My partner and I adopted a 13 yo girl about 9 months ago. We are both avid readers and would like to pass that on. I’m looking for 2 types of recommendations: 1) YA books that you can’t put down. 2) Books that will help her with trauma/life.
Some background on the kid — She’s had a tumultuous life. Both of her parents died. She’s been passed around between family members for years until we took her in. She has a lot of social anxiety. She recently became a Christian, and though neither me nor my partner are, we don’t mind this, but we want her to grow to be a nonjudgmental and friendly person.
She’s recently started to relax a little more and wants to spend the majority of her free with us, but needs constant entertainment (video games, board games, makeovers, etc). I would love to have some nights where we could read, as my partner and I both are in sales and need time to decompress.
I would love to hear y’all’s thoughts!
by scrappy_mcfierce
25 Comments
Hunger games (but it has a bit of violence), divergent series, the cruel prince (fantasy), the fault in our stars and turtles all the way down by John Green (the second one talks a lot about mental health)
I know it may be a bit weird recommendation but I personally loved Jane Eyre at that age. I also believe that there are themes that she could relate to such as difficult childhood.
When I was that age I loved Erin Hunter’s Warrior series (cats <3, action and drama, themes of finding a new tribe and finding one’s independence), Herby Brennan’s Faerie Wars (fantasy, intrigue, world to get lost in) and Isabel Allende’s City of the Beasts and it’s sequels (travel, nature, magic)
…and Harry Potter of course.
My daughter really enjoyed Anne of Green Gables.
Pollyanna
Any books by Edith Nesbit
Pride and prejudice
Jane Eyre
Harry Potter
The Hobbit, LOTR
Enid Blyton books
Agatha Christie
The wayward children series by Seanan McGuire! The first book is *every heart a doorway*. It’s about a home for children who went to a portal world (like Alice in wonderland or Dorothy in Oz) and came back. All of it is very found family focused. They’re novellas so they’re easy to get into.
Some other things I’d recommend are
– Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
– the accidental apprentice by Amanda Foody
– My lady Jane by Cynthia Hand
– The hunger games by Suzanne Collins
– Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
– The poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
– Princess academy by Shannon Hale
I would suggest The Gray and The Magical Imperfect both by Chris Baron. They are both incredibly well written young adult books that are stories of young teens dealing with anxiety and trauma.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
Homecoming
by Cynthia Voigt
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
by Ann Brashares
The Diary of Anne Frank
Felix Ever After
by Kacen Callender
You Don’t Live Here by Robyn Schneider
The Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. Starting with So You Want To Be A Wizard. There’s a lot of themes that would appeal to her, and some of the best magic I’ve ever read.
– Skellig by David Almond
– Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
– City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende
– The Burning by Laura Bates
– Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
– Grown by Tiffany Jackson
Lunar Chronicles by Merisa Meyers, Sabriel by Garth Nix, Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
howls moving castle by dianna wynne jones!! i would recommend percy jackson as well tbh
Books and authors I liked at that age:
_Fantasy_
Tamora Pierce
Robin McKinley
_Classic_
Anne of Green Gables series
Secret Garden
_Historical_
(More internse and adult, but I don’t recall anything not okay for the age.)
Brock & Bodie Thoene – I loved the Zion Covenant series (WWII) in my teen years
Michael Phillips and Judith Pella – The Russians (1900s, pre-revolutionary Russia)
Stephen R. Lawhead – Pendragon Cycle (Arthur, Merlin)
{{Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger}} is a good one to try.
I don’t have a book suggestion, but you can all go to the bookstore together!! Show her all the books there are and let her pick one!! Take her for a meal after that!! Link good memories to the bookstore and books!!
What about Percy Jackson? They recently came out with a show too. It is about greek mythology and it is very enjoyable for a 13yo. And Percy, although has parents, also goes through a lot in his childhood until he reached the age of 12, when he finds out why his life has been so turbulent. I honestly think she would enjoy it, but I am biased since this was the book that got me into reading.
Librarian here…if she doesn’t like to read go for some graphic novels. The sunny series. Stranger things series. Act, Camp….There are lots to choose from.
There is this series called Never Never- Tarryn Fisher
The trouble with hating you – Sajni Patel
I absolutely love this book
Dating Dr. Dil – Nisha Sharma
The Love hypothesis 🫠 – Ali Hazelwood
For me, as a kid, having a cozy place to read in peace was important. I had a hard time with reading comprehension and had to be in the right environment to really focus and enjoy books.
Any book by Tamora Pierce, personally I started with the “Protector of the Small” series. Pierce creates a medieval world with magic and dragons and each series features a girl protagonist who is strong and complex in a unique way. Can’t say enough good things about these books, I still read them!