Recommended books for pre-teen

[jl22aries]

Hi all. Curious if folks have any recommendations for books that might appeal to a very mature, smart 9 year old. She's a prolific reader, and has the most diverse interests, she dabbles in all the sports, and also is into ballet and musical theatre, and dressing up. Thanks for any recos!

 

[misskarne]

The Hobbit. Probably best to save the Lord of the Rings until she's about 11 or 12, but you can never start them on Tolkien too young.

 

[quartz]

I second The Hobbit!

Popular series for that age are:
The Land of Stories
Harry Potter
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
A Wrinkle in Time
Golden Compass
Anne of Green Gables
Narnia
Wings of Fire
City of Ember
and if you don't mind graphic novels, there are the Raina Telegemeier books, and now The Babysitter Club books are also available in graphic novel form.

Some teen/young adult are perfectly fine for a smart 9 year old, but others contain much more mature themes - drugs, suicide, abuse, self-harm, sex, etc, so scope them out beforehand.

 

[skatesindreams]

A Wrinkle in Time

The first book which came to mind.

 

[Jenny]

At that age I loved the books of Zilpha Keatley Snyder, still remember all of them vividly all these years later - The Egypt Game, The Velvet Room, Black and Blue Magic, The Headless Cupid and others.

The other books I loved around that time and for several years after was the The Great Brain series by JD Fitzgerald - they're probably for boys, but I enjoyed them immensely.

Not sure if any of these books are still in print, but they should be

 

[clairecloutier]

I have two 9-year-old girls. This year, I read a series with them that I loved as a child--they loved it too: The All-of-a-Kind Family books by Sydney Taylor. It's about an immigrant family of 5 girls growing up on the Lower East Side in the 1910s. They enjoyed hearing about the girls' shenanigans and sibling rivalries.

Another series that they read over the last year with their dad was the How to Train Your Dragon books by Cressida Crowell. They had watched the TV series and loved it; the books are a little different, from my understanding, but they loved those too!

The Great Brain series by J.D. Fitzgerald was my brother's favorite when he was growing up. Sadly, I don't think it's in print any more; but you can probably get it at your local library system. I'm planning to read it with them sometime soon.

If you don't mind something fluffier, there is a short series of Ever After High books about the daughters of fairy-tale characters. One of my daughters really enjoyed that. She also recently enjoyed reading the American Girl books about some of the original, historical American Girl dolls (the Addy, Kirsten, and Josefina books seemed to particularly interest her).

With my other daughter, I'm currently reading some books by Dick King-Smith with animal themes and/or main characters: Martin's Mice, Babe: The Gallant Pig, and The Water Horse.

 

[attyfan]

When she was 9, my niece enjoyed mysteries ... Nancy Drew or the Lady Grace series (set in the court of Elizabeth I).

 

[Wyliefan]

Seconding the Great Brain series, Narnia, and All of a Kind Family. She might also be ready for the Anne of Green Gables series. The Penderwick series is great -- contemporary but with a bit of a traditional feel, so best of both worlds. Same for the Vanderbeekers series. The Crossover books and the Track series are good contemporaries that feel a bit more contemporary.

Some good contemporary standalones: Circus Mirandus, The Sweetest Sound, Frogkisser, Bob, Saving Winslow, Restart, The Orphan Band of Springdale, The Science of Breakable Things. Every Single Second has some really heavy themes (a police shooting of a black man) but deals with them in a pretty age-appropriate way. Same for The Sky at Our Feet, which deals with immigration issues.

 

[Spun Silver]

David Copperfield
Tom's Midnight Garden (has a little skating in it!) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom's_Midnight_Garden
The Wind in the Willows
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Bridge of Beyond (Simone Schwartz-Bart) (Note: a literal translation of the original French title is "Rain and Wind on Télumée-Miracle" -- gives you a slightly better sense of its atmosphere. It's set in Guadeloupe.)
Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb)

 

[Vagabond]

The Egypt Game, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, by E.L Konigsburg
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L Konigsburg
Rascal, by Sterling North
Misty of Chincoteague, by Marguerite Henry

All of these are Newbery Medal winners. For a complete list of Newbery Medal winners, point your browser here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal#Recipients

 

[oleada]

When I was around that age I loved The Face on the Milk Carton series.

