Ooh, so many good choices! I like the idea of some of the early Heinlein - I think I was around 10 when I read books like “Podkayne of Mars” (and probably “Stranger in a Strange Land” too - I don’t think my parents censored my reading at all!). She’s got a wonderful, quirky sense of humour, too - I think she’d like Heinlein. He definitely fits with my mandate to expose them to things other than Walt Disney and television.
So many great series - I’m going to copy and paste this thread to a document and save it for future birthdays and Christmas.
I often recommend Daniel Pinkwater’s Lizard Music to good readers who like fantasy … it’s not fantasy exactly, but it’s oh, maybe fantasy New Jersey style, with lots of sarcasm and attitude (but also genuinely touching). The eleven-year-old narrator finds an island populated by lizards, and the lizards are awesome.
I also recently read the first book in a series, the book is called **The Lightning Thief **and the author is Rick Riordan. To state it plainly, it’s a Harry Potter type knock-off (kid learns he has supernatural abilities, then has adventures), but it sucked me in pretty quickly and I ended up enjoying it a lot. It’s rollicking. I have only read the first one in the series, so I don’t know where it goes from here, quality-wise.
In non-fantasy, she might like The Penderwicks : A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, and its sequel, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. The plots concern four sisters, and they are hilarious. They are also big readers themselves, so there are lots of references to other kidlit books, so your niece might get a kick out of picking out the allusions to other books she has read.
My 10 year old daughter really enjoyed the Lemony Snickett books and the Maximum Ride series. She just walked by and suggested the Warrior series. She said everyone in her school is into them.
Regarding the Fountian, Regarding the Trees, and Regarding the Bathroom were the last three books she asked me to buy her.
A lot of my favorites have already been mentioned–Lloyd Alexander, Terry Pratchett, Laura Ingalls Wilder, etc–but I wanted to add Joan Aiken and the loose series that startes with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Great fun!
I second (third?) Patritica Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles. All of Patricia Wrede’s stuff, actually. Her Lyra books are great for 'Tweens and adults alike, as are her Kim duo and Cecilia series (cowritten with Carolyn Stevemeyer).
Carolyn Stevemeyers “Scholar” series would be good, except the last one is very hard to find.
This year, The Hobbit and LotR, as well as Anne McCaffery’s Pern series, The Rowan (start with To Ride Pegasus) series, plus Alchemy and Acadame and Get Off the Unicorn (short stories) to get your niece firmly addicted to Fantasy. If she gets hooked, Ms McCaffery alone was prolific enough to populate your list until she’s in college.
Roger Zelazny’s Unicorn Variations is a good one if she is tending toward the SF side of the SF/Fantasy spectrum.
Barbara Hambly’s Starhawk and Sunwolf stuff may be a bit much this year, as may be Zenna Henderson, but you might put it on the list for later.
Barbara Hambly’s Vampire stuff for when/if she considers wandering a bit into the Horror genre – more Fantasy than Horror, but about Vampires, which seems to be totally kewl when you’re a 'Tween. In which case, Elizabeth Kostanova’s “The Historian” is Fabulous for a Fantasy fan dipping her toes into Horror (but Seriously Sucks for Vampire fans) especially if she shows any interest in history. Be careful with this one – Vampire-book lovers hate it with a screaming purple passion, but nerdy young’uns and us old Horror-haters enjoy it.
Oh, I loved The Wolves of Willoughby Chase but had no idea it was a series. I’m off to Amazon to search for Joan Aiken.
Another one I loved at that age (8-10-12 ish) was “Blackbriar.” I’ll have to hunt for my old battered copy for the author, to search for other books that might be a light read some evening.
The OPs niece might be a bit old for “The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler” but I do believe I shall reread it this evening, just on general principle.
The tripod series by John Christopher. Wasn’t so impressed with the last one (it came out a few years ago) but re-read the first three and they were still as enjoyable as when I was in Junior High.
Second, third, and Nth this suggestion!! I’ve read many of the authors/series people have suggested, but the books that I own (which I bought many years after the fact, because I kept checking them out of the library for re-reads, even as an adult), are the Robin McKinley and Lloyd Alexander books.
Hero and the Crown/ Blue Sword (McKinley) are both fantasy with female protagonists, who made me want to get a sword and go out and fight dragons, an aspiration every girl should have.
The Prydain series (Alexander) is also fantasy, funny and (later in the series) heartbreaking…Always liked it more than LOTR, though this may be fantasy blasphemy.
Another vote for Heinlein. Any of his juveniles, maybe an anthology of short stories. Stranger in a Strange Land may be a bit beyond her at 10.
Maybe the original Dragonlance series?
I think the Horseclans series is or will be reprinted. I enjoyed them.
Some of the R.A. Salvatore series? What’s not to love about a Drow Elf ranger, his hulking barbarian buddy, a dour Dwarven King, and said Dwarf’s fiesty adopted human daughter kicking fantasy ass across the Forgotten Realms…
If the child doesn’t already have her own Bullfinch’s Mythology, she needs one.
Edit to add Fred Saberhagen’s Berserker books, stories, and “shared world” anthologies. There’s a short story I particularly like called “Wings Out of Shadow”.
Also might consider some old school Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew. Not fantasy/sci-fi, but good stories.
I liked Piers Anthony’s “Xanth” series at that age. It starts with “A Spell for Chameleon.”
But keep her away from Anthony’s non-Xanth work. He gets a bit pervy…
And, I of course have to recommend the Babymouse series of graphic novels (ahem), which are ideal for kids up to age 12, at least. Not “fantasy” per se, but Babymouse does slip into a lot of fantasy sequences.
Right on—these are grand old friends of mine. Heck, they were even favorites of my Dad, when he was my age. I still have the original trilogy on my shelf, as I speak.
Heinlein’s The Rolling Stones, too. First Heinlein novel I ever read; years before I started on his other work.
A Wrinkle in Time is probably obvious, but it’s a goodie.
Actually, I think I was younger than ten when I read The Hunt for Red October; a true classic of American technothrillers. (Too much?)
Apparently it is going to be a trilogy and the second book is out.
My kid and I only read the first back when it was first published, and enjoyed it quite a bit. The Sterkarm Handshake The Sterkarm Handshake deals with a British corporation, the FUP, who create a Time Tube back to the 16th Century Scottish-English border, initially to exploit its then untouched mineral resources of gold and oil, though they later plan a tourist resort. They fatally underestimate the natives.
MOst folks on this board seem to like to complex baroque fantasies of China Mieville, but his most recent book Un Lun Dun was aimed at the young adult market. Plus, it’s really good. It’s the story of two twelve year old girls in a crazy version of London.
Some very good stuff here, some I would have recommended myself, but someone beat me to it…so I’ll just add
D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths. Lots of pictures and simply told, but I adored this book and my kids have too. I make sure any kids related to me get a copy.
Oldies but goodies: The James Herriot books, about his life as a country vet in England. Touching, funny, gruesome, fascinating, etc.
Spooky: The John Bellairs books about Lewis Barnavelt. The first one is The House with a Clock In Its Walls.
Sci-fi: the books of William Sleator. My favorites are House of Stairs, about a psychological experiment on a group of teenagers, and Singularity, about twin teenage boys who discover that time moves at a different speed in their shed.
Last but not least: Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. I got it for Christmas when I was ten years old, and the obsession began. I live in the American South and I assume your gift recipient is in Canada, but I think the character and story of Scarlett would hold amazing interest for her nonetheless.
