Anonymous wrote:If you think she might like historical fiction, I loved novels by Elizabeth George Speare--in particular Calico Captive and the Witch of Blackbird Pond. She has several others that are also very good. Also, there are a lot of interesting young adult memoirs out there dealing with serious themes like the Holocaust or those exiled to Siberia during the Stalin years. Not everyone's cup of team, but may be worth checking out. My favorite as a preteen was one called The Endless Steppe and it was serious but not too dark for a reader that age.
FWIW I don't have a preteen yet and am recommending what I enjoyed at that age (I'm in my 30s now) so take it with a grain of salt. But I was an avid reader and there are a lot of wonderful books for preteen readers that might not be as well known now...
Loved The Witch of Blackbird Pond!
Also:
Anne of Green Gables
Summer of My German Soldier
Bridge to Terebithia
Island of the Blue Dolphin
Lots of books for preteens into sci fi/fantasy:
A Wrinkle in Time
The Dark is Rising series
Books by Robin McKinley (The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword, Beauty)
Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain