If a 14yog likes these books by L'Engle and Alcott (see post), she might like...?

[Colleen in NS]

My 14 year old daughter loved the following books by Madeleine L'Engle:

 

- And Both Were Young

- Camilla

- The Small Rain (her favourite)

- The Arm of the Starfish

 

and by Louisa May Alcott:

 

- Eight Cousins

- An Old Fashioned Girl (her favourite)

 

She has looked at or skimmed through most of the other Alcott and L'Engle books (we hunted them down through the library, uni libraries, and ILL), and either she had already read them or she didn't want to read them at this time.

 

So what other books could you recommend for her, based on the above? 

 

I desperately need suggestions with good and thoughtful writing, as I'm trying to steer her away from some modern teen fluff/overly dramatic books!!  These are the types of books that have tons of short direct quotations that have nothing of substance to say and are full of peer-oriented teen drama.  She has marinated enough in these over the past few months - it's time to move her on to the good writing that she used to enjoy - she LOVES to read!  And she's a creative writer, so I want her to soak in good writing again.

 

[happypamama]

The Penderwicks

 

Have you tried looking at the titles she liked on amazon and seeing what pops up in the "customers who liked this also liked X" list?

[Cosmos]

Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series, if she hasn't read them already.

 

E. L. Konigsburg, maybe? Some of her books are more young adult and some are more middle grade level.

[HomeAgain]

Grace Harlow.  They follow a girl in the 1920's, I think, through high school and college.  Slightly trite, but engaging and well done. Project Gutenberg has all of them, though a search might be needed since two authors did them.

I'd also suggest A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Cheaper By The Dozen/Belles On Their Toes, and The Great Brain. If she hasn't read the Phantom Tollbooth I'd put that on the list, too.

[Ausmumof3]

Some of the Montgomery ones that are aimed a little older could work - Emily series and maybe the blue castle. I enjoyed Rebecca of sunnybrook farm which is similar in genre though I can't remember the age it's aimed at. Is she interested in reading Dickens at all or anything like that?

[Chrysalis Academy]

This may be kind of out there, but those were all books I loved when I was her age, so I thought I'd just throw out some of the other books I loved, too.  I'm not picking based on subject, but rather on authors.  I really think reading some of the authors as a teenager made me the reader I am today.

 

Georgette Heyer - she has regency romances as well as "modern" - for her, so set in the ~20s on - mysteries.  While the topics can be fluffy, the books are very well written, excellent vocabulary builders.

Mary Stewart - she has a great Arthurian series told from the POV of Merlin, starting with The Crystal Cave, but she also has a bunch of Gothic romances that I loved - Airs Above the Ground, This Rough Magic, Madam Will You Talk, My Brother Michael, and others

Eleanor Hibbert, who wrote voluminously as Victoria Holt, Jean Plaidy, and Phillipa Carr, mostly historical fiction

 

I'll add more as I think of them.

[idnib]

When I was that age I read and re-read several times The Secret Garden.

[Kareni]

This may be kind of out there, but those were all books I loved when I was her age, so I thought I'd just throw out some of the other books I loved, too.  I'm not picking based on subject, but rather on authors.  I really think reading some of the authors as a teenager made me the reader I am today.

 

Georgette Heyer ...

Mary Stewart - ...

Eleanor Hibbert, ..

 

I read all of these authors, too, at that age.  I'll add authors Agatha Christie and Mary Renault (though you might wish to determine if the subject matter of some titles is acceptable to you).  You might also consider the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Laura Corin]

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge.

[swimmermom3]

Lloyd Alexander had the following that she may enjoy:

 

Westmark Trilogy:  Westmark, The Kestral, The Beggar Queen

 

Susan Cooper's series The Dark is Rising is very well-written.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Girl of the Limberlost and Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter.  I went straight from reading all the Green Gables/New Moon books to these.  

[Chrysalis Academy]

Lloyd Alexander had the following that she may enjoy:

 

Westmark Trilogy:  Westmark, The Kestral, The Beggar Queen

 

Susan Cooper's series The Dark is Rising is very well-written.

 

We enjoyed Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain, and will read more of his books.  We are currently reading The Dark is Rising series, and it's great too.

[SeekingHim77]

Your daughter sounds like a girl after my own heart! Love her book choices-especially An Old Fashioned Girl. I second Girl of the Limberlost and the Anne of Green Gables series. Anne is one of my all time favorite literary characters. The first book starts out with Anne being about 11 years old but she is in her middle teens by the end of the book so it is definitely a book for your daughter's age range. The series goes on as she goes to college, begins her teaching career and marries and has children.

