# The Anti Princess Books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079 "2013-07-21T02:07:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![agnesnitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d78d45/32.png) [@agnesnitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agnesnitt)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/21 "2013-07-21T15:47:41Z")
I recommend the Tamora Price books too. Her Young Wizards series is good. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/22 "2013-07-21T16:32:06Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > Almost anything by Robin McKinley, except _Sunshine_, which is for adult readers. > > Tamora Pierce - some are more for juveniles than others, and her last quartet ended pretty darkly. But the Lioness books, the Protector of the Small books, and the Immortals quartets should be okay. > > David Edings’ _The Belgariad_ and _The Mallorean_ trilogies. > > Brian Jacques’ _Redwall_ series is supposed to be very good, although I haven’t read it. > > StG For Robin McKinley I would skip Deerskin also. It’s a dark fantasy with very adult themes of incest and rape. Sunshine is all light and happy by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/23 "2013-07-21T18:25:33Z")
The Dark is Rising series, by Susan Cooper The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis Some stand-alones: Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh (Yes, there are sequels, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them. YMMV.) Blue Willow, by Doris Gates A Drowned Maiden’s Hair, by Laura Amy Schlitz The Search for Delicious, by Natalie Babbitt The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett Also, does your library carry Cricket magazine? Lots of excellent short stories and articles for her age. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/24 "2013-07-21T19:07:06Z")
My friend’s daughter really enjoyed this series, about twins (a boy and a girl): [The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alchemyst:_The_Secrets_of_the_Immortal_Nicholas_Flamel) And the author of Percy Jackson had another series about a brother and sister, set against Egyptian mythology: [http://www.rickriordan.com/my-books/kane-chronicles.aspx](http://www.rickriordan.com/my-books/kane-chronicles.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/25 "2013-07-21T19:15:47Z")
Coraline - Wiki link: [Coraline - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coraline) What I loved about it, as an adult, was that Coraline thinks her way out of danger, and does brave things even though she was scared. The book also has a more realistic set of bad parents than most fairy tales - not abusive, just too wrapped up in the adult world. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/26 "2013-07-21T20:25:20Z")
The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques is indeed excellent (for any age, I was in my 20’s and my fiance in his 30’s when we got hooked on them). They are about animals and are a lot about friendship, courage, morals, good and evil. They are wonderfully descriptive and the best part is that there is a huge amount of them so they’ll keep her going for a long time. They can be read in published order or chronological order (there are actually places you can find lists of proper chronological order). I read them in published order and my fiance read them chronologically and we both enjoyed them immensely. I was introduced to them by my then-17-year-old niece and I, in turn, introduced another niece (10-years-old) to them. Also, the Tiffany Aching books and The Amazing Maurice and His educated Rodents are awesome books and good for any age but were written for kids. If she likes the Tiffany Aching books, she’ll probably like many other Discworld books, particularly the witch books (especially since she’ll already be familiar with two of the main characters from the TA books). Terry Pratchett has also written non-Discworld books and I’m pretty sure they’re for kids too. I don’t know if she’ll like them but when I was her age, I loved the original Nancy Drew books (still do actually). I also loved the Little House books. All of these books have strong female lead characters (Redwall books have many of them). ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/27 "2013-07-21T21:13:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Terry Pratchett has also written non-Discworld books and I’m pretty sure they’re for kids too. He wrote Nation, which might be a bit too old for her now, but I think that it’s important to let kids try out books that might be a bit too advanced for them, rather than keep them on little kid books. Oh, and seconding the Wizard of Earthsea trilogy. I wouldn’t give a preteen Tehanu and expect her to enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/28 "2013-07-21T21:15:44Z")
Incidentally, I read some of the Little House books at that age, and didn’t really care for them. Now that I’m an adult, and have a different perspective of things, I’m fascinated by them. Similarly, I didn’t care for the bios of Florence Nightingale that were pushed on me as a child, but now that I can read the more in-depth bios, I’m struck by her life. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/29 "2013-07-21T22:58:51Z")
