Book Suggestions for Dd1

[lmr1101]

ETA: Dd1 just turned 8 last month, 2nd grade.
She scares very easily so a lot of books are out, also any type like Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia are not her style :(
She read Mysterious Benedict Society and kept getting scared.
From the suggestions she's also already ready:
Wrinkle in Time
Drama, smile, Sisters etc
Beverly Cleary
Fudge
Doesn't like any of the Magic Tree House books she read :(
Percy Jackson ( wasn't much of a fan)
I'll see if I can interest her in some of the historical ones, she hasn't tried those yet!


I need help finding books for dd1. She's reading books faster than I can load them to her kindle! We've tried to find books that are part of a series so I know what to get next, but she's read through all of the series that we've found. Here's a list of books she's read recently and loved... any similar ideas???

Mr. Lemoncellos Library Olympics
Welcome to Wonderland
House of Robots
Frank Einstein
Sew Zoey
The Tapper Twins
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the Glass Elevator

Basically, we often look in the middle grade "boy" section, but then she loves Sew Zoey and is currently finishing book 13 in the series, so we're about to run out of that one too.
She doesn't like any fairy or princess type books. Also doesn't like Cupcake Diaries, etc.

Thanks for any suggestions! I want to keep her reading as much as possible!


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[nfceagles]

Percy Jackson, Spy Camp, Unwanteds, Kingdom Keepers, Mysterious Benedict Society, a Wrinkle in Time, anything by Andrew Clements, Lemonade War


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[KrisM]

How old is she?

[elbenn]

Warriors series
One and Only Ivan (not a series)
Frindle by Andrew Clements

[ang79]

My 10 yr. old DD1 does enjoy princess/fairy themed books, but some others that she has liked are the books by Riana Telgemeier (Smile, Sisters, Drama), Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, The Sisters Club by Megan McDonald (who also wrote the Judy Moody books which DD1 read last year), Beverly Cleary books, Fudge books by Judy Blume. She also loves historical fiction (American Girl, My America, Little House on the Prairie), and biographies (Who Was/Is series, as well as others). I think right now she is reading my old copy of Number the Stars.

My 8 yr. old DD2 is obsessed with the Magic Treehouse series. She also likes Puppy Place and Cam Jansen mysteries. This summer she'll probably get into DD1's old books (Just Grace, Judy Moody, Ramona, Calender Mysteries, Bailey School kids, Horrible Harry, etc.) We go through a lot of books here too!

[lizzywednesday]

Percy Jackson

:yeahthat:

My BFF's daughter also enjoyed Rick Riordan's Red Pyramid series.

I haven't read it, but if Percy is a hit, maybe Magnus Chase would also be of interest, though it's sort of the same thing as Percy Jackson, except with Norse gods.

I want to read Odd and the Frost Giants (Neil Gaiman) and I think that's in the right age-range.

Do check out The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency by Jordan Fisher; I read a sample chapter before giving a copy to my niece (older than your DD.)

When I was your DD's age, I loved Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great (Judy Blume), which is set in the same "world" as the Fudge series, but you needn't read those in order for it to make sense.

I also loved the Chronicles of Narnia, though I found The Last Battle (book 7) a bit slow and boring until I was an older teenager, so I think it's fine to skip.

[mikala]

How old is she? The Boxcar Children and Little house on the prairie books are also great.

[ett]

Grace Lin
Gary Paulson
Jerry Spinelli
Christopher Paul Curtis

Caddie Woodlawn
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Cricket in Times Square
Holes
Wonder

[trcy]

What about the Anne of Green Gables series? Also, I agree with the Chronicles of Narnia suggestion.


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[hbridge]

The American Girl Historical books are good for that age...

Also, A Wrinkle in Time is a series...

The Andrew Clements books are great...

[mm123]

My DD1 sounds like yours- doesn't like anything remotely tense or scary- doesn't like Harry Potter, etc and also doesn't enjoy fairy/princess books.

She's 8, and right now, she's obsessed with the Dork Diaries books- she's almost finished the series.

She also loved the Babysitter Club graphic novels (same author as Smile, Sisters, etc).

