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Book recommendations needed: for 14 year old young lady


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I have been giving book suggestions to a mom I met at swim lessons for her 9 year old son. Her daughter asked her mother yesterday if I had any recommendations for her. (how cute!)

 

She sounds like a bright young lady. Her family is from Italy and they are fluently bilingual in English (her mother is English) and Italian (her father is Italian). Her last reading was Sherlock Holmes stories. She also enjoyed the Anne of Green Gables books.

 

I feel inadequate to suggest anything -- I mean, we're talking about a female here! :lol: I am not, admittedly, a big reader as I rarely have time to do so, and since I was not brought up as a reader, I have no great books from my childhood to recommend. I do enjoy reading fiction when I get a chance, but most of my reading is nonfiction.

 

So, I'd love to hear what you'd suggest.

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My dd, 14, would recommend the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. I call them the "teen veggie vampires in love" books.

 

I would recommend A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Little Women if she has not read that yet. To Kill a Mockingbird. All Creatures Great and Small.

The Crystal Cave (Merlin's tale - I LOVED it at that age.) How Green Was My Valley.

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She also recommends Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and

Through the Looking Glass.

 

And other classics, like Treasure Island, and Jules Vern stories.

 

(She says, "I don't know what 14yo girls read, you'd have to ask B & R (family friends)." I'm assuming that's the point, after recent discussions about the YA section of the library?)

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My dd15 loves Ann Rinaldi novels. I don't know the names of them, but there are lots. They are historical fiction.

 

ETA: Here are a few titles I found at our library. They had 38 listed.

 

A Break with Charity

The Staircase

A Ride Into the Morning

The Last Silk Dress

The Good side of my Heart

Nine Days a Queen

In My Father's House

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The Lord of the Rings

 

The Hobbit

 

Any of the Madeleine L'Engle books: A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and others.

 

Red Scarf Girl - Ji-Li Jiang

 

Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech

 

Also, some classics that my girls have read:

 

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

 

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

 

Emma - Jane Austen

 

Seconding the suggestion for the Jules Verne books: Around the World in 80 Days and others.

 

*Note: The Jane Austen books read differently because they were written in the first part of the 19th century, so they may or may not appeal to your friend's daughter.

 

HTH!

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My dd, 14, would recommend the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. I call them the "teen veggie vampires in love" books.

 

My dd requested one of these for her 16th birthday but they seem a little dark to me. I'm not overly picky about what I allow my kids to read, especially since she is almost a young adult but it was hard to tell from Amazon whether or not this would be a book that she would like.

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Eliana, I always enjoyed the short story The Yellow Wallpaper. It was a very thinking story for me -- almost haunting, but it contains nothing objectionable in the way of sexuality. This may not be appreciated until adulthood, though.

 

For adult women, I recommend Nectar in a Sieve. It is a powerful book. I just wouldn't recommend it to a young person. She may be fine with it, but I would rather be too cautionary than too loose when recommending books to young ladies.

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It sounds like the family is interested in classics. I would go with Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen like Michelle said, and the other set of books by Lucy Maud Montgomery (Emily series.) Also the Narnia books, The Hobbit and the LOTR books, Madeline L'Engle (like Michelle said, again, LOL,) and some classics she may have missed like:

 

Black Beauty

The Secret Garden

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Swiss Family Robinson

 

If she gets through all of those, I'd start in on Twain and Dickens, too.

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... It has been fascinating to watch and share - she just finished Ibsen's Doll House today and is still processing that. ...it has also been an exciting challenge to find things that meet those needs while honoring her sensitivity and innocence... there are things she knows she is not ready to encounter, and they are hard to avoid - especially at the reading stage she is at right now!

 

I know what you mean. My daughter is 17; this age is such a curious mix of the child and the soon-to-be adult. Good luck meeting the challenge.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I've placed it on hold- for me not, for dd... she has been quite sheltered and she doesn't read anything with s*xual content, high violence levels, or a really grim story line... the transition process she's going through fascinates me!

 

Yes, I can agree this is beneficial. My son, in high school, began reading The Jungle, I believe, and said he did not want to finish it -- not because of the length or complexity but because he didn't feel it was in his best interest to read about the relationships. He really was trying to keep his thoughts pure.

 

Nectar . . . is a fabulous book for you as an adult. I would not recommend it for my son either.

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I'm so glad I found this thread! I picked up the Uglies from the library and couldn't get the next two quick enough for my dd! She just turned 13 on Monday and it's a hard age to pick books for. She loves the Warriors books by Erin Hunter but I've noticed she is slowing down on reading those.

 

 

Eta: If you want a brief description of a book, B&N is a good site.

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