 

[Wyliefan]

Oh yes, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is great. Also The Westing Game. I read it at age 8 and it was a little over my head, but still great fun!

 

[Kasey]

I second "Misty of Chincoteague", one of my favorite books while growing up. I would throw "Little Women" in there as a classic; I think I first read it at 8 or so. I was also already getting into mysteries, so the Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden series were fun for me (although after a while, I grew to dislike Nancy, who was freaking 18 years old, totally perfect, and could do everything from figure skating to champion golf to scuba diving, etc, etc, etc)

 

[clairecloutier]

BTW if you are in any doubt as to whether a book is appropriate for this age range, Common Sense Media is a great place to check on this: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

 

[Jenny]

Warms my heart that others enjoyed the books that meant so much to me One thing I meant to mention about The Egypt Game - there's a dress up aspect of it that might be of interest to the OP's niece.

As for Nancy Drew, maybe, but if she's that smart she might tire of them after a couple of books as they are so badly done as mysteries go. (As I recall, just about every mystery was solved thanks to Nancy suddenly having a hunch )

I wonder what kids today think of these old fashioned books, with no cell phones or social media or internet, plus the more stilted social norms around dating etc. I do remember that so many of the books in the library were published 20, 30 or more years earlier than when I read them, so I found some things funny and some so odd I had to ask my parents what on earth they were talking about.

 

[Vagabond]

I wonder what kids today think of these old fashioned books, with no cell phones or social media or internet, plus the more stilted social norms around dating etc. I do remember that so many of the books in the library were published 20, 30 or more years earlier than when I read them, so I found some things funny and some so odd I had to ask my parents what on earth they were talking about.

None of us posting in this thread was alive when David Copperfield or Little Women was first published. These books -- and most of the ones on this list are not old-fashioned; they are classics.

 

[clairecloutier]

Kids have a way of getting the universal ideas and emotions in books, whether or not the books are current. Plus, kids at age 9 hopefully aren't on phones or social media all that much.

 

[Wyliefan]

I am ALL in favor of classics for kids, but I think they have to be introduced carefully. (So maybe, for instance, start out with a shorter Dickens than Copperfield, and go through it with her, and have a little fun with it.) I can't count the number of people I've heard say things like "I was FORCED to read classics as a kid, woe is me, I shall NEVER recover from the wanton cruelty of it!"

You can tell I think they're overdoing it. But I think the pervasiveness of that reaction argues for introducing classics carefully and sensitively. It's too important to botch it up!

 

[Jenny]

I felt that way about a lot of the books we had to read for school. In addition to be a slower reader I was usually into books of my own choosing and often got behind when it came to the required reading. I love to read, but being forced to get so many chapters done a night put me off authors like Dickens.

 

[Spun Silver]

I am ALL in favor of classics for kids, but I think they have to be introduced carefully. (So maybe, for instance, start out with a shorter Dickens than Copperfield, and go through it with her, and have a little fun with it.) I can't count the number of people I've heard say things like "I was FORCED to read classics as a kid, woe is me, I shall NEVER recover from the wanton cruelty of it!"

You can tell I think they're overdoing it. But I think the pervasiveness of that reaction argues for introducing classics carefully and sensitively. It's too important to botch it up!

I don't think kids need to be introduced to classics. They just need not to have them forced down their throats, and to live in homes that have them on the shelves. Curiosity will take over. They are not for every kid, of course. But David Copperfield starts with a chapter called "I Am Born." As a kid I found that irresistible.

 

[Wyliefan]

But David Copperfield starts with a chapter called "I Am Born." As a kid I found that irresistible.

It's fascinating the little things that can get us interested in authors. I remember being pulled in by the Great Expectations illustrations in my 9th grade lit book, which were stills from the 1946 David Lean adaptation. And then I was blown away by the actual story!

My oldest goddaughter (who's a preteen) bought herself a copy of Copperfield because she knew I love Dickens. I was thrilled, and told her so, but since then I haven't asked how she's doing with it. I want her to explore it on her own and at her own pace, and not feel pushed to keep going if she's not quite ready yet.

 

[mackiecat]

Taking Flight is good for a young dancer. The Dear America books are good. The American Girl books are also but are an easier read.

 

[Vagabond]

I can't count the number of people I've heard say things like "I was FORCED to read classics as a kid, woe is me, I shall NEVER recover from the wanton cruelty of it!"

