# Recommend kids books with strong female character, please. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892 "2003-01-06T06:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/1 "2003-01-06T06:23:45Z")
I know how much dopers love their books. I need recommendations for books for children (3-late teen in age) to keep as a reference for my growing library. Any genre. If you have a particular story that you are passionate about, give it a mention here and why you like it. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/2 "2003-01-06T06:58:51Z")
I always like Judy Blume as an author for teen girls: _Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret._ and _Blubber_ were two of my favorites. For older teen girls, Margaret Atwood, has some very strong female leads. I started reading Margaret Atwood at about 17 - _The Edible Woman_ has a particularly strong female lead. Atwood does tend to be a tad bitchy; however, so I guess it would depend on the teen. I know that _The Handmaid’s Tale_ is taught in many Canadian high school English curriculums. ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/3 "2003-01-06T07:02:18Z")
For teenagers, you can’t beat Scout in **To Kill a Mockingbird** as a great female character IMHO. I’ll second **Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret** as well. ---
**Author:** ![scablet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@scablet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scablet)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/4 "2003-01-06T07:05:12Z")
It’s been a while since I read it, but _A Wrinkle in Time_ is pretty universally enjoyed amongst the 'tweens set. ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/5 "2003-01-06T07:19:08Z")
13 Never Changes was a book I enjoyed as an early teenager. It’s about a 13 year old girl who inherits her grandmother’s diaries. The Secret Garden is always a favourite. Jacob Have I Loved is about a young teenaged girl growing up in Maine. She’s a tomboy who loves being on her father’s crabboat, but feels that everyone prefers her feminine twin sister. The Witch of Blackbird Pond is the story of a young girl transplanted into Puritan America from the Carribeans. The Thunder-Pup is about an almost ten year old girl who wants a dog for her birthday. What she gets instead is her first lesson about growing up. Everyone loves Little House on the Prairie and the Anne of Green Gables books. There are more Anne books than most people think, too. I have 9 dealing with Anne and her family, plus four more about her hometown after she is gone. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/6 "2003-01-06T07:21:18Z")
Does the scale go from age 3 to late teens? If so: No Flying in the House - Betty Brock Adorable heroine is a secretly a fairy princess! Guaranteed to have small girls attempting to lick their elbow (don’t ask). Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild Paulina, Petrova and Posey are three orphans who find success! Paulina becomes a film star, Petrova becomes a pilot and Posey becomes a ballerina, one of my favorite books growing up. A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett Sarah goes from pampered schoolgirl to having to work for mean spirited Miss Michin, but never loses her imagination. Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery Loved Anne, can’t say enough good things about this series. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E. L. Konigsburg Wouldn’t it be cool to run away and live in a museum and sleep in the fancy beds? Claudia does! Dragonsinger - Anne McCaffrey Menolly just wants to be a harper. She ends up living in a cave and adopting a flock of fire lizards! A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L’Engle Meg and her brothers fight to save their dad. Of Nightingales That Weep - Katherine Paterson Takiko lives through the The Genji Wars, Yoritomo and the sea battles for dominance of Japan while living in the court of the Emperor. The Sea Fairies - L. Frank Baum My favorite of all his books, I love Trot and her adventures with the mermaids. The Witch Family - Eleanor Estes Loved this book when I was a kid, the author is great. I would also recommend 100 Dresses for younger kids, it’s a great story about how kids pick on other kids. Starring Sally J. Friedman As Herself - Judy Blume My favorite of all the Blume books, Sally has a wonderful imagination. I love reading, I don’t have any kids of my own so I asked my boss if I could be the “book worm” for his 9 year old daughter. Like my aunt who started the practice when I was a little girl, once a month I choose a book that I loved as a child and give it to my boss to hide for his daughter, along with a pretty bookmark and a note signed “The Bookworm.” His daughter is an avid reader and is delighted to have a secret friend. I’ve met her several times at various office functions, but I know she would have NO idea it’s me. The above books were all books I gave to her over the past year, all books I loved as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Tblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tblue)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/7 "2003-01-06T07:25:53Z")
Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren) ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/8 "2003-01-06T07:31:54Z")
[Mandy](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0064402967/qid=1041838333/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-1151382-0642345?v=glance&s=books) by Julie Andrews. ---
