Books, books and more books

Hi Everyone,

I love that there are so many book-enthusiasts that have chimed in here. I'm hoping someone could give me a few suggestions for a younger reader. My daughter is 13 – she is an advanced reader, but our latest trips to the library have not yielded much that interests her. I've tried to find books for her too, but am not sure which authors I can trust for a 13 year old girl! She loves mysteries, but most of the youth mysteries look silly and the adult ones look too scary. The librarians weren't any help at all – I was a little disappointed. I'm hoping someone here might have a suggestion or two… Would any of the authors listed here be appropriate for a teen reader? Any others that come to mind or that your children have liked?

Thanks in advance for any ideas!!
 
Hello Sneakers! Welcome! Off the top of my head.....Harry Potter? Harlen Coben has a series which has a teenager as the main character "Micky Bolitaire". Nothing too scary but there might be a murder and certainly has suspense/mystery for young readers. Then James Patterson has a series with "Tandy Angel" as the main character. Very similar with suspense/mystery. They're both geared toward teenagers.
 
Sneakers:

My daughters suggest the following:

1. Echo Falls (3 books in series) by Peter Abrahams

2. Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz

3. Sally Lockhart mysteries by Philip Pullman, starts with The Ruby in the Smoke

4. Gilda Joyce, psychic investigator, 5 books in series, by Jennifer Allison

5. Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter

6. Mediator series by Meg Cabot

How will that do for starters?

Clare
 
I really ought to read more fiction (for the escape of course but also the cultural & literary/vocabulary enrichment), although I am still more of a non-fiction person. The last work of fiction I was reading was almost a year ago. lol. Been really appreciating all of the recs on this thread :) and plan on starting some over the summer if I can ever find the time!
If there are any other non-fiction lovers here, just thought I'd share that I am in the middle of Gathering Moss, Robin Wall Kimmerer. Very beautiful writing not only for the ecology enthusiast, but anyone, IMO. I have always loved very descriptive writing of the outdoors (that is why I love Russian short story authors so much!).
 
maddiesmum said:
Sneakers:

My daughters suggest the following:

1. Echo Falls (3 books in series) by Peter Abrahams

2. Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz

3. Sally Lockhart mysteries by Philip Pullman, starts with The Ruby in the Smoke

4. Gilda Joyce, psychic investigator, 5 books in series, by Jennifer Allison

5. Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter

6. Mediator series by Meg Cabot

How will that do for starters?

Clare
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I would also back up the Sally Lockhart series. My daughter loved them. She's also read all of the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare; there are about 6 books in that series, plus three prequels and now a follow-up series has started, so if she gets into those they will keep her reading for a long time! (My daughter's now 15 but she started those a few years ago.)
 
My daughter convinced me to read Harry Potter. It took her a few years but I finally gave in and started at the beginning. I was hooked! I'm related to some great story tellers ( Irish Aunts and Uncles, Grandparents), so I have a great appreciation for a terrific story. I love anything with imagination and suspense. I love a story that can make you feel real emotions, become involved with the characters and settle into your brain for a bit.

I'm reading "The life we bury" right now. Its about a college student and a dying man. The student has to write a biography for his college English class. He goes to the nearest nursing home to find his subject. He meets a man who was sent to the nursing home from prison where he is serving a life sentence for murder. Really engaging so far. The mother makes me angry though!
 
"The Life we Bury" sounds interesting! I've been reading "Far from the Tree" off and on - it's about people who aren't seen as "normal" and their life stories/how they overcame their s0-called deficiency (I hate classifying anyone). It's very inspiring!
 
Harlen Coben is wonderful, and I read "The Woods" several times. Jeffrey Deaver also has great Lincoln Rhyme novels. I also like Harlen Coben's novels for teenagers, and I have Goodreads on my Kindle.

Has anybody here read Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, and their first novel was The Relic, and it is wonderful. I have read all of their books, and their website is prestonchild.com.
 
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Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series is great - I love forensic stuff! It's been a while since I read one but I remember enjoying them. The "Lost in a Good Book" set is good as well... I can't remember the author's name but she takes actual literary characters and weaves them into her plot lines. It's quite clever! :)
 
http://www.pbs.org/parents/educatio...rls/empowering-books-for-middle-school-girls/
Hey Sneakers...

