I need some suggestions for my 12 year old girl who seems to run hot and cold with literature. She won’t bother actually reading Harry Potter, Percy Jackson etc because she doesn’t enjoy reading stories she already knows thx to the movies / shows. Roald Dahl books were “fine, I enjoyed the story” but she wasn’t gripped by them (unlike me who reread them until the pages fell apart). Hunger Games were a page turner for her but “too sad.”
She is sensitive and sad stories / protagonists affect her deeply (even if I try to convince her about the concept of redemption she pushes back). For example, she wont touch Wonder b/c she knows the premise and can’t deal.
I’m struggling to pinpoint the genre that might enthrall her. The only book she said she really liked that stuck with her was Touching Spirit Bear. She thought Island of the Blue Dolphin was boring.
Right now I have her on Dave Eggers’ Where The Wild Things Are and she’s into it (thank god)
Based on the above, what else do you think would resonate with her tastes? She likes murder mystery as a genre for shows, but not sure where to start on books for her age.
by waki43
28 Comments
Take a look at the Rick Riordan Presents series. They are aimed at that age group. There are all different kinds of protagonists, and the backgrounds are from differing world mythologies.
Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious series
Ibi Zoboi’s S(kin) or American Street
Nnedi Okorafor’s Zahrah the Windseeker and Akata Witch series. First book is Akata Witch.
The Court of the Stone Children by Eleanor Cameron
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
maybe try the Mediator series by Meg Cabot? loved those when I was a tween and recently reread the first book and it held up pretty well!
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (murder mystery)
The Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend (a series that while similar in some ways to the Harry Potter series is very much its own story)
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery (unless she has seen an adaptation of this and then she might not be interested)
The Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley (this is another murder mystery series. The series is from the point of view of a preteen girl who uses her love of science, especially poisons, to solve murders in her hometown. The series is written for an adult audience but I think would still be okay for a 12 year old to read.)
Anything and everything by Tamora Pierce! I would start with the Alanna or Wild Magic! Tamora is a greatest of all time level author in her genre and her FMCs are wonderful role models.
Ally Carter has some great series. Both the Gallagher Girls stories (private school for girl spies) and Heist Society (FMC is a high level art thief) are wonderful, well written and super fun!
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale is excellent. She also has a series that starts with The Goose Girl that is very good!
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is kind of a true crime YA series.
The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh enthralled my now 13-year old last year. Also Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. First in a series that follows a young witch as she learns her craft and asks the awkward questions. Thoughtful, wholesome and very funny.
Like another commentator said above, I recommend Tamora Pierce.
Ebola Holmes books by Nancy Springer
“The Enola Holmes Mysteries is a young adult detective novel series by Nancy Springer, featuring Sherlock Holmes’s younger sister, Enola, as the protagonist who solves mysteries while evading her famous brothers.”
Nevermoor by by Jessica Townshend
The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln
Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
The Name of This Book is a Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Escape From Mr Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein
The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson
Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers by Celia Perez
The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton
Strangeworlds Travel Agency by LD Lapinkski
The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddox
Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson
The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson
Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Sugiura
The Incorruptibles by Lauren Magaziner
The Supernatural Files of CJ Delaney by Carol Williams
The Magical Closet Mystery by Maria Perez-Gomez
Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend by Katie Zhao
The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
A Ship in the Dark by Yarrow Townshend
The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon
Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer by Gillian Goerz
The Maze runner
Try the Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens if she likes murder mystery. My daughter enjoyed those. She is also obsessed with Keeper of the Lost Cities. I read it too because she kept talking about it and it’s pretty good.
My daughter loved the inheritance games
When I was a bored 12 year old at my grandma’s house, I picked up Agatha Christie’s “Death Comes at The End” set in ancient Egypt. I liked it a lot and it paved the way for my love of historical fiction.
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede
Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (my girls love!)
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (another favorite with my girls)
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Hoot by Carl Hiassen
These all have happy endings, even if parts of them are sad.
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom might be good.
My kids are obsessed with Warriors, Wings of Fire, and Dairy of a Wimpy Kid. They solve the “too intense” problem by staying away from human stories. If she’s into Minecraft, there’s also a whole series of novels published by Mojang set in the world.
The Fairyland series by Catherynne M. Valente! They’re so much fun and touch on some complicated subject matter and feelings. The main character is a little girl growing up in WWII era Nebraska, and she gets whisked away to Fairyland and has adventures, and as the series goes on it touches on her and her parents’ relationships, her feeling inadequate for the jobs she’s given, the things grief and pain and fear can lead us to do, trauma, and accepting what we can’t change. But it’s all in very friendly ways to a tween. The main characters are absolutely delightful, the writing style is unique and delicious, and the storylines are absolute romps.
Ali Cross series by James Patterson
Blood in the Water by Tiffany Jackson
Theodore Boone series by John Grisham
Maybe try to get her interested in historical fiction. Good historical fiction about real events. She will learn from the books she’s reading. My mother put one in my hand in early elementary school. It has always proved useful.
I would start making regular trips to the library and let her explore the vastness of what’s available. Teach her how to research what appeals to her, maybe including asking a librarian for recommendations. She might be attracted to something besides standard YA favorites that she will find by exploring the shelves herself.
If she likes things with animals and survival stories, my recs would be:
Julie of the Wolves
A Wolf called Wander
The War that Saved my Life
The Music of Dolphins by Hesse – this could be hit or miss. It’s very stylistically written – but a very cool premise
The one and only Ivan
Let her loose at the bookstore!
The Selection is what got my daughter reading at that age.
Murder most unladylike
The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen. It’s the first book in the Ascendence Series. It’s fun for adults too. 😊
With murder mysteries, you might have some luck with older works like Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle
By today’s standards, they’re very tame.
The downside is that both writing styles and acceptable attitudes have changed a lot since they were writing.
You know, she may like the preteen chicklit stuff: think babysitters club, or sweet valley twins type books? Only very mild peril, if any, and realistic friend conflicts. Mild preteen romance?
I can’t think of a specific book off the top of my head, my kids liked the darker emotional stuff (wings of fire, warrior cats both have angst and some death).
Maybe some more light-hearted fiction? The books I loved when I was around that age were anything by Sarah Dessen, the Camp Confidential series, Pretty Little Liars, the Clique series, etc. These are generally considered kind of lowbrow YA books and I’m not sure how they’d be received by tweens now, but they were such fun, quick reads. I devoured them in the summer.