Jump to content

Menu

book suggestions needed: 11 yo girl, fantasy genre


laughing lioness
 Share

Recommended Posts

Twig

 

TWIG

by Elizabeth Orton Jones

Twig was just a plain, ordinary little girl who lived on the fourth floor of a "high sort of house" in the city. The back yard behind that house was Twig's little world. It was a bare little world, with nothing but a dandelion and a stream of drainpipe water to make it beautiful; with nobody but Old Boy, the ice-wagon horse, Old Girl, the cat, and the Sparrows, to keep Twig company.

 

But one day, out in the alley, Twig found an empty tomato can, with pictures of bright red tomatoes all round it. When it was upside down, it looked like a pretty little house, just the right size for a fairy! Twig stood it upside down next to the dandelion, not far from the stream. And this is the story of what happened in and around that little house one Saturday afternoon.

 

A story full of magic, full of fun, full of fantasy interwoven with reality, and full of the kind of tenderness which belongs most particularly to the very young. A story both boys and girls will love.

 

 

http://www.purplehousepress.com/twig.htm

 

Sample pages:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Twig-Elizabeth-Orton-Jones/dp/1930900457/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289652715&sr=1-1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What sort of fantasy? Is she a good reader? At that age, I was devouring into the adult section for fantasy, though there are more options these days. Some generic ideas off the top of my head:

 

The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerrlizzi - I just finished it. Beautiful illustrations. Original and strange and very gripping plot.

 

Patricia Wrede's Dealing With Dragons and the rest of the Dragons series - Funny, slightly tongue in cheek story about a princess and a dragon who become friends.

 

Tamora Pierce's entire ouvre - These books are really appealing to a lot of girls. Start with either the Circle of Magic or Song of the Lioness quintet. One warning - Circle of Magic doesn't have anything inappropriate at all, but all the other quintets (she has several series in books of 4) have romances in them. The main character always goes from being about 12 to about 19 or 20 and the level of romance, while dealt with very gently, also does. I personally wouldn't hesitate to give them to an 11 yo girl, but some might. However, Circle of Magic is fine - no romance at all.

 

The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley - Favorites of mine from that age. Very sword and sorcery. Also very well-written and the text strikes some kids as a little dense, so definitely for a good reader. Also, there is some romance in both books - nothing graphic though.

 

Gail Carson Levine's works - a little on the younger side for most of these, but if she hasn't read Ella Enchanted, that's a fun classic and the author has many more.

 

Shannon Hale's works - She has many that are retellings of fairy tales. I enjoyed all the ones I've read. Most are in the YA section, but I don't remember anything inappropriate in them - maybe some light romance.

 

Suzanne Collins's Gregor series - Excellent fantasy. Not girl centered like the rest of my rec's above, but still very good. It's about a boy who discovers a mysterious underground world. Deals with a lot of heavy issues, including genocide, but in a way that middle grade readers can deal with.

 

Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy - These are a little dark (with demons and so forth) but very well done. A girl has to return to her haunted land to do her father's job containing evil after he dies. There's some light romance - nothing graphic.

 

Diana Wynne Jones's entire ouvre - She could start with the Crestomanci Chronicles, which are an easy starting point. This author writes amazing, creative magical stories with twisty-turny endings. They're lots of fun. Very middle grades - nothing even skirting inappropriate.

 

Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea books - These are classics in fantasy with a lot of very classic fantasy archetypes. Every fantasy lover should read them at some point. She has a more recent series that starts with the book Gifts that's also good.

 

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series - Another classic. Very worth reading.

 

Okay, that's enough... Stopping... Hoping I didn't suggest too many obvious ones...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Last Unicorn is wonderful!

 

The Princess Bride is a classic, even if she's already seen the film I think she'd still get a lot out of it.

 

Alanna: The First Adventure and Tamora's Pierce's other books were a favorite of mine when I was that age.

 

Into the Land of the Unicorns and the Bruce Coville's other Unicorn Chronicles books are pretty neat.

 

I've heard great things about The Thief Lord, though I've never read it personally.

 

Best of luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya'll are GREAT! Thanks! I also thought of the Artemis Fowl series.

She's a good reader, a mature girl, Christian, read the Narnia series and is currently reading Harry Potter.

Keep em' coming- I haven't heard of most of these, so descriptions are helpful to me, too...making a list for our fam as well!! :001_smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Artemis Fowl (first 5 books were fantastic, but the 6th and 7th weren't very good)

everything by Hilari Bell

Lionboy (three book series)

City of Ember, People of Sparks, Prophet of Yonwood, Diamond of Darkhold

Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, Talking to Dragons)

Grimm Legacy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's only 100 pages or so, the charming black & white illustrations were drawn by the author. It's such a sweet story!

