cave Bear” series. The latter may be a bit to sexually explicit for that age (I don’t have any 12-13 females to ask about it) but its depiction of the Ice Age and primitive Eurasia still resonates with me.
You mentioned Huck Finn but neglected to mention Tom Sawyer. Why?
Ping to book ideas for our girl.
Many thanks to all FReepers for offering suggestions!
I remember still reading Dickens when I was a kid. Oliver Twist — I still remember Chapter 1: I Am Born. Tried to read all the classics & set my own reading lists. But still remember clutching my Oliver Twist on the (city) bus to school at about that age.
Anything by Jane Austen. Also, the Anne of Green Gables series. I remember being fascinated by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I at that age. Gone With The Wind and The Secret Garden.
Couple of suggestions:
History (real people):
Real Men: Ten Courageous Americans to Know and Admire - You can get it at Amazon
High Fantasy (probably my all time favorite book (both my grown daughters also from the time they were early teens):
The Deed of Paksenarrion: A Novel - also at Amazon
Hope she likes these.
Have a great Christmas!
“Clan of the Cave Bear”
I’ve read it. Way too explicit for a 12 y/o, but a good role-model book for a teenager nonetheless. I’ll check out “Earth’s Children.” I appreciate the mention.
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