10-year-old DD only wants to read YA fantasy novels

[Anonymous]

Books have changed along with the culture. Many--maybe not all--of the books that were considered too "old" when we were 10 or 12 or 14 seem relatively tame today. I don't think reading "The Thorn Birds" as a 13-year-old is really in the same category as reading "A Court of Thorn and Roses" as a 10-year-old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Books have changed along with the culture. Many--maybe not all--of the books that were considered too "old" when we were 10 or 12 or 14 seem relatively tame today. I don't think reading "The Thorn Birds" as a 13-year-old is really in the same category as reading "A Court of Thorn and Roses" as a 10-year-old.

Evidently you didn't read the rape-ier parts of Marion Zimmer Bradley and Anne McCaffrey.

Incidentally, did I take any notice of those parts, when I was an eleven-year-old reading those books? Nope. I skipped right over them without notice. I was reading for the plot.

[Anonymous]

A 10 year old is really different than a 13 year old. I definitely agree there comes a point (7th grade maybe) when you stop censoring/controlling reading material. But 10 isn't there yet, in my mind. They are still very much kids at that point.
I don't think reading only one genre is bad at all - kids love to delve into something, binge, and move on. (And who are we kidding... adults do that all the time on netflix, too.) But this particular book sounds like a problem. I wouldn't hesitate to tell a 10 year old that the book isn't appropriate and she can't read it yet. I wouldn't "forbid" it, just explain that there's content in there that I don't think is OK for kids her age, and in 2 or 3 years she's welcome to read it.
OP's daughter sounds like she devours books. I doubt having one book restricted is going to take away her love of reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Books have changed along with the culture. Many--maybe not all--of the books that were considered too "old" when we were 10 or 12 or 14 seem relatively tame today. I don't think reading "The Thorn Birds" as a 13-year-old is really in the same category as reading "A Court of Thorn and Roses" as a 10-year-old.

Evidently you didn't read the rape-ier parts of Marion Zimmer Bradley and Anne McCaffrey.

Incidentally, did I take any notice of those parts, when I was an eleven-year-old reading those books? Nope. I skipped right over them without notice. I was reading for the plot.

Yeah, I was reading Clan of the Cave Bear at 10, and didn't really think too much of it. When my mom realized, years later, she was horrified, but I wasn't harmed by it. Certainly, children are "older" now than when we were young, so maybe OP's DD is "getting" more of these books than I would have, but that still doesn't seem like a problem, just different. What kids get out of books is what they are ready for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My concern wouldn't be that she's reading fantasy, but that she's reading fantasy aimed at a more mature audience. Try introducing her to Diana Wynne Jones books. Tamora Pierce also writes excellent YA fantasy. The Circle of Magic series is good for younger readers, and the Tortall books skew older, but when sex comes up in them, it is handled well, particularly in terms of consent and protection against pregnancy.

As a parent of a girl, now 14, who has been into all kinds of reading but a lot of fantasy for years now, I second this post. Another good series though it's aimed slightly older is the Matched trilogy, which I read too and which I recall has no sex (everyone's too busy trying to stay alive!). There's a romantic triangle but it's really not as vital as the overall story. Daughter loved the Tamora Pierce "Protector of the Small" series and the Diana Wynne Jones books (the Chrestomanci series and the novel Howl's Moving Castle, considered a classic). She also loved, and still re-reads, Diane Duane's books about the Young Wizards (she preferred that magical series to Harry Potter's magic, actually. The wizards age as the books progress, much like HP). The fantasy series by Marissa Meyer (Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest, Winter are the titles) is an interesting dystopian fantasy take on a heap of fairy tales but don't let her say "Yuck, fairy tales" -- they're really interesting and create a new and very girl-powered world. And there are several romantic pairings that are quite chaste. Again, everyone's just busy staying alive....

I'd go to her school librarian and/or the local children's/YA librarian and ask for ideas on fantasy that is neither too young for her nor too mature. It's tough but doable.

OP, reading the description you posted about your kid's current book, I disliked the emphasis on the "love to lust" bit. My daughter is older than yours but still strongly dislikes any overt sex in books--she is just more into action and adventure and "world-building" as fantasy book lovers seem to call it. Romance that's purely, well, romantic is fine by her, but not too strong a dose. At age 10, if a book were too sexual, she would have dumped it fast. The book you describe sounds too old for your kid. It really is OK to check out what she reads. If she's pretty mature, talk with her and ask her if the sexual parts in books make her uncomfortable.

Does she ever suggest that you read books she is reading? My daughter is really into asking us to read her books so she can talk with someone about them, especially books her friends haven't read. That's how I ended up reading all of the Meyer series and the Matched series and some Sanderson books. It does give you some insights into your kid to read what they read and talk about them, if your kid is the type who wants to share that with a parent.

