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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Same here. Logically, I knew it was sex, but I didn't get the connotation that it was rape because Ayla didn't have a choice, wasn't really mature enough for it, wasn't prepared mentally, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"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.

Oh man I would be upset if my kid read that or Story of O, or anything similar.

read that, too. had no impact whatsoever.

I read Story of O at 12, Justine and 120 Days at 13. I went looking for them specifically, and my choices were not censored; my mother required that I discuss them as I read, which gave me a very good grasp of reality, consent and what BDSM really is. Because she and I talked, I didn't have any relationships until I was an adult, and I've been very, very careful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's tons of good YA fantasy/sci-fi.

Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time.
Robin McKinley--the Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, etc.
Tuck Everlasting
Shannon Hale
Terry Prachett's The Wee Free Men (with sequels)
When You Reach Me
Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (with sequels)
Alison Croggon's Pellinore series
Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted and others

I liked these as a child but found them creepily elitist as an adult.

Scott Westerfield: Uglies quartet (dystopia)
Gail Carriger: Finishing School series (fantasy/sci-fi/historical/steampunk)
Scott Westerfield: Leviathan series (not sure what exactly to call it!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this is an old thread, but after reading it when it originally appeared, I downloaded A Court of Thorns and Roses on my Kindle (I read a lot of YA because I'm a teacher, and am always looking for new things students might love).

I forgot about it over the Christmas mayhem, but then started it a few days ago. I just finished the novel, and I would have LOVED this as a teen. Yes, it has tinges of violence and sex, but it is necessary to the plot, and the main character has depth. I loved Mists of Avalon type fantasy as a teen, and this would appeal to the same type of reader. OP, I hope you let your daughter read this. It would be a great book to read yourself as well, and then you two could discuss it.

A 10-year-old is quite far from being a teen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this is an old thread, but after reading it when it originally appeared, I downloaded A Court of Thorns and Roses on my Kindle (I read a lot of YA because I'm a teacher, and am always looking for new things students might love).

I forgot about it over the Christmas mayhem, but then started it a few days ago. I just finished the novel, and I would have LOVED this as a teen. Yes, it has tinges of violence and sex, but it is necessary to the plot, and the main character has depth. I loved Mists of Avalon type fantasy as a teen, and this would appeal to the same type of reader. OP, I hope you let your daughter read this. It would be a great book to read yourself as well, and then you two could discuss it.

A 10-year-old is quite far from being a teen.

It depends on the 10-year-old. Some are more mature, some are more immature. At 10, I volunteered at a Ren Faire and ended up running three games when the teens decided to gallivant off and play. I was reading McCaffrey, Lackey, Zimmer Bradley, Asimov, Asprin and Anthony. I read my mother's romance novels (Sioux capturing a woman from the wagon train, Highland Scots, and other I don't remember). OP knows their child, we don't.