 

Has she read the entire Little House on the Prairie series? I know people think of them as books for young children but as the series continues, Laura grows up and even gets married. They are rather short but just lovely.

 

 

 

 

[tuesdayschild]

Dd (13+) suggested the following - they are some of her favourite reads:

• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase ~ Aiken   (a younger years read, but recommended)
• An Old Fashioned Girl ~ Alcott
• Rainbow Valley ~ Alcott
• Pride & Prejudice ~ Austen
• Sense & Sensibility ~ Austen
• Lorna Doone ~ Blackmore (contained content issues for our family that needed discussion)
• Fire, Bed and Bone ~ Branford 
• The 39 Steps ~ Buchan     (& the other 4 in the series)
• Don Quixote ~ Cervantes (contained content issues for our family that needed discussion)
• The Man in the Brown Suit ~  Christie
• Little Dorrit ~ Dickens
• Favo(u)rite Poems  Old & New ~ selected by Helen Ferris
• The Talisman Ring ~ Heyer
• Frederica ~ Heyer
• Les Miserable ~ Hugo (abridged version)
• The Princess & the Goblin ~ George MacDonald  (a younger years read, but recommended)
• The Scarlett Pimpernel ~ Orczy    (& next 2 in the series)        My dd also enjoyed the audio versions read by Karen Savage The Scarlet Pimpernel , The Elusive Pimpernel , El Dorado
• A Girl of the Limberlost ~ Porter
• Michael O’Halloran ~ Porter
• The Lord of the Rings  (Series) ~ Tolkien
• They Loved to Laugh ~ Worth  (only read if you enjoyed Understood Betsy)

ETA: An Old Fashioned Girl is one of dd's enduring ;) favourites!

[Carol in Cal.]

Christy

Enchantress From The Stars

 

 

[foxbridgeacademy]

Emma by Austen would be a good start into that particular author.  I found it the most entertaining and easy to read, plus then you could go watch clueless for it's 20th anniversary. 

[jenn-]

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

My librarian suggested this site for book recommendations. You can type in the author's name and it tells you all the books they have written and similar styles of writing books.

[Farrar]

I was ob-sessed with those L'Engle books at that age as well. Totally obsessed. Especially Camilla. I'm surprised that The Small Rain is her favorite. That's interesting.

 

My top recommendation would be I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and I strongly second A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. After that, I get a bit murky. I think a number of these suggestions could be good - the Austen and the Anne of Green Gables and the Georgette Heyer all seem like good ideas but it just depends.

 

Some other thoughts...

 

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate... even though she might be too old because it's a coming of age in another time period story

 

Cold Comfort Farm... because it's a classic coming of age book that's witty and well written

 

To Kill a Mockingbird... because it's a classic that's also a coming of age in another time period

 

A Northern Light... not read enough - a literary historical fiction, girl centered YA

 

Code Name Verity... another literary, historical fiction, girl centered YA, though really different - not a coming of age - the writing is compelling

 

The House on Mango Street... another coming of age in another time and a YA classic

 

O Pioneers... another coming of age classic

 

A Great and Terrible Beauty... fantasy, but YA and written like another time period - Libba Bray could be a good author for her

 

Troy... because it's historical fiction YA and the writing is good

 

I'll Give You the Sun... contemporary YA, but I think it might resonate... there are a few like this - good, literary leaning contemporary YA, like Paper Towns or The Beginning of Everything that she might enjoy

 

 

 

 

 

[Lori D.]

These are all on the gentle/sweet side:
The Anne of Green Gables series (Montgomery)
Betsy-Tacy series, esp. the later books when the characters are older (Lovelace)
The Little White Horse (Goudge)
Christy (Marshall)
Mama's Bank Account (Forbes)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (Wiggin)
I Capture the Castle (Smith)
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi)
Mandy (Edwards)
Two Are Better Than One (Brink)
Circus Sequins (Friermood)
Calico Captive (Speare)
The Velvet Room (Snyder)

Older classics
The Moonstone (Collins)
Jane Eyre (Bronte
Pride and Prejudice (Austin) 
Cranford; Wives and Daughters; North and South (Gaskell)
The Golden Key; The Wise Woman (MacDonald) -- short stories
Silas Marner (Eliot)
The Daisy Chain (Yonge)

I've not read The Small Rain, but from the description, if she can handle an all-boys' school setting and characters, A Separate Peace (Knowles) sounds a bit similar...

