pgr Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 I've exhausted the book lists, it seems, or maybe it's just all become a blur... DD will be 14 in a few days, and is the kid that always has her nose in a book. She has asked for books, and when I asked for something a bit more specific, she said she'd love to read something that's deep, but not dark, and preferably a classic. For reference: She loved: Oliver Twist, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Importance of Being Earnest, all the non-tragic Shakespeare, A Wrinkle in Time. Of contemporary books: The Penderwicks series, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, etc. She does not like romance of *any* kind, and did not care for: Our Town, Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Bud not Buddy, The Pilgrim's Progress and the like. I thought if anyone could help me come up with something, it would be y'all! Thoughts?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 Heidi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 How about some other books by authors she likes? Great Expectations by Dickens Little Men by Alcott Animal Farm by Orwell or something by Robert Louis Stevenson? Kidnapped? or Treasure Island? or Swiss Family Robinson? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgr Posted June 28, 2019 Author Share Posted June 28, 2019 Taking notes, thank you 🙂 A lot of the ones mentioned she's already read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 (edited) I vote for giving a stack of 8-10 books at least, and that will surely end up with at least 1 that is a hit! (:D Perhaps others by those authors you mentioned that she likes? Example: - Anne of Avonlea (Montgomery) -- sequel to Anne of Green Gables (although there is more romance in this one) - Emily of New Moon (Montgomery) - Little Men (Alcott) -- sequel to Little Women - Eight Cousins (Alcott) - David Copperfield (Dickens) -- a bit like Oliver Twist (follows a boy to manhood/rags to riches/happy ending), but much longer - A Christmas Carol (Dickens) -- shorter and lighter than Oliver Twist books slightly similar to ones you listed: - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Taylor) -- and sequels -- gr. 6-9 -- similar to To Kill a Mockingbird, black pre-teen female protagonist in 1930s Deep South/Depression - Howl's Moving Castle (Jones) -- gr. 7-9 -- very slightly along the lines of a Wrinkle in Time - Enchantress from the Stars (Engdahl) -- gr. 7-9 -- a bit more like a Wrinkle in Time - Two Are Better Than One (Brink) -- gr. 5-8 -- charming Anne of Green Gables type of friendship between 2 tween girls - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken) -- gr. 5-8 -- very like an upper elementary version of a Charles Dickens novel -- FUN! - Christy (Marshall) -- a bit along the lines of Little Women other ideas: - The Friendly Persuasion (West) -- gr. 7+ -- a real hidden gem -- Quaker (pacifist, abolitionist) family on the edge of the Civil War and slavery - A Little Princess; The Secret Garden (Burnett) -- gr. 5-8 - The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Kelly) -- gr. 5-8 - The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi) -- gr. 6-9 - The Tombs of Atuan (Le Guin) -- gr. 7+ -- or, all 3 of the Earthsea trilogy: Wizard of Earthsea, Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore - Tuck Everlasting (Babbitt) -- gr. 6-9 -- fast read, but a good "thinking" story - Below the Root (Snyder) -- gr. 6-8 -- similar: fast read, but a good "thinking" story other classics: - All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot) -- memoir, with humorous and poignant retellings of life as a veterinarian in the 1930s in the English countryside - The Prince and the Pauper, or, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Twain) ETA - The Perilous Gard (Pope) -- and The Sherwood Ring, which is not quite as good, but still enjoyable (it's not a sequel, but a sort of similar "device", and revolves around totally different characters - The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tolkien) -- so rich! every time I re-read I find more life-lessons and depth Also, if Christian works are okay, and at a high school reading level: - The Man Who Was Thursday (Chesteron) - Till We Have Faces (Lewis) - CS Lewis' space trilogy, esp. #1 & 2, as stand-alones -- Out of the Silent Planet; Perelandra - The Hiding Place (ten Boom) Edited July 15, 2019 by Lori D. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgr Posted June 28, 2019 Author Share Posted June 28, 2019 Oh, awesome, Lori 2 hours ago, Lori D. said: I vote for giving a stack of 8-10 books at least, and that will surely end up with at least 1 that is a hit! (:D Perhaps others by those authors you mentioned that she likes? Example: - Anne of Avonlea (Montgomery) -- sequel to Anne of Green Gables (although there is more romance in this one) - Emily of New Moon (Montgomery) - Little Men (Alcott) -- sequel to Little Women - Eight Cousins (Alcott) - David Copperfield (Dickens) -- a bit like Oliver Twist (follows a boy to manhood/rags to riches/happy ending), but much longer - A Christmas Carol (Dickens) -- shorter and lighter than Oliver Twist books slightly similar to ones you listed: - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Taylor) -- and