Oooh! Oooh! OOOOOOOOH!
Give her the Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke:
- Inkheart
- Inkspell
- Inkdeath
It's an excellent YA fantasy trilogy / series.
Oooh! Oooh! OOOOOOOOH!
Give her the Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke:
It's an excellent YA fantasy trilogy / series.
Another good YA fantasy sequence is the Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud:
The main character is a daemon, though not in the sense of horns and pitchfork - more of a genie.
It doesn't have the lightest subject matter, as human magicians basically enslave the daemons to do their bidding. The main human character is one of these and can actually be quite a jerk sometimes, though he fully redeems himself in the end. Other human characters are more sympathetic.
Excellently written.
She might be at the upper end of the age range, but my son and niece both enjoyed the "Spy School" series by Stuart Gibbs.
Another one that is a fun read, but might be at the edge of her age would be the Joey Pigza series by Jack Gantos.
Both are set in middle school, so may help with interest in reading since some character may be relatable or resemble some school students.
One more: "Worst class trip ever" by Dave Barry
Wings of Fire series by Tui Sutherland. Huge series with spin-offs. Kind of a modern take on the Pern books, from the dragon perspective.
Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger. Huge books, but very enjoyable. I read them all also.
Can't go wrong with Percy Jackson, like others have said. Or the Shadow and Bone series.
My 13 yo loves the Wimpy Kid and Bad Kitty books also. I think they are stupid and beneath her, but whatever. She's reading.
The Graceling Trilogy. Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue.
That's the only thing I can think of that isn't on Nicole's list. And from Nicole's list I'll add an extra +1 just for the Uglies series. It's a great dystopian sci-fi that helps you learn to accept your physical flaws and stop trying to change yourself.
Another good graphic novel: Bone.
Starts out cartoonish and fluffy and gradually builds into a massive epic of Good vs. Evil. Also features outsiders showing up in a weirdly magical place with talking animals and parodies of Ohio weather.
Katie Wilson said:The Graceling Trilogy. Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue.
And from Nicole's list I'll add an extra +1 just for the Uglies series. It's a great dystopian sci-fi that helps you learn to accept your physical flaws and stop trying to change yourself.
And later on in the series, if you must change, change into something stronger and scarier than your enemies :)
BONE! BONE IS SOO GOOD!
And if we're doing graphic novels, Hooky is a really cute series.
I'm going to disagree slightly with The0retical here: I think Shadow and Bone is too good to be called a light read. It's easy to get through in the sense that it's tough to put down, but the writing is really well done and deserves (and repays) close attention.
(Also, as a grandfather, I have to admit Ms. Bardugo hooked me with her dedication. "For my grandfather: Tell me some lies.")
Stealthtercel said:I'm going to disagree slightly with The0retical here: I think Shadow and Bone is too good to be called a light read. It's easy to get through in the sense that it's tough to put down, but the writing is really well done and deserves (and repays) close attention.
(Also, as a grandfather, I have to admit Ms. Bardugo hooked me with her dedication. "For my grandfather: Tell me some lies.")
That's probably fair. I more meant it as it's a fairly easy story to follow along with. My recollection of the way story and characters develop doesn't require a ton of background information unlike something like The Dragon Riders of Pern or The Wheel of Time where the books sometimes reference somewhat arcane details found in other volumes.
Shadow and Bone is a pretty interesting world compared to other high fantasy YA books and a good entry point into the fantasy genre.
I have to thank you all for your suggestions. Rather than drop a pile of money on books she might not like, I've reserved most of your nominees at the local library and will let her see what she likes, then purchase the set of her favorite. I'll return later and let you know what that ultimately turns out to be!
Merry Christmas!
I would recommend the "Dark Tower" series by Stephen King. It's a blend of fantasy, science fiction, and western genres. King has a lot of interesting books, but not all of them I would give to a 13-year-old girl to read.. Another suggestion would be the "Inkheart" series, which was mentioned earlier; it's a bit gentler in tone.
The chronicles of narnia is a great classic series.
I'll ask my 13-yo girl what else she might recommend.
Has your daughter tried anything yet??
John Carter, Lord of Mars. Written in 1911 by Edgar Rice Burroughs, he also wrote Tarzan. Easy reading, moves quickly, interesting because there are space craft but still fight with swords. EPIC battle between the Red and the Green Martians.
my 8th grade daughter likes to read but isn't into sci fi or fantasy much These are her recommendations that got her 13-y-o cousin reading again:
The naturals series
one of us is lying
Summer of broken rules
Both mine, one of each, enjoyed Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy at around that age. Mind you they loved Harry Potter too and that was off the OP's radar.
I would probably second the Anne McCaffrey recommendations as well even though I read them as an adult ...
You'll need to log in to post.