Scott Westerfield has been mentioned. Try his [Leviathan](http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-ebook/dp/B002PMVQ7M/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374447279&sr=1-4&keywords=scott+westerfeld) series. > [@](#): > > This is World War I as never seen before. The story begins the same: on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated, triggering a sequence of alliances that plunges the world into war. But that is where the similarity ends. This global conflict is between the Clankers, who put their faith in machines, and the Darwinists, whose technology is based on the development of new species. After the assassination of his parents, Prince Aleksandar’s people turn on him. Accompanied by a small group of loyal servants, the young Clanker flees Austria in a Cyklop Stormwalker, a war machine that walks on two legs. Meanwhile, as Deryn Sharp trains to be an airman with the British Air Service, she prays that no one will discover that she is a girl. She serves on the Leviathan, a massive biological airship that resembles an enormous flying whale and functions as a self-contained ecosystem. When it crashes in Switzerland, the two teens cross paths, and suddenly the line between enemy and ally is no longer clearly defined. ---
**Author:** ![Tara57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Tara57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tara57)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/30 "2013-07-21T23:01:28Z")
Your child might like the Dear America and Royal Diaries series, which are historical fiction written in the form of diary entries from young women of the time. Yes, the Royal Diaries series features some princesses, but fact is stranger than fiction and these are some good stories and interesting history: > **[Dear America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_America)** > > Dear America is a series of historical fiction novels for children published by Scholastic starting in 1996. By 1998, the series had 12 titles with 3.5 million copies in print. The series was canceled in 2004 with its final release, Hear My Sorrow. However, it was relaunched in the fall of 2010. Each book is written in the form of a diary of a young woman's life during important events or time periods in American history. The Dear America series covers a wide range of topics, including: the Pi Th... > **[The Royal Diaries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Diaries)** > > The Royal Diaries is a series of 20 books published by Scholastic Press from 1999 to 2005. In each of the books, a fictional diary of a real female figure of royalty as a child throughout world history was written by the author. The Royal Diaries was a spin-off of Scholastic's popular Dear America series. While Dear America, My Name Is America, and My America were all cancelled in 2004, The Royal Diaries continued until 2005. > Unlike Dear America, which consisted of diaries of young girls living ... ---
**Author:** ![Tara57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Tara57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tara57)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/31 "2013-07-21T23:25:10Z")
I have been obsessed with the Little House books since I was five, so I will always recommend them. Also: Noel Streatfield’s Shoes books: > **[Shoes Series by Noel Streatfeild](https://www.goodreads.com/series/95934-shoes)** > > Noel Streatfeild's Shoes novels in order of publication. This is not actually a series, as most have very little or no connection to the others. Ballet... From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler > **[From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_Mixed-Up_Files_of_Mrs._Basil_E._Frankweiler)** > > From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a novel by E. L. Konigsburg. The book follows siblings Claudia and Jamie Kincaid as they run away from home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It was published by Atheneum in 1967, the second book published from two manuscripts the new writer had submitted to editor Jean E. Karl. > From the Mixed-Up Files won the annual Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1968. > The prologue is a letter from Mrs.... Lois Lenski’s regional books: > **[Lois Lenski](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Lenski)** > > Lois Lenore Lenski Covey (October 14, 1893 – September 11, 1974) was a Newbery Medal-winning author and illustrator of picture books and children's literature. Beginning in 1927 with her first books, Skipping Village and Jack Horner's Pie: A Book of Nursery Rhymes, Lenski published 98 books, including several posthumously. Her work includes children's picture books and illustrated chapter books, songbooks, poetry, short stories, her 1972 autobiography, Journey into Childhood, and essays ab Lensk... Julie of the Wolves, Island of the Blue Dolphins Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/32 "2013-07-22T00:21:13Z")
My recommendation is “no recommendation”. Teach her how to look at books (read jacket copy, sample a few pages, etc), plunk her down at “A” in the library’s juvie fiction section, and have her choose her own. A few duds, a “wow” or two, pick up where she left off last time – her eye will develop and soon she will be recommending books to you. Weed out anything with the not-age-appropriate issues noted by posters above, explaining why. Otherwise – whatever catches her eye. A princess or two may sneak in. Boy heroes, even! Grown-ups. Giant sea monsters. You never know what may appeal on a given day. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/33 "2013-07-22T04:55:12Z")
The Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series by L.M. Montgomery. Also, the Matched series. ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/34 "2013-07-22T05:01:05Z")
