Recommended books for pre-teen

[Prancer]

The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster?) was something I read at 9 or thereabouts. Also The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond was one of my very favorite books. Alas, both my kids hated it.

I also loved Island of the Blue Dolphins, Julie of the Wolves, My Side of the Mountain....hmmm, who was it who said something about books where kids are on their own? It's a theme.

But my kids didn't like any of them .

This thread made me think of a book I loved when I was a kid--Divers Down! How I loved that book. It was a really cheap piece of crap cardboard thing and I read and re-read it until it fell apart. I had never known anyone else who read it until I did a search because of this thread. There it was, with lots of glowing nostalgic reviews. Glad to know that I am not the only one who desperately wanted to be a marine biologist because of the book and even happier to know that some people actually did go on to careers inspired by the book. The engineering in the book is apparently accurate, something I always wondered. Oh, and it has a smart, capable, teen female protagonist.

A series about a family of really small people that lived inside the walls of people's houses.

The Littles.

I would not have my 9-year-old read The Hunger Games. If she picked it up herself, that would be one thing, but it wouldn't be a book I would offer.

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

If she likes silly stories, the wayside school stories are really funny. The Time Warp Trio as well.

 

[MacMadame]

The Littles.

Thanks!

I would not have my 9-year-old read The Hunger Games. If she picked it up herself, that would be one thing, but it wouldn't be a book I would offer.

Both my kids were pretty advanced readers and were reading books like that at 9 (that’s 4th grade, right?). But when I think of “pre-teen,” I think of 11 & 12 year olds.

If she likes silly stories, the wayside school stories are really funny. The Time Warp Trio as well.

Wayside School is another series I read as an adult.

 

[Japanfan]

Does anyone read Enid Blyton anymore?

I loved her books as a child, they transported me to another world. Still remember Kiki the loquacious parrot!! And the adventure series, 'The Castle of Adventure' and 'The Sea of Adventure' - don't recall anymore of the titles.

I think Blyton was (is?) more well-known in Great Britain the the USA/Canada.

I think her books may have held up over time, and recommend them for parents looking for reading material for their kids. I think they are suitable for 9 year olds, IIRC I read her between 9 and 12 (though I'm just guessing, I don't really remember).

 

[alexikeguchi]

I loved most of the books already mentioned but would also add The Little Prince. I read it again in AP French as a teenager and understood more of the nuance then, but I was still utterly charmed and moved when I read it the first time around that age.

I read Holes when it was suggested for my older son at around age 9-10. It only features boys, but I still enjoyed it as an adult woman and think a mature 9 year old girl would understand it too.

 

[A.H.Black]

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon I had a sixth-grade group read this one together. None of them had read it and it had sat around in the classroom library neglected. Every one of the kids liked it. I recommended it to my 11-year-old nephew, who had somewhat the same experience. It was available in his class but no one had read it. He really liked it. He put it on his favorites list. He recommends it to his friends. Those who read it like it too.

You might also want to check out a couple of the Shannon Hale books - Goose Girl and Princess Academy are the ones I have read.

 

[hanca]

I loved most of the books already mentioned but would also add The Little Prince. I read it again in AP French as a teenager and understood more of the nuance then, but I was still utterly charmed and moved when I read it the first time around that age.

I read Holes when it was suggested for my older son at around age 9-10. It only features boys, but I still enjoyed it as an adult woman and think a mature 9 year old girl would understand it too.

I think I loved the Little Prince as a teenager, but as a child I hated it. I couldn’t see any story, and then it ended up sadly... I think I needed to mature more for this book.

 

[skatingfan5]

The Littles

Similarly, The Borrowers, which first was published about a decade earlier. And even before that, Mistress Masham's Repose. I found a copy of the 1947 edition in my parent's bookshelves and was engrossed by that story involving descendants of Lilliputians brought to England by Gulliver. The protagonist is a 10 year old girl who is orphaned and who tries to save the Lilliputians from exploitation by her scheming guardian and governess.

 

[MacMadame]

Similarly, The Borrowers, which first was published about a decade earlier.

I think that's the one I read. I remember Mary Norton as the author.