[Anonymous]

I read forever by Judy Blume on the third grade. I'm fine. Don't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read forever by Judy Blume on the third grade. I'm fine. Don't worry about it.

What did you think? "I am never doing that, and I don't ever want to be a teenager?"

What I thought, when I read it in probably seventh grade, was, "I hope that I'm not that boring when I get to be that age."

[Anonymous]

Dude. At 10 I was reading "Flowers in the Attic" and the like. It didn't prohibit my very successful academic career. Let her be.

[Anonymous]

I think I read Elie Wiesel's "Night" around that age. I was also obsessed with really trashy YA books by Lurlene McDaniel, who wrote relentlessly depressing books in which all the teenage protagonists died of cancer or organ transplant rejection or cystic fibrosis while trying to solve existential angsty arguments with their hemophiliac diabetic boyfriends. My mom's response was to sigh and roll her eyes. A lot of the stuff went over my head and that was fine. Your DD will probably miss a lot of it as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has she read Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series? Very likely to appeal to a YA fantasy fan, but much tamer! Plus the series has a metric ton of books (really, there's like 20) so they will keep her going for a while.

Get her one for a holiday gift and she'll be hooked.

Thanks! I remembered reading those, so I tried them, with no luck. Maybe I'll give it another go.

Start with the Drangonsinger trilogy, which is specifically YA (in fact, I think the protagonist starts at about that age). Dragonsong is the first book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dude. At 10 I was reading "Flowers in the Attic" and the like. It didn't prohibit my very successful academic career. Let her be.

+1, though for me it was every Stephen King book I could get my hands on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I read Elie Wiesel's "Night" around that age. I was also obsessed with really trashy YA books by Lurlene McDaniel, who wrote relentlessly depressing books in which all the teenage protagonists died of cancer or organ transplant rejection or cystic fibrosis while trying to solve existential angsty arguments with their hemophiliac diabetic boyfriends. My mom's response was to sigh and roll her eyes. A lot of the stuff went over my head and that was fine. Your DD will probably miss a lot of it as well.

I looooved Lurlene McDaniel books at that age!!! A little older, maybe around 13 or 14, I was reading Christopher Pike. Lots of teen magic/death/sex in a Stephen King-lite sort of way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has she read Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series? Very likely to appeal to a YA fantasy fan, but much tamer! Plus the series has a metric ton of books (really, there's like 20) so they will keep her going for a while.

Get her one for a holiday gift and she'll be hooked.

Thanks! I remembered reading those, so I tried them, with no luck. Maybe I'll give it another go.

Start with the Drangonsinger trilogy, which is specifically YA (in fact, I think the protagonist starts at about that age). Dragonsong is the first book.

I had fond memories of those books from when I was 11, so I tried Dragonsong on my kid last year when she was 11, and she rolled her eyes. Then I reread it, and I rolled my eyes. It was sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This book sounds like porn and also sadistic. I would not be okay with it. My daughter is 5 so we aren't there yet, but I think I would read the book also and sit down with her and be specific about what is unhealthy in it.
Then I would direct her to The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope, and also Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. Both stories engage with the ancient European mythos of the Fae stealing humans, but also are age appropriate, exciting stories, strong heroines, and generally more wholesome.

The Perilous Gard is a really great book from my perspective as an adult, but I didn't read it as a child, and I haven't successfully gotten my kids (9 and 12) to read it yet.

I'm the PP and read Perilous Gard over and over and over some more. Such a good story! Same for anything by Diana Wynne Jones. I had free reign of my parents bookshelves, but I don't think reading Fear of Flying and Serenissima at 11 added much to my life (eye opening though it was). But OP's DD is already reading that type of 'stolen by fairies' theme, so Perilous Gard with its smart, brave heroine is likely a good bet. More generally, I also got into Jane Austen at that age, and would recommend it - could start with the movies, then there is a world of regency romances out there. A few even have magic crossover, like Sorcery & Cecelia. Also could be a good age to introduce Agatha Christie books/movies.

[Anonymous]

"I'm the PP and read Perilous Gard over and over and over some more. Such a good story! Same for anything by Diana Wynne Jones. I had free reign of my parents bookshelves, but I don't think reading Fear of Flying and Serenissima at 11 added much to my life (eye opening though it was). But OP's DD is already reading that type of 'stolen by fairies' theme, so Perilous Gard with its smart, brave heroine is likely a good bet. More generally, I also got into Jane Austen at that age, and would recommend it - could start with the movies, then there is a world of regency romances out there. A few even have magic crossover, like Sorcery & Cecelia. Also could be a good age to introduce Agatha Christie books/movies"


hahahaha I read Justine

I found it curious, but boring after around 70 pages.