Here are two interesting past threads that may yield some ideas:
Favorite British Lit. for girls?
Lesser known classics that should be known

 

Edited January 26, 2019 by Lori D.

[dhudson]

Almost anything by Robin McKinley except Dragonhaven and Sunshine. My dad loves McKinley but those are the two that I won't allow her to read yet, they are far more Adult themed.

[Farrar]

Almost anything by Robin McKinley except Dragonhaven and Sunshine. My dad loves McKinley but those are the two that I won't allow her to read yet, they are far more Adult themed.

 

What was in Dragonhaven that was inappropriate? I can't remember a thing and the protagonist was a teen boy, right? I would have said Sunshine and Deerskin were her two that are more adult themed. Deerskin is based on a fairy tale, but it's one about rape and incest.

 

ETA: I also wonder, OP, is she at all interested in fantasy? I also loved L'Engle's fantasy books, but those are her realistic ones, so I didn't suggest much fantasy in my list.

[dhudson]

I forgot about Deerskin, yes, it definitely had more adult themes. Dragonhaven had some language and I remember not liking it and not allowing my kids to read it. In general though, the other books I have let my kids read and they enjoyed them.

 

I have also found that the Sonlight Summer Readers have been a huge hit at our house. Both the boys and girls sets.

[vonfirmath]

 

Code Name Verity... another literary, historical fiction, girl centered YA, though really different - not a coming of age - the writing is compelling

 

I'm reading the sequel, Rose Under Fire, and its really good too (but part of it the heroine is depicting life in a concentration camp so not as gentle as the other books described. More along the line of Anne Frank or The Hiding Place)

 

If she likes Old Fashioned Girl, she might like a L.M. Montgomery book I recently discovered but don't hear mentioned much -- The Story Girl

[Junie]

I'm reading the sequel, Rose Under Fire, and its really good too (but part of it the heroine is depicting life in a concentration camp so not as gentle as the other books described. More along the line of Anne Frank or The Hiding Place)

 

If she likes Old Fashioned Girl, she might like a L.M. Montgomery book I recently discovered but don't hear mentioned much -- The Story Girl

 

The Story Girl.  Such a great book!

[Colleen in NS]

Oh wow, you've all given a wealth of suggestions - thank you!  I forgot to mention that dd has read a lot of suggestions from TWTM grammar and logic stage lists; so, the typical Laura Ingalls Wilder and some of Lucy Maud Montgomery and then other childhood classics (Burnett, etc.).  I've been trying to talk her into reading more of Lucy Maud Montgomery (we live near PEI!), but she hasn't bitten yet.  I will be searching library sites for many of your suggestions (there is much in this thread that I've never heard of yet - new treasures to sift through), and strewing them around the house for her.  She started to read Girl of the Limberlost a few weeks ago, but claims it's interesting but she has to concentrate hard.  I think this is because she has marinated too long in what I call "junk books" over recent months.  I put a ban on those, lol, because she couldn't seem to give them up on her own.  I think the ban will help her ease back into good reading - she really does love a good story.  She is eagerly working through Robin McKinley's Beauty right now, so I will check out more books from that author, too.  Oh, and she did love The Story Girl by LMM.

 

I'm sorry this post is so disjointed - I have a lot of projects on the go at the moment, but I wanted to check in here so I can get going on the book-hunt project.

 

I would love to hear more suggestions!

[ocelotmom]

I'm reading the sequel, Rose Under Fire, and its really good too (but part of it the heroine is depicting life in a concentration camp so not as gentle as the other books described. More along the line of Anne Frank or The Hiding Place)

 

Code Name Verity is definitely not gentle, either. I'm not sure I've ever read a less gentle book.

 

(I liked it and will read the sequel when I get a chance. But not gentle.)

 

Colleen - just out of curiousity, what "junk books" does she like? That might give us more of an idea of her overall tastes.

[Colleen in NS]

 

 

Colleen - just out of curiousity, what "junk books" does she like? That might give us more of an idea of her overall tastes.

 

I don't want to name them for fear of insulting people here.  But they generally have themes that I guess you would call "coming of age."  But there are so many more well-written and/or old-fashioned books on those themes that I'd like her to try and get beyond what I described in my OP.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Code Name Verity is definitely not gentle, either. I'm not sure I've ever read a less gentle book.