 

 

I found this review of it at http://melissasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2009/05/ordinary-princess.html:

 

by M.M. Kaye

ages: 9-12

First sentence: "Long and long ago, when Oberon was king of the fairies, there reigned over the country of Phantasmorania a monarch who had six beautiful daughters."

 

Charming. Completely and utterly charming.

 

The story of Amy -- actually Amethyst Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne -- who happens to be the seventh daughter of a king. The Queen and the council decide, since it's tradition, to invite the fairies (over the King's objection: "You may have forgotten what happened to my great-great-great-grandmother, but I have not. Had to sleep for a hundred years, poor girl, and the entire court with her, and all because of some silly fairy-business at the christening.") to the christening of the baby. And, of course, something rash happens: the fairy Crustacea gives the baby the gift of being... ordinary.

 

Which means, of course, that next to her beautiful, stunning, perfect princess sisters, she's pretty much nothing. And that no one wants to marry her. And that suits Amy just fine. She's allowed the freedom to explore, to discover, to grow, to be. Until, because no one wants to marry her, her father decides to hire a dragon and imprison her in a tower until she is rescued.

 

Of course Amy won't stand for that, and so she runs away, and hangs out in the forest until her dress falls apart. Then she gets a -- shock -- job, in order to save for a new dress. Since this is a fairy tale, she obviously has to meet The One, and of course it all has to work out as a happily-ever-after, but I will say this: you will be utterly charmed. And enchanted. And come away with a smile on your face.

 

Because it's just that sort of book.

 

And I completely agree!

Edited by ereks mom
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What great lists you're getting!

 

Nancy Farmer also has a fantasy trilogy: Sea of Trolls, Silver Apples on the Tree, and Island of the Blessed -- all are based on Icelandic and Scandinavian myth, so a child with some exposure to that would pick up all the references, and one who hasn't would learn about them.

 

Has your dd read all the Edith Nesbit and Edward Eager books? Dd listened to most of these at a young age but was still happily re-reading and enjoying them at eleven or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dragonsong and Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

 

I love Anne McCaffrey's Dragon / Pern books, but several have mature (romantic type) themes included. It's been a long time since I read them and these 2 are probably ok for an 11 year old, but it wouldn't hurt to preread them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya'll are GREAT! Thanks! I also thought of the Artemis Fowl series.

She's a good reader, a mature girl, Christian, read the Narnia series and is currently reading Harry Potter.

Keep em' coming- I haven't heard of most of these, so descriptions are helpful to me, too...making a list for our fam as well!! :001_smile:

 

Since she is Christian I Would *NOT* suggest the His Dark Material books. They are fairly anti-Christian (and anti-Semitic IMO)

 

My ten year old girl loves the Harry Potter books, and the Percy Jackson books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since she is Christian I Would *NOT* suggest the His Dark Material books. They are fairly anti-Christian (and anti-Semitic IMO)

 

I would say that His Dark Materials is only as anti-religious as The Chronicles of Narnia is anti-Islam / anti-atheist / anti-Pagan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Anne McCaffrey's Dragon / Pern books, but several have mature (romantic type) themes included. It's been a long time since I read them and these 2 are probably ok for an 11 year old, but it wouldn't hurt to preread them.

 

Most of the series is geared for adults. These two books, plus Dragon Drums (third in this trilogy), and Nerilka's Story, are the only geared for YA. I haven't read either in a while, but in the first one, there's a part where the main character gets beaten by her father by a belt. There's nothing else that I can think of that would be questionable in either of those books. I read them for the first time when I was 8-9ish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love this thread. We are always looking for new fantasy suggestions for my 10 yod. David Eddings Belgariad and Mallorean series are also fun. They started when I was in about 5th grade and we were all still eagerly awaiting the sequels when I was in college.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since she is Christian I Would *NOT* suggest the His Dark Material books. They are fairly anti-Christian (and anti-Semitic IMO)

 

 

I've read those and I'd say the big rant is against organized, hierarchical religion rather than against Christianity per se. I'm not sure I remember anything that could be construed as anti-Semitic? For books purportedly written by an atheist, I actually found them quite spiritual - while he obviously doesn't agree with the standard teachings of Christianity, there is a lot about the soul having a life beyond the body (that's actually central to the book), and there being a consciousness above our own in the universe.

 

My biggest beef with the books was that the heroine is amoral.

 

I'd like my kids to read those someday, but when they're a bit older (high school?) - I think they could spawn some great discussion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...