# Now recommend some books for a nine year old girl **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024 "2004-12-21T19:30:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/1 "2004-12-21T19:30:19Z")
In my ongoing effort to have you Dopers do all of my Christmas shopping for me, I’m asking for help in identifying suitable, challenging books for a nine-year old girl. She says she likes mysteries, and I’m trying to get her off of the “Mary Kate and Ashley solve the Mystery of the Missing Creditcard and Kilobag” stories. Since I was never a nine year old girl, it’s a bit of a mystery to me. Which titles/authors would you recommend? ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/2 "2004-12-21T19:35:26Z")
Hey **ShibbOleth** , get that Gameboy SP yet? When I worked at Borders (okay, I worked in the coffee shop, but still) people seemed to be really into the Charlie Bones series. It’s Harry Potter-ish, but geared toward a younger audience. Although if she’s read the Harry Potter books and had no problem with them, Charlie Bones might be too young. There’s also the Lemony Snicket books of course. I’d suggest anything by Roald Dahl. Of course, I was never a 9 year old girl, either, and I don’t really remember much of what I was reading when I was a nine year old boy. Mayb EB White, like the Trumpeter Swan or Stuart Little? I’m trying to think of mysteries but I’m drawing blanks. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/3 "2004-12-21T19:38:54Z")
Encyclopedia Brown! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/4 "2004-12-21T19:39:27Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > Hey **ShibbOleth** , get that Gameboy SP yet? When I worked at Borders (okay, I worked in the coffee shop, but still) people seemed to be really into the Charlie Bones series. Yes, the GBA SP is in hand. I’m still looking for a couple of additional games. Both of my kids have read through (or in some cases, listened to) all of the Lemony Snicket books. They’ve never really taken to Harry Potter other than the movies, but I’ll check out the Charlie Bones thing. She’s a bit more of a 'fraidy cat than her little brother, so I have to be a bit careful on these things (she couldn’t watch the dementors in the last Potter film). ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/5 "2004-12-21T19:48:35Z")
Oh man! I completely forgot about Encylopedia Brown! Those are some fantastic mystery stories for kids that age. I used to burn through those. I dimly remember another series by a group called “T_O_C_K" or maybe it was "T_I_C_K” that was similar in the mysteries kind of way. And of course, Hardy Boys, or the female version whose name escapes me at the moment. I also used to like reading a series of books about a character called The Great Brain (narrated from the point of view of his younger, more moderately intelligent brother) that involved a boy using his brain to put one over on adults, or to swindle other kids out of things. It took place in the early 1900s or so I think, since I remember one story revolving around their father getting the first flushable toilet in town. I’m pretty sure the author’s last name was Fitzgerald. [The Great Brain](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0803725906/qid=1103658629/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-0315863-1094373?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) Ugh, can’t find the T_O_C\*K books though. Maybe I dreamed it all? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/6 "2004-12-21T20:04:23Z")
Encyclopedia Brown _is_ a great suggestion. You rock, **Twicks**! ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/7 "2004-12-21T20:05:41Z")
I’m going to make some of the same suggestions I made in the other thread. When I was nine, I _adored_ Nancy Drew. The Hardy Boys and the Bobbsey Twins were great, too. If she likes mysteries, she should also enjoy _A Series of Unfortunate Events_. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/8 "2004-12-21T20:06:05Z")
Hardy Boys? Nancy Drew? I used to love those when I was about her age. ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Like\_Tears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@Time\_Like\_Tears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Like_Tears)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/9 "2004-12-21T20:15:42Z")
C.S. Lewis’ _The Chronicles of Narnia_. I read them all at that age, and they’re usually available in a comfortably priced set of all seven. I just found my set, and have been reading them again, to see if I get more out of them now that I’m an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/10 "2004-12-21T20:25:06Z")
Is she a good reader? My favorite kid’s book of the year is Cornelia Funke’s The Thief Lord. Not quite a mystery, but there are secrets and also, a magical merry-go-round that will make you young, if you’re old, and old, if you’re young. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/11 "2004-12-21T20:32:00Z")
Harriet the Spy Matilda A Wrinkle in Time And, of course, Lewis Carroll. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/12 "2004-12-21T20:41:59Z")
I second Matilda as well as all other Dahl books. I enjoyed John Bellairs’ novels, but they may be too creepy for most nine year old girls. If she likes spooky and scary though, you might check one out. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/13 "2004-12-21T20:48:07Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > I second Matilda as well as all other Dahl books. Um, all other Dahl _kids_ books. Don’t buy her Switch Bitch. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MercyStreet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@MercyStreet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MercyStreet)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/14 "2004-12-21T20:55:50Z")
The “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Ditto, “Harriet the Spy” and all things Encyclopedia Brow. I adored Nancy Drew. Anything by Marguerite Henry. ---
**Author:** ![MercyStreet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@MercyStreet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MercyStreet)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/15 "2004-12-21T20:56:01Z")
The “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Ditto, “Harriet the Spy” and all things Encyclopedia Brown. I adored Nancy Drew. Anything by Marguerite Henry. ---
**Author:** ![mailman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@mailman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mailman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/16 "2004-12-21T21:15:00Z")
My 11 year old daughter really liked Matilda Bone, by Karen Cushman. It’s sort of a history novel, or a novel set in the Middle Ages, so the reader learns a bit about that time period. Along those lines, she also liked a couple of Gary Blackwood novels–Shakespeare’s Scribe, and Shakespeare Stealer. She is a very good reader however, and her younger sister, 9, couldn’t care less about any of the above. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/17 "2004-12-21T21:20:39Z")
_The Westing Game_, by Ellen Raskin, which I think is a great mystery and also suitable for adults. I like it so much that I might go home and read it now that this thread has reminded me of it. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/18 "2004-12-21T21:33:48Z")
I take it that she’s read all the “Harry Potter” books and “The Hobbit”? I think Phillip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series are great books, but maybe not for a nine year old. If she’s a very girly girl “The Ordinary Princess” by M M Kaye was one of my favourite books, it’s a very sweet little story, but isn’t going to be too challenging language wise. Some original Hans Christian Anderson or Brothers Grimm fairytales are quite creepy, but it can be nice for kids to read different versions of cute stories they grew up with, so that as they grow up, so does the story. I’m afraid I was an odd little child who tended to read things I wasn’t supposed to, like John le Carre and Laurence Durrell, which is obviously not what you’re looking for, so I could be WAY off base. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/19 "2004-12-21T21:42:47Z")
Childhood favorites that I read over and over again are _A Secret Garden_ and _Little Women_. I know these aren’t mysteries, but they’re classics, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024/20 "2004-12-21T22:45:52Z")
Ellen Raskin also wrote “The Tattooed Potato” (or something similar). Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume were big favorites of mine at that age-ish. Judy Blume may be slightly advanced (books about a girl starting her period). I was a very very precocious reader and started on Stephen King and Michael Chrichton at that age, so some adult books you’ve read that aren’t too offensive may be appropriate too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-recommend-some-books-for-a-nine-year-old-girl/281024.md?page=2)