 

[quartz]

I read The Borrowers around the same time I was into making a house for my Barbies, and it gave me lots of ideas. I spent more time making stuff for their house than I did playing with the actual dolls. Avon boxes were my favorite thing to make furniture from, sewing thread spools were little tables, scraps of lace on the windows, I'm trying to remember everything I used. That was more than 45 years ago!

 

[Wyliefan]

I made a Barbie car out of a Kleenex box -- which meant simply sitting the Barbie in the box and zooming it around. I had ideas, but not much follow-through.

 

[Jenny]

I think we might have talked about this a few years ago - I remember @Wyliefan's K car

I did the same thing. Cut out pictures of clocks from the old Eaton's catalog, sewed little pillows from sample scraps of cloth my mom brought home, stacked blocks of wood, pretty much anything I could get my hands on. A friend and I were always on the lookout for things we could turn into furniture and decor items - "this would be good for Barbies" was a common refrain when we were children. Never played much with the actual dolls - it was always about building a supercool pad for her, then tearing it down and starting over.

I enjoyed The Borrowers too, and to this day I still have a bit of a thing for miniatures and models and the like

 

[Wyliefan]

I don't even remember that conversation. Every once in a while I'm horrified to discover how often I've repeated myself.

 

[quartz]

I think we might have talked about this a few years ago - I remember @Wyliefan's K car

I did the same thing. Cut out pictures of clocks from the old Eaton's catalog, sewed little pillows from sample scraps of cloth my mom brought home, stacked blocks of wood, pretty much anything I could get my hands on. A friend and I were always on the lookout for things we could turn into furniture and decor items - "this would be good for Barbies" was a common refrain when we were children. Never played much with the actual dolls - it was always about building a supercool pad for her, then tearing it down and starting over.

I enjoyed The Borrowers too, and to this day I still have a bit of a thing for miniatures and models and the like

Oh yes - the catalog cut-outs, I did that too!

 

[Habs]

Oh yes - the catalog cut-outs, I did that too!

So did I!!

 

[vesperholly]

Anything by Diana Wynne Jones is great for her age: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Wynne_Jones_bibliography

The Chrestomanci series is fantastic - The Lives of Christopher Chant, Charmed Life and Conrad's Fate are the best. She also wrote Howl's Moving Castle and I absolutely loved A Tale of Time City. If she likes animals, get Dogsbody.

I loved The Chronicles of Prydian by Lloyd Alexander. It's like LOTR lite.

Alexander also wrote two of my other favorite series: the Vesper Holly ( ) books and the Westmark Trilogy. Westmark has a lot of political symbolism though and might be better for late middle/early high school.

Vividly remember reading The Horse and His Boy (Narnia) in 5th grade. I wasn't that keen on the whole series though.

 

[kwanfan1818]

When I was that age, in fiction, I loved Homer Price books, but, who knows: if I read them now, I might be appalled. At that age, I loved his smart-assness.

I preferred non-fiction, though. My favorite was a paperback about the first five baseball players inducted into the Hall of Fame, leading to a life-long crush on Christy Matthewson. I also loved a book about great Olympic athletes -- Jim Thorpe! Paavo Nurmi! -- and a series of biographies sold in supermarkets. I was astounded to learn that those bios were abridged and adapted (plagiarized?) from solid source material I read later on, like Eve Curie's book about her mother. My favorites were Marie Curie, Beethoven, Mozart, and Benjamin Franklin. Not in that series was a well-worn bio of Carol Heiss.

ETA: and Charlotte's Web.

 

[dramagrrl]

Oh my gosh you folks all rock! So many fantastic ideas. Have any folks read or know a young person who has read "Ms Marvel"? is this graphic novel a little too mature for a pre teen? Even if she is quite mature. Or how about "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson?

I would say to wait a bit for the Ms. Marvel series. There is no major "mature content" (sex, swearing, etc.), but they are fairly violent and there are some themes that are a little beyond a nine-year-old (religious conflicts, family issues, racism, etc.).

