WisconsinMommy Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 I am looking for some books to have my daughter read that feature strong women. One of her friends has been very mean and although I believe in second chances, I also believe in standing up for yourself and not being walked on like a rug. I've talked with my daughter, but she sometimes responds better to reading a book on a topic, mulling it over for a while and then telling me what she would have done differently. I'm striking out in the peer pressure/rotten friends catagory so any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks- Jenise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 I know last year's American Girl Doll of the Year (Clarissa?) focused on the issue of bullying. There is at least one -- possibly 2 -- books out focused on that doll. Maybe those will help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 I just read a great book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, in which the heroine (almost 11) stands up for herself and takes sibling rivalry to whole new heights (maybe lows.) She brushes off and/or responds to quite a few insulting remarks. It's not the main topic of the book - it's a murder mystery set in 1950's England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 (edited) One of my all time favorites is Wise Child! From School Library Journal Grade 6-8 Wise Child's life takes a new direction when her grandmother dies; her parents are both gone and in all the poverty-stricken village there is no one willing to take her inexcept Juniper, a mysterious healer from Cornwall who lives alone and has decidedly heterodox ideas about the place and purpose of women. Wise Child is self-centered and headstrong, but under Juniper's cheerful tutelage she begins to see herself as part of a world large enough for a liberated view and for magic too; Juniper's an expert witch, a hybrid combination of natural scientist and traditional broom-rider. Wise Child is quickly initiated into the secret arts. Juniper is both too modern and too perfect for the story. She has little difficulty coping with a Good Witch's usual enemies (an evil sorceress and a mob of fearful peasants egged on by the local priest), always arrives in the nick of time to rescue Wise Child, and shows never a trace of fear, impatience, or superstition. When, her many good deeds forgotten, she is about to be burned at the stake, she escapes with Wise Child, and the two find their way to the Isles of the Blessed. Readers may be intrigued both by the characters and by this revisionist view of witchcraft, although they will find a more realistic and involving exploration of it in Margaret Mahy's The Changeover (Macmillan, 1984). John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. *Although this book talks about witchcraft...if you do a study on the author...she was a very strong Catholic. Edited May 16, 2010 by simka2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 A book I always recommend is Understood Betsy, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. It's about a little girl who goes from living with her doting, but over-devoted aunts to living with her "dreaded Putney cousins" (who are actually lovely people, but expect her to be able to DO things and be independent) in rural Vermont in the late 19th/early 20th century. The focus of the book is explicitly on being strong, brave, and independent, so it should fit the bill. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WisconsinMommy Posted May 20, 2010 Author Share Posted May 20, 2010 Thank you for the ideas. We already own the Clarissa books and Understood Betsy...so I guess it is time to pull them off the bookshelf and just lay them on a table and she will pick them up and start reading...if I suggest them, well they sit on a table for a while. I will look into the other books as they all sound really good. Thanks- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Caddie Woodlawn and Witch of Blackbird Pond are two of my favorites about strong girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 The following are in the fantasy genre. So You Want to be a Wizard? by Diane Duane Books by Tamora Pierce ~ Wild Magic and its sequels Un Lundun by China Mieville Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 The Enola Holmes mysteries, while not about bullying specifically, are about the strong female main character who refuses to conform to society's expectations about women's roles. She's quite spunky and does stand up to her brothers (one of whom is the famous Sherlock), who want her to settle down and take her proper place. She stands up for other young women as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meet me in paris Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Books by Tamora Pierce ~ Wild Magic and its sequels :iagree: LOVE her books! The Alanna series is also very good. It's about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to study to become a knight. My daughter loved them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmgirl70 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 My 16 year old daughter recommends: Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall Heidi by Johanna Spyri A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery Two Princesses of Bamarre and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine She's always sought good, spunky girl characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilbean05 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 How about Island of the Blue Dolphins? I also love the Austin Series by Madeline L'Engle, especially Troubling A Star. That book in particular is about a teenage girl who finds herself in Antarctica studying penguins and wrapped in a bit of political mystery. It is loaded with suspense and is action packed. I think it is wholly age appropriate. The protagonist has a bit of a crush on another main character and towards the end there is a gun shot, but nothing too mature beyond that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubling_a_Star Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 It's been a couple of weeks since you posted this question, but I read a book recently that might work for your daughter. It's That Girl Lucy Moon by Amy Timberlake. The title character is a strong teen who is a social activist. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 "Invincible Louisa" (life of Louisa May Alcott) "An Old Fashioned Girl" and "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott "The Egypt Game" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negin Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 Books that may or may not fit what you are looking for, but that my 11-year-old dd has loved include: Enna Burning Rapunzel's Revenge Forest Born Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 Not a book idea, but what helped more than just talking with my daughter was role playing. We armed her with ready statements for the most likely garbage she was going to encounter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 Esperanza Rising The Book Thief When You Reach Me The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Harriet the Spy The May Bird Series The Sisters Grimm Series The Whale Rider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 Lenora of "Girl of the Limberlost" has some snappy retorts too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmaa Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 Sing Down the Moon by Scoot O'Dell Addie Across the Prairie by: Laurie Lawlor Asmaa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 You've gotten lots of great suggestions, but one I haven't seen yet is The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. It is great for that age and is about using your education, being all you can be, being proud of who you are. It is not about being a princess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punchie Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 Wise Child and Juniper by Monica Furlong the Blue Sword and the Sword and the Crown by Robin McKinley Dealing With Dragons by Patricia Wrede Dragonsong and Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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