I don't tend to believe in the concept of "age appropriate" books as a general guideline anyway, and I definitely don't censor. I'd let her read it without a problem, personally. But if it concerns you, get a copy and read it along with her so you two can discuss it.

School librarian here - There is nothing inherently wrong with the Divergent series and it is not especially romantic. There is a strong dystopian, sci-fi element to this story.

In general, I favor letting my kids read what they like and having conversations about the book. I would let her read the book then hand her The Giver by Lois Lowry, City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, The True Meaning of Smek Day by Adam Rex, and House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. They are all fantastic books for an upper elementary reader.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't feel it would be appropriate - and I have a 10 year old. That is my oldest so I cannot say what age would be OK. It is like the Hunger Games with more romance. A lot of violence, murder, etc. There are many great books for 10 year olds!

There are two separate questions:

1. Would you pick this book out for your ten-year-old to read? I would not.
2. Would you let your ten-year-old read this book? I would. My rule for books is that my child may read any book my child wants to, but depending on the book, I may also read the book and then talk about it with my child. Divergent might be in that category, depending on the particular ten-year-old.

I don't typically recommend books to a child of any age, unless they ask for something similar to something they read. And I'm with PP, I don't censor anything the kids read, but I do read the book and discuss when I feel it's necessary.

Anonymous wrote:I don't feel it would be appropriate - and I have a 10 year old. That is my oldest so I cannot say what age would be OK. It is like the Hunger Games with more romance. A lot of violence, murder, etc. There are many great books for 10 year olds!

There are two separate questions:

1. Would you pick this book out for your ten-year-old to read? I would not.
2. Would you let your ten-year-old read this book? I would. My rule for books is that my child may read any book my child wants to, but depending on the book, I may also read the book and then talk about it with my child. Divergent might be in that category, depending on the particular ten-year-old.

I don't feel it would be appropriate - and I have a 10 year old. That is my oldest so I cannot say what age would be OK. It is like the Hunger Games with more romance. A lot of violence, murder, etc. There are many great books for 10 year olds!

It has a zippy story line, big ideas to think about, a lot of violence, and some teenagery romance with a stereotypical bad boy (who of course is really good, but only the heroine has the strength and character to see through the facade). Common Sense Media says that it's for 13-year-olds, but I didn't have any objections or cautions when my 11-year-old read it last year.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/divergent-book-1

It's dystopian sci-fi. Like Hunger Games. Romance is not what should concern you. I'd say she may be a bit young for it. My son read it around 6th grade.

My 10 yr old girl is a voracious reader and picked up some books from the library today. One of them is Divergent by Veronica Roth. Is this appropriate for a girl her age? I want her to enjoy the thrill of reading books with strong story lines. Just don't want her to get caught up in teenage romance type books, just yet.