please recommend...

[Daniel]

Have you read the Study series by Maria V Snyder? There are three books in the series - Poison study, Magic Study and Fire Study.

[Josie]

You should definitely read The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia and the new one (out in March/April) A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner. Just finished re-reading the first three, and am amazed anew at their brilliance!

[Chachic]

I second the Queen's Thief recommendation! That's one of my favorite series of all time.



Also other recommendations:

The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix


The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud


Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith


The Blue Sword and Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley


And I'll stop there for now. I could add more if you want. :)

[Kristin]

Daniel wrote: "Have you read the Study series by Maria V Snyder? There are three books in the series - Poison study, Magic Study and Fire Study."

Yes this is a great series although I don't think it is listed as YA however I think it could be. I only mention this so that you don't waste your time looking for it under YA. She has also started the Glass series that is a spin off of the Study series. The first two are out...Storm Glass and Sea Glass.

[Heidi]

The Hunger Games and The Book Thief are two of my favorite YA books.

[Peep (Pop! Pop!)]

Bluemoon, I mentioned this book in another thread but in case you missed it, Drums, Girls, And Dangerous Pie. I loved it!

Ok, now I feel like I'm hyping it too much and your expectations will be too high. It's just a sweet story that I loved!

[[deleted user]]

My TBR list is growing and growing and growing...

[Peep (Pop! Pop!)]

They are really good books! And Maria (the author)is really active in the study buddies group on here.

[Heidi]

Bluemoon wrote: "Daniel wrote: "Have you read the Study series by Maria V Snyder? There are three books in the series - Poison study, Magic Study and Fire Study."

sadness: There is no copy available in the booksto..."

That series does sound good. I added it too! Did you try your library?

[Peep (Pop! Pop!)]

Hey does anyone have any recommendations for an 11 year old girl? Or ones for a 13 and 14 year old?

[S.S.]

I just finished the MG book "The Shifter" by Janice Hardy.
Fantasy, but you care about the main characters.

[[deleted user]]

Peep wrote: "Hey does anyone have any recommendations for an 11 year old girl? Or ones for a 13 and 14 year old?"

For the 11 year old, hmmm...trying to think of books that aren't too mature for her. Would the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books be too mature? What about Harry Potter, Lightning Thief, Beautiful Creatures?

For the 13 and 14 year olds, Twilight, Beautiful Creatures, The Dark Divine, Hush Hush, Deadly Little Secret, most of the Judy Blume books...

Don't let your feelings about some of these books keep you from recommending them to teen girls. :)

[Heidi]

Peep - Judy Blume books for the 11 year old (except for Forever, which is pretty mature). Are you There God It's Me Margaret? was one of my favorites. I think I was around 11 when I read Harriet the Spy about a million times. Age 13 is harder - some 13 year olders are more mature, but some, like my neice are not. She still likes cartoons. I just bought her Goose Girl by Shannon Hale and she also liked Princess Diaries (the first 3 or 4 are safe). Or the mediator series by Meg Cabot is also good.

[Peep (Pop! Pop!)]

Thanks Shannen and S.S. They all seem to share books. When one reads they pass it on to the next and then we talk about the book. (These are my little SIL's btw).

The Shifter actually looks good. It's not at their library so they have to get it shipped in. It sounds good though.

So far they've read the Twilight series (which the oldest one LOVES and the other two do also, though they don't think it's cool to admit), Wimpy Kid books, Ella Enchanted, Beauty, Drums Girls and Dangerous Pie, The Lightening Thief books, and now they're reading the Goose Girl.

I don't mind recommending a book to them that I didn't like too much because at least it gets us talking. I just don't want a book that promotes too much sex. Violence is ok as long as the book is as awesome as the Hunger Games, lol. I haven't recommended it to them though. Would you??

Does anyone know of a site that can tell what content is in a book?

[Brittany (finally graduated and can once again read for fun)]

I remember really enjoying Island of the Blue Dolphins when I was about 10 or 11. So that's a good classic.

[Heidi]

Peep - "commonsensemedia.org" rates books, movies, tv, music, etc...

[Jaimie]

I will plug the Georgia Nicolson books again. Quick and easy and very entertaining.

[Peep (Pop! Pop!)]

Hey Heidi that's an awesome site, that's exactly what I'm looking for!

Jaimie thanks for the recommendations, I'll check her out too!

I forgot about the Thief.

[Josie]

Anything by Tamora Pierce (she's fairly prolific - my favourites when I was young were the Alana series, and the Immortals series), Shannon Hale, Jessica Day George, or Diana Wynne Jones. You could also try Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel, Clare B. Dunkle's The Hollow Kingdom trilogy, and Juliet Marillier's Wildwood Dancing (sequel is Cybele's Secret).

[[deleted user]]

Since your nieces loved the Twilight series, I think they will like the books I mentioned. I don't recall there being sex in any of those books but there is teen romance. Shiver is one of my favorites but the teens do end up sleeping together, although it's glossed over like Breaking Dawn.

