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cahnMy niece (D's sister's daughter) is turning 12 soon, and I would like to give her some books (probably 2-3) as a present. (This isn't mandatory -- something crafty and interesting could work too.)
Any books I give her must not contain sex, should not be overly dark (no teenage dystopias yet), and probably should have no gay relationships, especially front and center, although I might be able to get away with subtext. (I know. It is what it is. In a couple of years I may be able to push that line.) She is not particularly precocious or geeky, but is willing to read fantasy; her favorite book about six months ago was Keeper of the Lost Cities, which I haven't read very much of, but at least the part I read has a Very Special Heroine who is the Chosen One of Faerie. (Part of my Duty as an Aunt, of course, is to encourage this -- several years ago I had what I felt was a terrifying conversation with her mom, who was like "what's the point of this fantasy stuff anyway and why should my child be reading this??" and who was perhaps not expecting my impassioned defense of same -- but I also am open to non-SFF suggestions). I have previously given her Summer in Orcus, various Diana Wynne Jones, Dealing with Dragons, The Book of Three, The Goose Girl, Wrinkle in Time, Princess Academy, and So You Want to Be a Wizard. (All of these except Orcus, and maybe Wizard, are probably too young for her now.) I also thought about Wizard of Earthsea or Tombs (which I read at just about this age) but I don't think she would like them that much. (She's read Narnia.) I thought of a couple of things she might like with male protagonists (The Thief, Ender's Game, Hobbit) but I'd rather like to give her at least one book with a female protagonist.
These should also be books that I like, or at least don't feel weird about giving as a gift even if I haven't read it :P
I feel like this shouldn't be hard! It's partially because I've given her a lot of my favorites already, lol, and partially because E reads on about a 9-year-old-boy level (by which I mean, she doesn't like girly books and doesn't care about books with female protagonists at all) so my 12-year-old girl book knowledge is extremely dated (and when I was that age, I was reading... a lot of stuff, much of which didn't fall into 12-year-old Girl Book territory anyway). Also I feel more pressure than I normally would to give her something she'd like, for perhaps obvious reasons. It doesn't need to be a book she will love but it does need to be something she will like enough to finish.
Help?
(Also... I am miffed because I figured out the perfect book, Perilous Gard -- but it is out of print. How can it be out of print?? Hmmph.)
Any books I give her must not contain sex, should not be overly dark (no teenage dystopias yet), and probably should have no gay relationships, especially front and center, although I might be able to get away with subtext. (I know. It is what it is. In a couple of years I may be able to push that line.) She is not particularly precocious or geeky, but is willing to read fantasy; her favorite book about six months ago was Keeper of the Lost Cities, which I haven't read very much of, but at least the part I read has a Very Special Heroine who is the Chosen One of Faerie. (Part of my Duty as an Aunt, of course, is to encourage this -- several years ago I had what I felt was a terrifying conversation with her mom, who was like "what's the point of this fantasy stuff anyway and why should my child be reading this??" and who was perhaps not expecting my impassioned defense of same -- but I also am open to non-SFF suggestions). I have previously given her Summer in Orcus, various Diana Wynne Jones, Dealing with Dragons, The Book of Three, The Goose Girl, Wrinkle in Time, Princess Academy, and So You Want to Be a Wizard. (All of these except Orcus, and maybe Wizard, are probably too young for her now.) I also thought about Wizard of Earthsea or Tombs (which I read at just about this age) but I don't think she would like them that much. (She's read Narnia.) I thought of a couple of things she might like with male protagonists (The Thief, Ender's Game, Hobbit) but I'd rather like to give her at least one book with a female protagonist.
These should also be books that I like, or at least don't feel weird about giving as a gift even if I haven't read it :P
I feel like this shouldn't be hard! It's partially because I've given her a lot of my favorites already, lol, and partially because E reads on about a 9-year-old-boy level (by which I mean, she doesn't like girly books and doesn't care about books with female protagonists at all) so my 12-year-old girl book knowledge is extremely dated (and when I was that age, I was reading... a lot of stuff, much of which didn't fall into 12-year-old Girl Book territory anyway). Also I feel more pressure than I normally would to give her something she'd like, for perhaps obvious reasons. It doesn't need to be a book she will love but it does need to be something she will like enough to finish.
Help?
(Also... I am miffed because I figured out the perfect book, Perilous Gard -- but it is out of print. How can it be out of print?? Hmmph.)
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Date: 2020-04-07 03:20 pm (UTC)1. Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow
2. anything by Merrie Haskell but especially The Princess Curse
3. Rosemary Sutcliff writes books that are technically classified as children's books but have a deliberately elevated-archaic writing style that some kids might find challenging so I don't know how they'd work for your niece. Also some of them are really depressing so you might have to be careful if you want to avoid dark. The Eagle of the Ninth is a classic though, and for a reason, and that one does have a happy ending.
4. I'd second the people reccing Frances Hardinge!
5. I don't know if your niece is a horse girl but if she is, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater is a great slightly-older fantasy-genre update of the kinds of things that are great about horse books
6. I'd also second the people reccing Robin McKinley! Especially The Blue Sword. If you're perusing McKinley's catalogue, though, avoid Deerskin for her, that one's really a lot.
7. The Pagan Chronicles by Catherine Jinks. There's one minor background character who's gay, not sure if that's enough prominence to be a dealbreaker.
8. If she likes books about A Very Special Heroine Who Is The Chosen One of Faerie, she might enjoy An Echantment of Ravens, by Margaret Rogerson. I didn't love everything about this book but the things that didn't work for me might be things that really work for her.
9. The Snow Queen, by Eileen Kernaghan
(EDIT: just fyi the Sutcliffs are pretty dude-focused, no female leads, and in The Pagan Chronicles only the fourth book has a female lead. The Scorpio Races has two leads, one each of boy and girl. The rest are all definitively girl books.)
no subject
Date: 2020-04-08 04:20 am (UTC)Minor background gay character shoooould be fine, at least I hope so :P
no subject
Date: 2020-04-08 01:27 pm (UTC)