I just retired from a career as a Reading Specialist. Great your daughter loves to read! And there ARE so many great books out there for teens.

Here's a link to about a dozen books that are well-loved and very empowering for girls - so important for that age!
http://www.pbs.org/parents/educatio...rls/empowering-books-for-middle-school-girls/

This link has a list of 100 books - all fabulous classics. I love them all!
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2225.Best_Classic_Books_for_Teens
 
WOW!!! Jane, what a list! Fantastic stories for sure. "Are you there God? It's me Margaret" Now who HASN'T read that one. Classics. I especially like your list of empowering books for young girls. Eleanor Roosevelt said "Women who mind their manners rarely make history" or something like that. Love that!
 
These are some my my fav authors,
JD Robb, Danielle Steele, Tess Gerritsen, Jonathan & Faye Kellerman, Nora Roberts, John Sandford,

James Patterson, Karen Robards, Lisa Jackson, Preston & Childs, Mary Higgins Clark, Iris Johansen,

Brad Thor, Brad Meltzer, SteveBerry- steve Martini, clive Cussler –Kristen Hannah, Naomi Regan, jodi Picoult,Daniel Silva
 
Jane Power-Grimm said:
Hey Sneakers...

I just retired from a career as a Reading Specialist. Great your daughter loves to read! And there ARE so many great books out there for teens.

Here's a link to about a dozen books that are well-loved and very empowering for girls - so important for that age!
http://www.pbs.org/parents/educatio...rls/empowering-books-for-middle-school-girls/

This link has a list of 100 books - all fabulous classics. I love them all!
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2225.Best_Classic_Books_for_Teens
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Hi, Jane! Thank you very much for sharing those links. That's more along the lines of what I expected when I talked to the librarians, so I was shocked when they turned me away without anything. The information I've gotten here (from you and the others) has been so helpful. I think I'm as excited as she is about all these reading ideas! :) Thanks again!
 
sneakers said:
Hi Everyone,

I love that there are so many book-enthusiasts that have chimed in here. I'm hoping someone could give me a few suggestions for a younger reader. My daughter is 13 – she is an advanced reader, but our latest trips to the library have not yielded much that interests her. I've tried to find books for her too, but am not sure which authors I can trust for a 13 year old girl! She loves mysteries, but most of the youth mysteries look silly and the adult ones look too scary. The librarians weren't any help at all – I was a little disappointed. I'm hoping someone here might have a suggestion or two… Would any of the authors listed here be appropriate for a teen reader? Any others that come to mind or that your children have liked?

Thanks in advance for any ideas!!
Click to expand...
 
tlc93 said:
That's right people....please share. Don't be shy. Right now I'm reading a Harlen Coben book called The Woods. It started out creepy enough which I love. 2 camp counselors go missing, their bodies are never found, flash forward 20 years and the brother of the female counselor is now a DA. He's contacted by the police because they found a dead male. In his possessions are newspaper clippings and other things that connect the DA to him. When the DA looks at the body, he realizes THATS the body of the presumed dead male camp counselor that went missing with his sister 20 years prior. I'm also listening to a book on CD by Fannie Flagg. She wrote Fried Green Tomatoes. This one is called I still dream about you. It's about a former Miss Alabama who now works in real estate. It's a cute story with interesting characters. The main character is planning on committing suicide. It's NOT a sad heavy story. Quite the opposite...it's cute, funny, lighthearted and thoughtful. An easy read actually. Other than that....some duds! I thoroughly enjoyed suggestions from last year. Big little lies and others from Liane Moriarty. The Vacationers, Where'd you go Bernadette, Wife 22 (I think), In a dark, dark wood, so many I can't remember.

I seem to get stuck on specific authors and therefore miss other authors who turn out to be fantastic storytellers.
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Oooh YES, Harlan Coben is amazing for suspense/thrillers. I also enjoy Janet Evanovich (both her Stephanie Plum and Wicked/Lizzy series are hilarious and really well-written). I like authors that are prolific because I'm a binge-reader and always, always need something new to read. For anyone who likes mysteries and hasn't read Agatha Christie, almost all of her 80-odd books hold up remarkably well.
 
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