She's also enjoyed most of the Roald Dahl books- e.g., Matilda, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Twits, The Magic Finger, etc.

She's read the early Judy Blume books (Fudge, etc), and I'm thinking of introducing some of the middle ones (e.g., Blubber, Are you there God It's Me Margaret, etc).

She's not so into historical books, but has enjoyed some of the more modern American Girl books.

I'll be watching this thread for more ideas!

[ang79]

OK, just saw your update with age/grade. Same as my DD2 (was 8 in Nov.). Here is what is on her book shelf currently, and what books of her sisters she will read this summer:

Ready Freddy
Princess Pink - these are mixed up fairy tales, there are several in the series
Bailey School Kids
A to Z Mysteries
Calendar Mysteries
Jigsaw Jones
Black Lagoon Adventures
Horrible Harry
Animal Ark
Just Grace
American Girl books (short stories, mysteries, choose your own adventure, and books based on the dolls)
Our Generation books (similar to American Girl books)

And currently both of my girls are really into the Clue books (based on the board game) by A. E. Parker. They are older but we have found some at used book sales and the library.

[lizzywednesday]

What about the Anne of Green Gables series? ...

8yrs old/2nd grade was about when I got into the Anne series.

Do note that there are some sad events in the 1st (Anne of Green Gables), 5th (Anne's House of Dreams), and 8th (Rilla of Ingleside) and a tense bit in Anne of Avonlea (2nd book), so they might be more read-together books than independent reads.

Also, if she's not keen on Anne, some people prefer the Emily series also by LM Montgomery; the first book is Emily of New Moon. Too bad there are only 3 of those! I never read them, so I don't know what the sad/scary potential is for these. (Sorry!)

[lizzywednesday]

...

Also, A Wrinkle in Time is a series....

Yes; it's 5 books (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Quintet).


A Wrinkle in Time
A Wind in the Door (premise is a little scary/tense, though)
A Swiftly Tilting Planet (should read Wrinkle and Wind before reading this one)
Many Waters (can be read at almost any time after reading Wrinkle, but set chronologically before Planet)
An Acceptable Time (final book in series; read after Planet; I have not read this one myself)

It's my opinion, based on 20-odd years' of reading & re-reading these novels, that Many Waters, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and An Acceptable Time have some more mature themes & situations in them than A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door do.

No sex, but there are issues relating to rape, war, world political situations, dictators, temptation, abuse, and betrayal.

If it were me, I would pre-read before releasing them to an 8-year-old. It may fly over her head or it may terrify her; you mentioned she doesn't do well with scary, so I wanted to give a heads' up.

[Corie]

Goddess Girls?

[KrisM]

My kids enjoyed A to Z Mysteries and the Boxcar Children at that age. there are a lot of them, too.

Also
My Weird School
Ricky Ricotta Might Robot
Geronimo Stilton

[lizzywednesday]

OP, has your DD read Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh)? I loved that novel when I was a kid and think it taught me a lot about empathy. It also prompted a serious affection for the nonsense writing of Lewis Carroll, but I think maybe the language/wordplay might be over your DD's head? (If you decide to go with this, check out a copy of The Annotated Alice which helps explain and explicate the political & social status, references, some puns, and various background. This version is terrible for reading out loud, though!

My brothers and I all loved the Oz series by (or written under the name of, as in the later books published after he'd died) L Frank Baum; start with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Even if you love the film, there's plenty of weird, wonderful, and heartwarming stuff to love in the novel. (Yes, there are scary elements, like the Kalidahs which do not appear in The Wizard of Oz but are included in The Wiz, for example, and the Wicked Witch of the West, but the writing style is really different from modern-day books that it might feel different.)

I read it last school year to my DD and she enjoyed it ... then we saw NBC's The Wiz LIVE! in December, and the MGM classic everyone knows, which fed conversations about what changed and what stayed the same.

[newnana]

Goddess Girls?

My DD loved Goddess Girls, and Percy Jackson

She also loved the Betsy-Tacy treasury and Cam Jansen. Lots of great suggestions!

[connor_mommy]

Zoe in Wonderland
Pax
Treasure Hunters Series
39 Clues
Word of Mouse
Flora and Ulysses