I reiterate the suggestions of A Series of Unfortunate Events, the first two Anne of Green Gables books (beyond that, the series gets a bit more complicated/adult), All-of-a-Kind Family, the "Shoes" books, Little Women, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and the Narnia books. I would also add that if she's into historical fiction, I loved the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder at that age (still do!).

For an interest in drama/musical theatre, there was a book published in the late 80s or early 90s called Fifth-Grade Magic that was fun. If you can find the Silver Blades series by Melissa Lowell (about a group of young figure skaters training for elite competitions), I loved those, too; they are long out of print, but fairly easy to find on eBay and other resale sites. Also out of print is a really charming gymnastics series -The Little Gymnast (fairly easy to find) and its sequels, Somersaults and Rival Gymnast (very hard to find).

 

[quartz]

starting to recall a few more childhood favorites: Paper Moon - Joe Brown? The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom, Christy - Catherine Marshall, and Janet Lynn's bio, Peace and Love

 

[dramagrrl]

All books from Canadian author Jean Little would also work for a nine-year-old - they are appropriate, but use language well and have thoughtful characters and themes. I especially loved From Anna and its sequel, Listen for the Singing. Her autobiography (it is in two volumes), especially the first half, Little by Little, which mostly covers her childhood until the publication of her first novel, is also well-written and interesting to younger readers because it is written in very narrative and conversational style.

Also, Roald Dahl books are always great!

 

[PDilemma]

starting to recall a few more childhood favorites: Paper Moon - Joe Brown? The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom, Christy - Catherine Marshall, and Janet Lynn's bio, Peace and Love

Christy is way too mature for a nine year old. And it is recommended by experts in the field that the Holocaust not be introduced as a topic prior to middle school.

 

[Jenny]

Christy is way too mature for a nine year old. And it is recommended by experts in the field that the Holocaust not be introduced as a topic prior to middle school.

I first learned about the Holocaust when I was around 7, from my best friend at the time, who learned about it in Hebrew school.

 

[vesperholly]

Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place is pretty advanced. I read it as a freshman in high school and I was a year ahead in English.

 

[quartz]

Christy is way too mature for a nine year old. And it is recommended by experts in the field that the Holocaust not be introduced as a topic prior to middle school.

Maybe you missed my post about my mom reading me books on exorcism at the age of 11. I'll take Christy and The Hiding Place anytime over that.

 

[skatesindreams]

I met my first (of several) Holocaust survivors when I was six years old.
She explained everything to me in gentle, yet clear, language
The blue tattoo on her arm was plain to see.

Thank you, Daddy; for wanting me to hear and know, firsthand,
Bless you, Rose Feingold, for telling me; and being the loving, caring, person you were.

Waiting until "middle school' to inform and educate, is much too late, IMO.

 

[quartz]

I'm Dutch. My grandparents emigrated to America before WWI, and then my parents moved us to Canada in the mid-60's and the Dutch CRC community we joined all came to Canada following WWII. Every single one of my schoolmates parents lived in Holland during the Holocaust. It wasn't a topic to be introduced at an appropriate age - it was their own history they lived with every single day.

 

[skatesindreams]

Christy is way too mature for a nine year old. And it is recommended by experts in the field that the Holocaust not be introduced as a topic prior to middle school.

Can't agree with either of your sweeping statements.
Christy helped me to understand the atmosphere and culture in which my mother grew up.
I addressed your other assertion, upthread.

 

[Jenny]

Agree with the above. I am also the child of European immigrants, and all things to do with WWII - all sides of it - were very much present in the lives of my family and my friends' families when I was growing up.

Maybe it's different now, with some distance from it all, but now we have the internet. You can't hide anything from kids any more, but you can help them understand it.

 

[skatesindreams]

Every single one of my schoolmates parents lived in Holland during the Holocaust. It wasn't a topic to be introduced at an appropriate age - it was their own history they lived with every single day.

Thank you.
Withholding information makes it more likely that history will be repeated.

 

[quartz]

The Hiding Place came out when I was in 4th grade and this was probably the most read book in my school in 1971. If the younger kids couldn't read it, it was read to them. This book was able to tell the story that many of my friend's parents had not been able to fully articulate at that time, and opened the door for us as children to understand their experiences.