sequels -- gr. 6-9 -- similar to To Kill a Mockingbird, black pre-teen female protagonist in 1930s Deep South/Depression - Howl's Moving Castle (Jones) -- gr. 7-9 -- very slightly along the lines of a Wrinkle in Time - Enchantress from the Stars (Engdahl) -- gr. 7-9 -- a bit more like a Wrinkle in Time - Two Are Better Than One (Brink) -- gr. 5-8 -- charming Anne of Green Gables type of friendship between 2 tween girls - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken) -- gr. 5-8 -- very like an upper elementary version of a Charles Dickens novel -- FUN! - Christy (Marshall) -- a bit along the lines of Little Women other ideas: - The Friendly Persuasion (West) -- gr. 7+ -- a real hidden gem -- Quaker (pacifist, abolitionist) family on the edge of the Civil War and slavery - A Little Princess; The Secret Garden (Burnett) -- gr. 5-8 - The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Kelly) -- gr. 5-8 -- along the lines of the Penderwicks - The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi) -- gr. 6-9 - The Tombs of Atuan (Le Guin) -- gr. 7+ -- or, all 3 of the Earthsea trilogy: Wizard of Earthsea, Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore - Tuck Everlasting (Babbitt) -- gr. 6-9 -- fast read, but a good "thinking" story - Below the Root (Snyder) -- gr. 6-8 -- similar: fast read, but a good "thinking" story other classics: - All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot) -- memoir, with humorous and poignant retellings of life as a veterinarian in the 1930s in the English countryside - The Prince and the Pauper, or, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Twain) ETA - The Perilous Gard (Pope) -- and The Sherwood Ring, which is not quite as good, but still enjoyable (it's not a sequel, but a sort of similar "device", and revolves around totally different characters and - The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tolkien) -- so rich! every time I re-read I find more life-lessons and depth Also, if Christian works are okay: - The Man Who Was Thursday (Chesteron) - Till We Have Faces (Lewis) - CS Lewis' space trilogy, esp. #1 & 2, as stand-alones -- Out of the Silent Planet; Perelandra - The Hiding Place (ten Boom) Oh, awesome, Lori! There are a lot here that she hasn't yet read (& Christian works are fine)! Thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 I'll chip in that 14 is the perfect age to read I Capture the Castle, the bestest book of all time. And it's very much written for girls who like books and old-fashioned classics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 7 minutes ago, pgr said: Oh, awesome, Lori Oh, awesome, Lori! There are a lot here that she hasn't yet read (& Christian works are fine)! Thank you! Yea! Hope you hit on a big stack of books she ends up loving! And -- one last title I just thought of... If she likes the movie Star Wars, she might enjoy William Shakespeare's Star Wars (Doescher) -- VERY fun. DS#1 and I did it aloud together as "reader's theater", trying to mimic the voices from the movie while reciting their lines that have been rendered into Shakespearean lines... we were giggling and having a great time with this one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyhock2 Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 How about Jane of Lantern Hill by Lucy Maud Montgomery? One of my favourite books ever and I liked it way more than Anne of Green Gables. I hope you find something good! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 8 hours ago, pgr said: I've exhausted the book lists, it seems, or maybe it's just all become a blur... DD will be 14 in a few days, and is the kid that always has her nose in a book. She has asked for books, and when I asked for something a bit more specific, she said she'd love to read something that's deep, but not dark, and preferably a classic. For reference: She loved: Oliver Twist, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Importance of Being Earnest, all the non-tragic Shakespeare, A Wrinkle in Time. Of contemporary books: The Penderwicks series, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, etc. She does not like romance of *any* kind, and did not care for: Our Town, Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Bud not Buddy, The Pilgrim's Progress and the like. I thought if anyone could help me come up with something, it would be y'all! Thoughts?? If she likes Anne of Green Gables, my first guess is to get her the rest of the series. Thinking of "deep" books my older kiddo, now 16, read and enjoyed in the past three years, how about any or all of the following: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Their Eyes Were Watching God Americanah Left Hand of Darkness How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents A Time to Dance (Note: Many of these were school assignments, which is why they're none of them YA or MG fiction except the last. A does read other things, those are just the ones that sprang to mind in answer to this question.) At the same age as your daughter I read Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and The Dispossessed, and I still feel those were amazingly influential on my life. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgr Posted June 29, 2019 Author Share Posted June 29, 2019 Thank you all so much! ❤️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Familia Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 Yes @Lori D. All Creatures Great and Small series!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJosMom Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 Zuzak? The Book Thief is best known, but The Messenger is my daughter's favorite. If she liked 1984, how about Fahrenheit 451? Along sci-fi lines, maybe Ender's Game, The Giver, or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 Quote If she liked 1984, how about Fahrenheit 451? Or Brave New World? I don't know about you, or the OP's daughter, but I'm tired of the male gaze in my dystopian fiction. I'm sure that Guy Montag could've found some other path to bookish enlightenment without pausing for a romance with a teenage girl first. I don't care if they never "did it", it's still weird and creepy. I'm convinced that all three of the Classic Must Read Dystopian books would've been better if any of the authors had gotten laid a few times during the writing of, though probably nothing would've convinced any of them to write women better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJosMom Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 8 hours ago, Tanaqui said: Or Brave New World? I don't know about you, or the OP's daughter, but I'm tired of the male gaze in my dystopian fiction. I'm sure that Guy Montag could've found some other path to bookish enlightenment without pausing for a romance with a teenage girl first. I don't care if they never "did it", it's still weird and creepy. I'm convinced that all three of the Classic Must Read Dystopian books would've been better if any of the authors had gotten laid a few times during the writing of, though probably nothing would've convinced any of them to write women better. Well, Fahrenheit 451 is DD's favorite book, so I suspect she would disagree. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 What about Sophie's World? It's an introduction to philosophy but told through a narrative mystery from a 15yo girl's perspective. It's been a long time since I've read it, so check for content, but my recollection was that it is clean for kids. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJosMom Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 13 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said: What about Sophie's World? It's an introduction to philosophy but told through a narrative mystery from a 15yo girl's perspective. It's been a long time since I've read it, so check for content, but my recollection was that it is clean for kids. Good book, but I agree about checking the content. I reviewed it a couple of years ago for my DD and something bothered. Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me recall what the problem was, nor can I find the book. (It's heck getting old.) I would let DD read it now (she's 16), but she's done a lot of maturing since then. Also, how about I, Robot by Asimov and The Perelandra series, by C.S. Lewis? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 On 6/28/2019 at 11:42 AM, pgr said: ...she said she'd love to read something that's deep, but not dark, and preferably a classic... Are you still looking? I'll suggest The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. It's a fantasy with only the most meagre hint of romance. It does mention past physical abuse of the main character but overall the story is incredibly uplifting. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgr Posted July 2, 2019 Author Share Posted July 2, 2019 14 hours ago, Kareni said: Are you still looking? I'll suggest The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. It's a fantasy with only the most meagre hint of romance. It does mention past physical abuse of the main character but overall the story is incredibly uplifting. Regards, Kareni Thank you - I think I'll ALWAYS be looking for new books for her. She's already exhausted the library selections on her own 😉. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgr Posted July 2, 2019 Author Share Posted July 2, 2019 15 hours ago, JoJosMom said: Good book, but I agree about checking the content. I reviewed it a couple of years ago for my DD and something bothered. Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me recall what the problem was, nor can I find the book. (It's heck getting old.) I would let DD read it now (she's 16), but she's done a lot of maturing since then. Also, how about I, Robot by Asimov and The Perelandra series, by C.S. Lewis? Thank you!! I try to screen through sites like Common Sense Media, but obviously not all titles have reviews. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanin Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 These aren't deep, but at that age I liked books like Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew (surprisingly scary!), Bobbsey Twins, etc., stuff from that era. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanin Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 Also LOVE Jane of Lantern Hill, too, although I love Anne as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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