# Need book recommendations for a 10 year old
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 15, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733 "2008-09-15T20:00:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/1 "2008-09-15T20:00:26Z")
My niece is turning 10 in November, and I would like to buy her some books (I am very comfortable with being the aunty who only buys good books as presents - they have lots of other people to buy them junk). She likes fantasy and science fiction type books; I have already given them “The Golden Compass” series, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” and I’m fairly sure they have all the Harry Potter books. Do you guys have any suggestions for more books like these (especially non-girly specific books)? Oh yeah, she is reading well above 10 years old.
Thanks.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/2 "2008-09-15T20:15:23Z")
If she’s read Potter, she’d probably be fine with The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix – Sabriel is the first book, teenage girl protagonist, Nix doesn’t “dumb down” for young readers. Also The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud – first book is The Golem’s Eye.
I didn’t care for Justine Labalastier’s Magic and Madness books – a bit repetitive – but she might like those.
Dust by Arthur Slade is excellent – it has a Bradburyesque thing going on. Heck, maybe she’s ready for some Bradbury – Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman, maybe?
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### Author:  [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/3 "2008-09-15T20:28:52Z")
Robin McKinley, particularly Beauty (a Newberry Award winning retelling of Beauty and the Beast), The Hero and the Crown, and The Blue Sword.
StG
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/4 "2008-09-15T20:36:02Z")
\*[Coraline](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coraline)\*is a good one. I’ll second that, along with McKinley.
[The Giver](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giver), if she’s ahead of her age group reading wise. But be prepared to field some questions or upset about infanticide. (Futuristic utopia where infants not meeting standards are disposed of by the protaganist’s scientist father.)
I still have a fondness for the Tortall serieses by Tamora Pierce. The _[Song of the Lioness](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_the_Lioness)_ group is my favorite set. There’s some small bit of sex in them, but it’s pretty darn tame and not at all graphic. “She learned how to be a knight during the day, and he taught her to be a woman at night” sort of stuff.
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### Author:  [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/5 "2008-09-15T20:37:43Z")
If she is well above the 10 year old reading level, would it be too far off to suggest the LOTR trilogy?
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### Author:  [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/6 "2008-09-15T20:40:37Z")
The Prydain Chronicles, by Lloyd Alexander. I read and loved those at around that age (I was also a well-above grade-level reader as a girl).
ETA: It’s a five-book series. I don’t know if you want to buy all five, or just the first one to see if she likes it; if so, it starts with _The Book of Three_.
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### Author:  [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/7 "2008-09-15T21:00:49Z")
\*I Capture the Castle \*by Dodie Smith
The \*Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants \*books
The _Heir_ series by [Cinda Williams Chima](http://www.cindachima.com/)
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### Author:  [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/8 "2008-09-15T21:05:14Z")
A friend’s granddaughter recently discovered Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Earthsea” books, and she’s loving them.
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### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/9 "2008-09-15T21:10:25Z")
Are the Little House books too young?
How about Frances Hodgson Burnett–A Little Princess and The Secret Garden? Alice in Wonderland? Little Women?
If she likes fantasy, how about Half Magic and all of those books by Edgar Eager? or The Bridge to Terabithia (spelling?).
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### Author:  [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/10 "2008-09-15T21:16:08Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> If she’s read Potter, she’d probably be fine with The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix – Sabriel is the first book, teenage girl protagonist, Nix doesn’t “dumb down” for young readers. Also The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud – first book is **The Amulet of Samarkand**
Wrong there Auntiepam, but fixed that. I second your suggestions though, and add to them:
The keys to the kingdom series by Garth Nix (bit easier going than the Abhorsen trilogy)
The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper, loved it as a child and an adult, it’s the series that keeps on giving.
The Edge Chronicles by Chris Riddell
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### Author:  [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/11 "2008-09-15T21:18:35Z")
> [@GilaB](#):
>
> The Prydain Chronicles, by Lloyd Alexander. I read and loved those at around that age (I was also a well-above grade-level reader as a girl).
>
> ETA: It’s a five-book series. I don’t know if you want to buy all five, or just the first one to see if she likes it; if so, it starts with _The Book of Three_.