 

(I liked it and will read the sequel when I get a chance. But not gentle.)

 

Colleen - just out of curiousity, what "junk books" does she like? That might give us more of an idea of her overall tastes.

 

That's good to know. can you say any more about that? Is it scary, violent, horrors of war, or what? It's on dd's stack right now and I'm wondering if I need to pre-read or warn her? Or remove it?

[JulieA97]

I LOVE L'Engle.  Serious love.  She might want to check out Ring of Endless Light if she hasn't already.  Adam from Arm of the Starfish is in it.  Its my favorite of hers (and I love them all!).  You might want to check it out first though since it deals with things like death to see if she is ready for it.  I loved it at that age.

 

Has she read any Shannon Hale books?  I find them very enjoyable and not your typical teen fluff at all.  Books of Bayren are fantastic (Goose Girl, Enya Burning, River Secrets and Forest Born).  Princess Academy is amazing-and I promise its not a normal princess book!  At all.  Girls in a remote mountain village are sent to an academy to learn for a year and at the end of the year, one will be chosen by the prince.  That's just a minor point of the book -its really about the girls and what they learn and change throughout the year.  The girls are taught things like diplomacy and economics and use what they learn to turn the lives of their entire village around for the better.  if Shannon Hale writes it, I will read it.

 

 

[Farrar]

That's good to know. can you say any more about that? Is it scary, violent, horrors of war, or what? It's on dd's stack right now and I'm wondering if I need to pre-read or warn her? Or remove it?

 

It takes place during WWII. "Verity" is the narrator of the first half, but she's an extremely unreliable one. She has been captured by the Nazis in France and is being held and possibly tortured by them for information she has. What follows is her account of how she got there for the Nazi commander, full of side stories and misleads. It's hard to know what's true and what isn't. Spoilers... the ending is very sad. It's not a graphic book of her torture (though it's clear from implication what is happening to her). There is no romance. It's really the story of a best friendship. The second half of the book follows the best friend and her fate, which was much kinder, though still difficult.

 

It's just a great book. Yeah, I guess I wasn't paying attention to the "gentle" need. But it well deserved its Printz award (or honor? I can't recall).

[Chrysalis Academy]

Ok, thanks for the review, Farar.  You make good calls on books for my kid - do you think a 12 3/4 year old who loved The Outsiders would be ok with it? As long as it's not really heavy on the descriptions of torture, it sounds like the rest of it she'd be ok with. . . 

[Farrar]

Ok, thanks for the review, Farar.  You make good calls on books for my kid - do you think a 12 3/4 year old who loved The Outsiders would be ok with it? As long as it's not really heavy on the descriptions of torture, it sounds like the rest of it she'd be ok with. . . 

 

I think it's probably okay. It's definitely not a gentle book, so maybe it's wrong for the OP if she needs gentle stuff... but it's YA, it's not graphic, it's thought-provoking. It's definitely not any worse than the vast majority of WWII books out there. They're all dark. It was a dark time.

[ocelotmom]

Spoilers for Code Name Verity sent via private message.

[Angel]

 

Has she read any Shannon Hale books?  I find them very enjoyable and not your typical teen fluff at all.  Books of Bayren are fantastic (Goose Girl, Enya Burning, River Secrets and Forest Born).  Princess Academy is amazing-and I promise its not a normal princess book!  At all.  Girls in a remote mountain village are sent to an academy to learn for a year and at the end of the year, one will be chosen by the prince.  That's just a minor point of the book -its really about the girls and what they learn and change throughout the year.  The girls are taught things like diplomacy and economics and use what they learn to turn the lives of their entire village around for the better.  if Shannon Hale writes it, I will read it.

:iagree:  I was just going to suggest Shannon Hale!  Definitely not fluff.  Dd's (now 20 and almost 15) LOVE these books!!  I would also recommend Patricia Wrede's The Enchanted Forest Chronicles beginning with Dealing with Dragons.

[Colleen in NS]

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions.  I have around 40 books on hold at the library now, with potential for more if she likes particular authors!

[LaughingCat]

Maybe Daddy Long Legs?   Swallows and Amazons?   I loved those same books (well, not all the same L'engle, but our little library didn't have all of them) but hard to remember what else I loved at same age (except Anne of Green Gables was not one :leaving: ).