[Princeless.](http://www.amazon.com/Princeless-Book-1-Save-Yourself/dp/1450798942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374469209&sr=8-1&keywords=princeless) ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/35 "2013-07-22T11:45:45Z")
A Mighty Girl has a bunch of [recommendations by age](http://www.amightygirl.com/books?age_range_filter=5) - looks like a useful resource! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/36 "2013-07-22T12:07:10Z")
I recommend Philip Reeve’s books - for a 10y.o. start with the _Larklight_ trilogy which is light-hearted steampunk. When she gets a little older you might try her on _Here Lies Arthur_ or _No Such Thing As Dragons_, and when she’s ready for more dark, violent fiction the _Mortal Engines_ books are excellent (including a female protagonist who is about as amoral as you can get). Those are all categorized as “Young Adult” so none of it should be too far out of her reach. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/37 "2013-07-22T13:30:44Z")
> [@leechbabe](#): > > Just wondering what other great books there are that I could introduce her to? She is reading well beyond her years but I attempt to keep the emotional content at her age level. Personally, I wouldn’t go for the Hunger Games, then. Or at least, read the first book yourself, then decide. It’s pretty gruesome. If she does read and like Tiffany Aching, I wouldn’t feel the need to stop there. The Taller Girl (currently 9) has read and enjoyed a number of the Watch sub series too, though I do have to explain some of the jokes to her (or not explain them as the case may be…) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/38 "2013-07-22T13:55:52Z")
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the [**Skulduggery Pleasant**](http://www.amazon.com/Skulduggery-Pleasant-Scepter-Ancients-ebook/dp/B003VIWNSU/) series by Derek Landy. Seven books in the series so far (plus some side stories). The premise is sort of Harry Potter/Percy Jackson-ish, inasmuch as there’s a kid character who, at about the age of 11, discovers that there’s an unseen world of magical wonderfulness, naturally also fraught with danger. The main character in **Skulduggery** , though, is a girl, Stephanie Edgley. The books have tons of humor in them, and are also full of fierce battles, of both the magical and the hand-to-hand variety, and they’re actually pretty realistic in that Stephanie often gets hurt, sometimes quite badly. But any girl who likes Potter and Percy ought to like Skulduggery (Skulduggery Pleasant, by the way, is the name of Stephanie’s partner and mentor. He’s a wizard, he’s a detective, he’s a living skeleton. He’s also the source of much of the humor, as he’s a huge smartass.). ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/39 "2013-07-22T17:08:57Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Also, the Psammead books by E. Nesbit: > > _Five Children and It_ > _The Phoenix and the Carpet_ > _The Story of the Amulet_ As far as “anti-princess” these aren’t them. They make Tolkien look downright forward thinking in his treatment of women and his well developed female characters. They are morality tales and well done as such with amusing stories, but if you want female characters that can be viewed favorably/idolized by your daughter look elsewhere. I recommend “The Mysterious Benedict Society” by Trenton Lee Stewart. Books 1 and 2 are great- they have the spunkiest girl character imaginable! And the team of 2 boys and 2 girls work with each others’ strengths well. Also, “The Westing Game” has a great girl protagonist. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079/40 "2013-07-22T17:58:04Z")
As a child I was immediately enchanted by one old but timeless classic–_The Perilous Gard_, by Elizabeth Marie Pope. Although this doesn’t feature a princess (just a lady-in-waiting!), it is a fairly traditional love story–often thought of as “girly.” At the same time, the heroine is brave, loyal, strong-willed and compassionate (it’s essentially a re-telling of Tam Lin). I think it’s important to emphasize that being a girly girl _isn’t_ a bad thing–it’s not having a choice that’s bad. I think that’s one reason I loved Tamora Pierce’s later books like her \*Immortals \*and \*Circle of Magic \*series: they emphasized that traditionally feminine virtues like compassion, nurturing, healing, etc. were just as important as being “a woman who rides like a man.” China Mieville’s YA fantasy _Un Lun Dun_, which I personally really enjoyed, deals with this same idea from a rather different angle. Again, female protagonist. Other fantasy featuring women that I loved as a child: Tanith Lee’s \*The Unicorn series \*(Black Unicorn, Gold Unicorn, Red Unicorn). Probably a bit old for your daughter–I read it around 13–but some day! Tanith Lee’s work is always infused with a darkness you’re not going to find in other YA fantasy. They feature a heroine who is a mechanic, not a magician. \*Little Sister \*and \*The Heavenward Path \*by Kara Dalkey are two fantasies set beautifully in ancient Japan–for something entirely different. Lawrence Yep’s \*Dragon \* series features a princess–a dragon princess named Shimmer no less! who is nonetheless one of the strongest female characters I can remember. They are based loosely on Chinese folktales so again, something very non-traditional. As a young woman growing up almost exclusively in the fantasy section of the library, the heroines in these books (as well as some others already mentioned–Diana Wynne Jones, especially) shaped me into the person I am today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anti-princess-books/664079.md?page=3)