Is it possible to read _The Book of Three_ and not be compelled to read the other four books? 😉
I came in here to see if anyone had suggested the Prydain Chronicles. They were my favorite much beloved and re-read books at age 11. I recently re-read them and they still hold up over 30 years later.
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### Author:  [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/12 "2008-09-15T21:23:12Z")
My daughter’s 11 and has enjoyed Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching books: _The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, and Wintersmith_.
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### Author:  [@ok11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ok11)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/13 "2008-09-15T21:26:44Z")
I’ll second (and third) Tamora Pierce and Garth Nix, and recommend two more authors: Shannon Hale and Sharon Shinn.
Shannon Hale’s books are amazing (my favorite is The Goose Girl). My descriptions won’t do them justice, so I encourage you to check out [her website](http://www.squeetus.com/stage/books.html), where you can read the first chapter of each book and see for yourself.
I’ve only read Sharon Shinn’s [Safe-Keepers series](http://sharonshinn.net/youngadult.html), and it was great.
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### Author:  [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/14 "2008-09-15T21:45:48Z")
Oh, forgot, Eoin Colfer is a good writer too - the Artemis Fowl series is particularly choice.
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### Author:  [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/15 "2008-09-15T21:46:40Z")
It may be the only Heinlein she reads, but I think that every child should be exposed to [Have Spacesuit; Will Travel](http://www.amazon.com/Have-Spacesuit-Travel-Robert-Heinlein/dp/1416505490/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221514806&sr=8-1). There are parts of the story that are dated, but for a sixty-year old book it holds up remarkably well.
I’d also recommend:
Larry Niven’s [The Flight of the Horse](http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Horse-Larry-Niven/dp/0345334183/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221514885&sr=1-1)
On the fantasy side:
Patricia Wrede’s [Enchanted Forest Chronicles](http://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Forest-Chronicles-Dealing-Searching/dp/0152050523/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221514991&sr=1-2) are grand fun, especially for putting fantasy cliches on their heads. The first book in the series, in story order, is [Dealing with Dragons](http://www.amazon.com/Dealing-Dragons-Enchanted-Forest-Chronicles/dp/015204566X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221514991&sr=1-1)
Patricia McKillip’s [The Forgotten Beasts of Eld](http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Beasts-Magic-Carpet-Books/dp/0152055363/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221515098&sr=1-1) is also well worth reading. Though, it might count as a bit of a girly book. I don’t think so, but it’s possible.
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### Author:  [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/16 "2008-09-15T21:58:26Z")
I’d recommend Brian Jacques’ _Redwall_ series – start with _Redwall_, then _Mossflower_, then _Mattimeo_. If she likes them, you’ll be buying them for her for years – he’s still writing. My grandmother has been buying them for me since I discovered them almost 20 years ago, and I get one almost every year.
Yeah, they’re formulaic, but it’s a good formula and they are well-written and entertaining!
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### Author:  [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/17 "2008-09-15T22:41:30Z")
_The City of Ember_ by Jeanne Duprau (soon to be a major motion picture). I am in love with this book, unfortunately, the sequels are nowhere near the quality of the first book, so I think you can take or leave them.
But _Ember_ for sure. If she enjoys the theme of it, which is
“they thought the small place they were living was the whole universe, and found out they were wrong”
the Robert Heinlein novella _Orphans of the Sky_ is also on that theme, but set in space.
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/18 "2008-09-15T23:00:25Z")
As always, I always throw any attention I can towards [Chinaberry](http://www.chinaberry.com/) to recommend excellent books that may get passed over on the bookshelves at a Major Chain Bookstore for Whatever is Trendy.
Presently, I am working through the Prydain Chronicles before I share them with my kids and liking them.
Another series is The Enchanted Forest by Patricia Wrede.
Good for you to give such an awesome gift! I only give books, too. ( and knitted items.)
Get her just a gift certificate to Chinaberry. She’ll be on the mailing list and receive about 5 or 6 catalogs a year. The catalog alone is great reading.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/19 "2008-09-15T23:03:08Z")
> [@cher3](#):
>
> My daughter’s 11 and has enjoyed Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching books: _The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, and Wintersmith_.
This, most definitely!
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### Author:  [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-book-recommendations-for-a-10-year-old/463733/20 "2008-09-15T23:06:32Z")
I discovered Madeleine L’Engle when I was 10 and read her faithfully throughout my teens.
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