My niece is 10 and wants to read Twilight but isn’t quite ready for it. She saw it on my sister’s shelf and liked that it’s big and there’s romance in it. She “read” it but couldn’t explain the plot, so it’s probably a little above her comprehension. My sister is reading Harry Potter to her and I believe she’s read Percy Jackson.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
by LoraineIsGone
12 Comments
magic treehouse books were amazing when I was young.
the original Babysitter’s club books are good and theres small hints of romance in them that are more age appropriate.
Journey to the River Sea
Impossible Creatures
The Wingfeather Saga
The Land of Stories
Children of the Lamp by PB Kerr and the Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine – if a little girl wants romance this Cinderella retelling is a million times better of a romance than Twilight.
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Not fantasy but Sharon Creech is great for that age – Walk Two Moons, Absolutely Normal Chaos, Chasing Redbird, Bloomability are all favorites from my childhood
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede
A Wrinkle in Time and any of its sequels.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Matilda, by Roald Dahl.
Watership Down, if you want to traumatize her.
The first thing that came to mind is Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. I just googled it and it said the suggested age range is 12-17 but from what I remember I don’t think a 10 year old would struggle with it. It does have some deaths in it but they’re similar to the early Harry Potter books (the main character’s father dies either at the start or just before the book begins) so if she is ok with them I imagine she’d be ok with this series as well.
Gregor the Overlander is a great series. It’s by Suzanne Collins who also wrote the Hunger Games but it’s written for a younger audience.
She might like The Wild Robot series.
The city of Ember
The Penderwicks is a fantastic series – kind of like Little Women for fifth graders. It follows a family with four girls. It’s hilarious and moving. One of the books even made me cry as an adult.
The babysitter’s club books were cool to me at that age. I also loved Little Women. I was also obsessed with Island of the blue Dolphin.