By and large, children are not forced to read anything except in school. The gripes against the classics, however, usually stem from (1) young readers' not yet being at the appropriate reading level and (2) arcane references and vocabulary. Consider the following sentence from David Copperfield:

Ham Peggotty, who went to the national school, and was a very dragon at his catechism, and who may therefore be regarded as a credible witness, reported next day, that happening to peep in at the parlour-door an hour after this, he was instantly descried by Miss Betsey, then walking to and fro in a state of agitation, and pounced upon before he could make his escape.

I can easily see a nine-year-old wondering exactly what "national school," "a very dragon," "catechism," "parlour," and "descried" meant and not being able to find all the answers very quickly, even with a dictionary at hand.

Your Moppet May Vary.

 

[Wyliefan]

When they say "forced," they usually mean in school. As for the vocabulary and sentence structure, yes, it can be hard, but context helps. And good guidance. And just generally finding ways to get kids into the story so that they're willing to do the work of deciphering the hard stuff. I read a lot of stuff when I was younger that I didn't understand terribly well, but still liked.

 

[Spun Silver]

By and large, children are not forced to read anything except in school. The gripes against the classics, however, usually stem from (1) young readers' not yet being at the appropriate reading level and (2) arcane references and vocabulary. Consider the following sentence from David Copperfield:

Ham Peggotty, who went to the national school, and was a very dragon at his catechism, and who may therefore be regarded as a credible witness, reported next day, that happening to peep in at the parlour-door an hour after this, he was instantly descried by Miss Betsey, then walking to and fro in a state of agitation, and pounced upon before he could make his escape.

I can easily see a nine-year-old wondering exactly what "national school," "a very dragon," "catechism," "parlour," and "descried" meant and not being able to find all the answers very quickly, even with a dictionary at hand.

Your Moppet May Vary.

I don't think they need to understand everything. They just need to be drawn in. And in that sentence, "Peggotty," "dragon," pounced upon," and "make his escape" would suffice. I know I failed to understand and misunderstood much that I read as a kid and young person, but the main thing is that I was hooked and kept reading.

 

[Wyliefan]

Also, there's a lot to be said for exposing kids to big words, to just letting them play with them and have fun. I got Cheaper by the Dozen (I don't know why I haven't been italicizing titles, I need to start) as a birthday gift when I was 9 or 10. It starts like this:

"Dad was a tall man with a large head, jowls, and a Herbert Hoover collar. He was no longer slim; he had passed the two-hundred-pound mark during his early thirties, and left it so far behind that there were times when he had to resort to railway baggage scales to ascertain his displacement."

Do you think I knew what "ascertain" or "displacement" meant? Or a Herbert Hoover collar, for that matter? Not a clue. But the look and sound of the words and the rhythm of the sentence delighted me and kept me going. The book became one of my favorites and I read it and reread it till it was all battered. Big words can do that.

 

[MsZem]

Another vote for Narnia.

I think I was around that age when I read The Neverending Story, which might be worth a shot. Astrid Lindgren's The Brothers Lionheart was very popular at my school. A book for young audiences in which the main characters die at the beginning is certainly... different.

Some Judy Blume could be suitable.

 

[quartz]

One of my favorite books when I was nine was A Girl Called Al - and it was my introduction to non-conformity. Being raised in a rigid Calvinist society, that was like the greatest thing ever, and for years I aspired to be a non-conformist! It was the beginning of my rebellion.
I also read The Screwtape Letters when I was 10 because I loved CS Lewis so much.
When I was 11, my mom was reading books about demon possession and exorcism to me, and in so doing, pretty much threw any sort of parental guidance or censorship out the window, and so by the time I was 13 I had read Carrie, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist...

 

[MsZem]

When I was 11, my mom was reading books about demon possession and exorcism to me, and in so doing, pretty much threw any sort of parental guidance or censorship out the window, and so by the time I was 13 I had read Carrie, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist...

The Clan of the Cave Bear was a big hit in seventh grade. In hindsight it does not seem age-appropriate. Likewise Danielle Steel.

 

[quartz]

I was 18 when Clan of the Cave Bear came out, but if it was out when I was 12, I sure would have been reading it then!
I've never even been tempted to read an opening sentence of any Danielle Steel books.