**Author:** ![SparrowHawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SparrowHawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SparrowHawk)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/9 "2003-01-06T07:43:41Z")
_Emily Climbs_ by L.M. Montgomery. Most people know her _Anne of Green Gables_ series best, but I like the Emily books. _Emily of New Moon_ is the first (when she is a little kid) (Hawklette likes this one best), _Emily Climbs_ has her teen years and the last one _Emily’s Quest_ is the weakest, IMO. But Emily’s a wonderful character, strong, proud, passionate, intense, complex, creative. I don’t know how appropriate these are for “late teens,” whom I wouldn’t exactly call “kids.” People seem to be recommending stuff for the younger set. I read Emily through several times throughout my teen years. The other book I loved was _A Tree Grows in Brooklyn._ Hawklette (who is 16) recommends C.J. Cherryh’s Merovingen Nights series - (_Angel with the Sword_ is the first) as well as The Ghatti Tales, a series by Gayle Greeno. Also _Bridge to Terebithia_ and _The Woman in the Cloak_ which is about St. Margaret of Metola. Actually, many historical novels about strong females are good. _Behold Your Queen_ by Gladys Malvern, about Queen Esther is wonderful, if you can get your hands on it. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/10 "2003-01-06T08:13:40Z")
I’m getting so many great flashbacks from these titles! Glory, I love what you’re doing. She’s a lucky girl. How about the **Oz** books? ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/11 "2003-01-06T08:33:09Z")
There are so many great books for kids, I have a blast doing it. Caddie Woodlawn - Carol Ryrie Brink Strawberry Girl - Lois Lenski The Betsy-Tacy-Tib stories - Maud Hart Lovelace (these start off for very young readers, but as the girls grow up, so do the books) Old Fashioned Girl - Louisa May Alcott I loved this one so much better than Little Women. Good old Polly and her bronze toed boots! Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O’Dell Ultimate in Girl Power. Midwife’s Apprentice - Karen Cushman Pretty gritty, but very interesting. Number the Stars - Lois Lowry The story of the evacuation of the Jews from Denmark to Sweden. The Giver is a good story as well, although the protaganist is male. The Diary of Anne Frank Classic. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew - Margaret Sidney I had this weird fascination with impoverished British children while growing up, couldn’t get enough of it. The Borrowers - Mary Norton Okay, this might be getting away from your idea of “strong females” but darn it, I used to love books about little people. See The Littles by John Peterson for more along these lines. See, this is why I had to start the “bookworm” game, I have so many beloved childhood books to share. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/12 "2003-01-06T10:55:32Z")
Not something you’d want for younger readers, but _Consider Phlebas_, by Iain M. Banks, may not have a female in the “main character” role, but the two female primary characters have more gumption, strength, and backbone than most other characters in the book. ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/13 "2003-01-06T11:39:49Z")
Many of the Terry Pratchett comic fantasy books focus on strong female characters: **Equal Rites** and **Wyrd Sisters** in particular. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/14 "2003-01-06T11:46:22Z")
The Silver Crown, by Robert C. O’Brien. Fantastic children’s book, and Ellen, the main character, is as tough as they come under trying circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/15 "2003-01-06T11:52:31Z")
Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole is probably right up your alley and age group. [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0399214097/103-6563884-1491860?vi=glance](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0399214097/103-6563884-1491860?vi=glance) China bambina loves it at 2.5 years old. She crushes all the princes who come for her hand, until finally the dashing prince that passes all the tests receives her kiss and turns into a frog (the prince turns into a frog) ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/16 "2003-01-06T12:47:45Z")
“speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson (older kids only, but this won several awards) “Friday’s Tunnel” by John Verney. Humorous, modern, even insightful. About a British family. (8 and up. Also won an award or two, at least some of the series did: February’s Road, ISMO) “The Face on the Milk Carton”. Maybe not excellent, but has some good stuff about family loyalty. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/17 "2003-01-06T14:28:33Z")
The Lord of the Rings books have that major character Arwen. The way she stands down those black riders at the ford of Rivendell! \ ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/18 "2003-01-06T14:30:07Z")
Oooooh, these are all great! Some I have, \*all \* I will look into. > [@](#): > > . Like my aunt who started the practice when I was a little girl, once a month I choose a book that I loved as a child and give it to my boss to hide for his daughter, along with a pretty bookmark and a note signed “The Bookworm.” This is just so cool and a wonderful idea! ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/19 "2003-01-06T14:37:19Z")
Also (I think somebody mentioned these in another thread recently) Tamora Pierce’s _Alanna_ books are good. They’re about a girl who wants to be a knight in the mythical realm of Tortall. She disguises herself as a boy and goes to live at the palace. There are four books in the series, and Pierce has done some other fantasy series as well. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892/20 "2003-01-06T14:38:00Z")
**The Perilous Gard** by Elizabeth Marie Pope. It’s a realistic fairy tale based in part on the ballad of Tam Lin and set in early Elizabethan England. The heroine, Kate, is wonderful – she’s intelligent, sensible, modest, quietly brave, self-sacrificing, and kind. She’s also plain and clumsy, and very self-conscious of her flaws, having always been compared unfavorably to her beautiful (and vapid) sister. But the core of the book involves Kate having conversations with the hero, Christopher, in the dark, where her looks don’t matter but her personality and intelligence do. (Christopher is also a great character.) Kate ends up saving Christopher from the dangerous situation they’re in, and the book ends happily – and refreshingly unsappily – for the both of them. The book is very well-written and well-researched, and I’d say it was suitable for anybody over the age of 11 (even adults). It’s also my favorite book ever. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-kids-books-with-strong-female-character-please/146892.md?page=2)