I need book recommendations for my sister!

I have a 12 year old sister who has been coming to me for book recommendations for 3 years or so. She's running out of things to read on our bookshelf at home, and I don't remember every good book I read when I was her age. Does anyone know any age appropriate, high quality books I can recommend to her? She likes everything, historical fiction, fantasy, contemporary fiction so anything is up for grabs.

Has she read any Kit Pearson? Awake and Dreaming as well as The War Child Trilogy (The Sky is Falling, When The Lights Go On Again, Looking at the Moon) are both very good.
There is also the Seeing Stone series. It's about a peasant who lives during the Crusades who finds a stone and sees King Arthur's story through it, with himself as King Arthur and with a village Wiseman as Merlin.
The Great Brain Series might be a little young for her both it's very amusing, just easy to read.
She's also getting to the point where she could start with some of the easier classics like Watership Down. I read To Kill A Mockingbird around that age and if she is mature enough you might want to point her in that general direction, but a book involving rape won't be for every young girl, I guess.

I highly recommend Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, consisting of The Golden Compass (also published as Northern Lights), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. The protagonist is a girl about your sister's age.

I second unlucky's recommendation of To Kill a Mockingbird.

A Wrinkle in Time or The Young Unicorns by Madeleine L'Engle
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
The Changeover by Margaret Mahy
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Beauty by Robin McKinley

She should be in eighth grade. She can read Twain, Dickens, and Shakespeare, among others.

Robert

The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper is fantastic. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley is good for that age, too.

I'm sure Mrs Bookworm would have loads of ideas, but meanwhile how about (fantasy) The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, Elidor by Alan Garner, (historical fiction) The Blanket of the Dark by John Buchan, The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare, (timeslip fiction) Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer; and, if she hasn't read it yet, The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Has she read the Earthsea books? If not, those seem like they would fit the bill, and give you a break for a few days. She would probably like the first three better than the subsequent ones.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

I just finished both these books. The Book Thief is a young adult book so very good for your sister. It is about a girl her age.

The Guernsey Litterary and Potato Peel Pie Society although not labeled a young adult book I am sure that your sister will enjoy the story and history in the book. Easy read and amazing story.

Why not the children's classics: Dickens, Defoe, Cooper, Twain, et al. They're all a bit tilted towards what has been male prerogatives, but why should that be allowed to cheat a girl out of what has been the literary foundation for nearly every writer writing in English?

When I was your sister's age, I discovered a book called The Perilous Gard, which became a favourite for years. It is set in Tudor England and touches on some of the political turmoil of the time, but also contains a some fantastical elements and a mystery. Highly enjoyable story.

I was about that age when I encountered Rosemary Sutcliff's books set in Roman Britain. Eagle of the Ninth is a good one to start with, I think.

I still read some of hers, for sheer enjoyment of beautifully crafted writing (and good stories.)

These books are bery good and aimed at that age group but the writing is such that they can be enjoyed by adults also.
Owls in the Family, The Boat Who Wouldn't Float and my favorite The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat.

That's about the age I discovered Jean Plaidy's historical novels and became a history fan for life. In particular, many youngsters seem to be drawn to the story of Anne Boleyn and I'd recommend Murder Most Royal as a good starting place. The advantage of those is that if she loves them there are about a million more by the same author to choose from. I also discovered Rebecca and lots more Daphne du Maurier around the age of 12 and those have stood me in good stead for the rest of my life. She might prefer to start on some of the short stories and work up to the novels.

For something a bit more modern and a bit more 'edgy' I wonder whether she might also enjoy Graham Joyce's books such as TWOC (my personal favourite) and Do the Creepy Thing. BTW - touchstones will only give me something called The Exchange for that one so maybe that's what it's called in the USA, but I must say, I think the British title is much better.

And I was in my 50s before I read Tuck Everlasting and loved it, but it is actually intended for readers of around your sister's age. A big second coming up (or probably third or fourth by now) for To Kill a Mockingbird. Oooh, and I was also a big fan of Animal Farm at that age and also Wind In the Willows.

Edited to try and get touchstones to work for Tuck Everlasting. In fact the name and author have come up in the list but the title doesn't want to be highlighted for some reason.

PS Having talked to Mrs Bookworm, I'll second Rosemary Sutcliff and the Earthsea trilogy of Ursula le Guin, and add Anne McCaffrey, Diana Wynne Jones, and Tamora Pierce to the list. Also the Anne of Green Gables books.

I first read "Wuthering Heights" & "Jane Eyre" when I was in 'Junior High" (7th, 8th, 9th grades at that time). I second the "Anne of Green Gables' series suggestion as well as the classics mentioned earlier.
My 11 year-old grandaughter is reading "The Wizard of Oz" as part of her summer reading for school (7th Grade in '09/'10)

You Should tell her to read Diary of A Wimpy Kid...Its a Awesome book... Tell Her to read it...The book has comics in it... Its Great for her to read...

She is not going to 8th grade..im 13 and a half and im going to eighth...

The series done by Tamora Pierce and John Flanagan and Trudi Cananvan.

All are young adult fiction, and have some magic in them. :)

Hi, "Age appropriate" really depends on yr sister's reading level-- if you give some examples of what she's currently reading, we could help you better. I'm assuming that since she asks you for recommendations, she's on the upper end of the range. Here are some high quality recommendations:

The Cay by Theodore Taylor -- this is an incredible read, very hard to put down, even though it often gets assigned in school!

The View from Saturday and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg, both Newbery winners, and classics. If yr sister likes these, Konigsburg wrote a ton of other high quality books.

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke - tale of two runaways who find themselves living in the magical underworld of Venice. Beautiful and enchantine. I actually read this one twice!

Hatchet - and almost anything else by Gary Paulsen, has readers on the edge of their seats. Very realistic survival story for children, (not just boys), a classic.

A Day no Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck, as well as anything else by Peck; the sequel is A Part of the Sky New England Shaker farm family during the depression- coming of age, family; again a classic of JF/YA fiction.

Fever by Laurie Halse Anderson Historical fiction about the Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1790's - a gripping tale told from POV of a young girl. This is an appropriate read for a 12 yr old, but I don't recommend Anderson's well known Speak quit yet.

Some oldies but goodies-

The Secret Garden and The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I could go on... but I'm saving the best for last. You may have trouble finding this- it's out of print, but I think Amazon sells used copies.

Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge. It's a little old fashioned, British children in the Edwardian period, but a truly delightful, magical, and yes, instructive read. A lot of reviewers on Amazon compare it to Harry Potter- but much better. I think Harry Potter is a pale shadow compared to this book.

Well there are some recommendations from a Librarian who tries to keep up with the new, but not forget the old. I hope your sister finds some of them enjoyable!

She might also enjoy The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4. And has anyone else yet nominated Sophie's World? That's a fabulous book for all ages - only make sure she doesn't get it mixed up with Sophie's Choice which will traumatise her for life. Many other books by Jostein Gaarder should also appeal.