Growing up, my mom never censored my books with the exception of Forever by Judy Blume. I left it on the couch, she skimmed through it and it disappeared. :)

[Sheila]

So is censorship a good thing? How old were you Shannen when your mom censored Forever? Hopefully you weren't 30 years old right?

[[deleted user]]

Haha! I was probably 14 when she censored it. I really can't remember. She never censored movies either except for Platoon. I think it was just way too realistic for her and she wished she had never seen it.

I've never censored any books my boys have read but I did forbid them from seeing the American Pie movies and South Park. A lot of good that did because they just watched it at a friends' houses. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about it now since they are almost 17 and 21. :)

[Heidi]

Shannen wrote: "Since your nieces loved the Twilight series, I think they will like the books I mentioned. I don't recall there being sex in any of those books but there is teen romance. Shiver is one of my favo..."

Breaking Dawn "glanced over" sex???? What about the after effect - the bruises? -- the headboard? And what about that God awful Renesmee and her horrid birth??? Triple Ugh Shannen!

[[deleted user]]

Well, after how in-depth she went into with their passionate kisses, I expected a little more. The rest is just gore.

[Heidi]

Shannen wrote: "Well, after how in-depth she went into with their passionate kisses, I expected a little more. The rest is just gore."

Oh! Ok, that makes sense. That book is definitely for mature audiences --- or if I had my way NO ONE :)

[[deleted user]]

Heidi wrote: "Oh! Ok, that makes sense. That book is definitely for mature audiences --- or if I had my way NO ONE :) "

Nice try, Heidi, nice try. ;)

[Peep (Pop! Pop!)]

I guess it would just depend on the book. They had already read the Twilight series before we started really discussing books. My MIL and their dad likely wouldn't censor their books unless the cover or title was questionable.

The girls are still at the age where I tried to talk them about boys and self respect and they started to blush and asked me what I was talking about and why was I acting weird. As long as the book isn't a raunchfest, I don't mind them reading and us talking about it. One of the books I read involved an older man pawing a teens thong and her leaving with him (some fancy vampire book). I wouldn't encourage them to read it. I wouldn't like it if they did, but if they did we'd talk about. Of course, they wouldn't like that so they probably wouldn't read it in the first place -which makes my job oh so much easier!

[Jaimie]

So just read this about suprising banned books. The dictionary? LOL! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03...

[Kellee]

My parents kept me following the rating system for movies (my father hates violence), but they never censored books.

[Heidi]

Jaimie wrote: "So just read this about suprising banned books. The dictionary? LOL! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03..."

Jaimie - that list is crazy! Brown Bear, Brown Bear???? WTH???

[Jaimie]

Heidi wrote: "Jaimie wrote: "So just read this about suprising banned books. The dictionary? LOL! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03..."

Jaimie - that list is crazy! ..."

It's amazing how other people view the world.

[Annie]

Some other authors to consider that are faves with our middle grade readers: Mary Downing Hahn, Carolyn Cooney and Peg Kehret. They are all great ghost/suspense writers. Also Wendelyn Van Draanen for light mystery and Lois Lowry. The Giver and all the follow-ups are great. The Amelia notebooks are a good companion to Wimpy Kid books and I just finished The Dork Diaries.

Another useful website is Scholastic's Book Wizard. Just plug the book you liked into the Read Alike feature and it will bring up other, similar reads.

There is also a kids book review website called Kidsmomo.com where they can review books online for other kids. The moderators are fun and it's cool to see your words out in cyberspace.

[Heidi]

Anyone read ? I got it for my 13 year old niece who is into fairy tail type books. Just wanted to see if it was any good.

[Kellee]

Heidi wrote: "Anyone read ? I got it for my 13 year old niece who is into fairy tail type books. Just wanted to see if it was any good."

One of my students adores that series.

[Heidi]

Heidi wrote: "Anyone read ? I got it for my 13 year old niece who is into fairy tail type books. Just wanted to see if it was any good."

Ugh. My spelling sucks! I just saw I wrote fairy tail instead of tale. Really Heidi -- what is my problem????

[Heidi]

Thanks for responding Kellee :)

[Kellee]

Heidi- well it is about a mermaid :P so fairy tail is appropriate.

[Heidi]

Kellee wrote: "Heidi- well it is about a mermaid :P so fairy tail is appropriate."

Ha! Thanks. I feel better now :)

[Bill]

I thought you meant it Heidi. It is The Tail of Emily Windsnap after all. It is a great little series and so is her Philippa Fisher series.

[Annie]

Heidi,
If your niece reads a lot (like her aunt) this series may be too young. I remember it being read a lot by 4th and 5th graders and haven't seen it go out at all at the middle school.
I did read the first book myself and remember not being too impressed. I *think* the plot revolves around a search for the missing father (merman).

[Heidi]

OK thanks for your thoughts Annie :) Actually my niece is a reluctant reader - despite my sister and my best efforts :( I keep giving her books though with the hope that she will learn to love reading.