Books for 11yo who doesn’t want anything “cliche” or “predictable” & is picky af
Books for 11yo who doesn’t want anything “cliche” or “predictable” & is picky af ? and reads above her age!!
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Specific genre?
@Hanna any at this point! “As long as it’s not boring”
Her words lol. Books are hard to find for this kid I swear!
Well I loved the Dragon Keeper Chronicles when I was that age:) and Redwall, by Brian Jacques.
If she likes scary, the fear street series by RL Stone features romance, ghost stories, some horror. It’s got unexpected scares, and some teenage death and murder, so she may still be too young for it… but if she doesn’t want predictable, she might love it.
@Kate I suggested that at the bookstore yesterday and she was like “eh sounds boring” ??? we picked up “letters to the dead” and “I am not a serial killer”
hmmm Christopher Pike is even more advanced than that. OR LJ Smith, she wrote the original vampire teen love stories of the 90s, and had ones with reincarnation and all sorts of interesting concepts like that.
I’ve been a children’s librarian for 5 years, so I love challenges like this.
@Kate that sounds like a fantastic job!!!! I felt bad for the guy at the bookstore because every book he suggested she turned down (and they were all really great suggestions too!!)
Percy Jackson?
Goosebumps series
Books by E.L. Konigsburg, Will Hobbs, and Agatha Christie (last one in case she’s a expert reader) ☺
The one and only Harry Potter. ❤️
@Megan lol she’s read all the HP books in 3rd grade!
Wow. Good for her! Haha. Maybe Series of Unfortunate Events?
If she likes older stuff, maybe the Hunger Games trilogy? Idk about the reading level, but the content has a lot of deep questions and issues to ponder and discuss. I re-read it every few years and I still always learn something from it
@Becca she’s read it already!! She doesn’t like re-reading books yet though!
@Katarina fair! I didn’t either at her age. I can’t think of anything now bc I’m not in front of my bookshelf, if I come up with anything I’ll let you know!
Suzanne Collins’ other series, The Underland Chronicles, is also really intense and thought-provoking, especially for that age.
Illuminae. The layout is crazy fun and all the cursing is redacted ?
Kathi Appelt new book Angel Thieves is geared toward 14 year olds. I just read it, it was SO GOOD
Caraval series, the paper magician series, and join the Owlcrate society page they post YA book frequently
Awwwww that sounds like me
The outsiders
I got my first Stephen King at 10 or 11- The Eyes of the Dragon. It holds up.
Wildwood series by Colin Meloy
Miss Peregrine?
Harry Potter
Graveyard book by Neil gaiman
@Jillian just was going to say this!
Gail Carrigers “Finishing School” series is awesome! It has supernatural creatures and young girls (her age) being spies in Victorian London! There’s also steampunk stuff!
Percy Jackson. Tuck Everlasting.a Monster Calls.
The His Dark Materials series!
Rangers apprentice series. Pseudo predictable but a “kids series” that’s really pretty enjoyable.
The Old Kingdom Series by Garth Nix. The Protectors of the Small series by Tamora Pierce. These are both pretty action packed. Definitely not boring at all.
School for Good and Evil, Nevermoor, Small Spaces, Unwanteds
THE SECRET SERIES IS REALLLLLY GOOD I PROMISE
Eye of the Dragon, for sure. King wrote it for his children.
I loved Percy Jackson series
Get her Jane Eyre. It blew my mind when I was 13
Harry Potter
Chronicles of Narnia
Artemis fowl
Percy jackson
Inkheart
Spooks Apprentice
Rangers apprentice
Septimus Heap
His Dark Materials
Miss Perigrines
School for Good and Evil
Artemis fowl may not feel as mature for her in the beginning but it’s good!!
Thanks everyone!!! I just needed somewhere to start with suggestions because everything I suggested she turned down lol. I felt that if she saw a whole bunch of people suggesting really good books she’d be more interested. She’s 11 going on 30 I swear!
Mine is the same way! She recently fell in love with “When You Reach Me” and “The Night Diaries.”
Flowers In The Attic. ?
@Morgan lol I read that as an adult! I don’t know that I’m ready for her to read it just yet ?
@Katarina I did. But my parents never bothered to check what I was reading. ???
Suzanne Collins has another series; it’s called The Underland Chronicles. It’s really fantastic. It’s similar to The Hunger Games but not completely – it’s not exactly dystopia like THG, but it’s got some similar themes. I absolutely loved it (read it at 25, I’m now 7 and still love it) and I think it’s great for kids, especially if we’re talking about a mature kiddo. 🙂 There are some really difficult/scary moments so maybe read ahead of her if that worries you? The books explore war, politics, racism, prejudice, etc. – but in a way that is actually really good for kids. They’re really fantastic, they’re great stories and the pace is nice, too – I had a hard time putting it down!
The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull is another great one. Hmm. Ohh! Maybe the Peculiar Children series. And if she’s really mature for her age, Oliver Twist is amazing, and I actually think kids would love it – I feel like little ones don’t read classics because they’re intimidating and difficult and lengthy, but I also think they’re totally capable of it if they’re encouraged! And since Oliver is a kid, your girl may be able to relate to him in some ways, and that’s always fun in a book!
The Charlie Bone series, The Dark is Rising series, Inkheart, books by Margaret Peterson Haddix, Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer, The Giver, The Cay, Amy Number Seven, The Road to Balinor, Lord of the Rings, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Bras and Broomsticks, Among the Hidden, Little Women, Hex Hall.
We were liars
The Skulduggery Pleasant series!
The Time Museum graphic novel. My advanced 11 year old LOVES it.
The war that saved my life
Al Capone Shines My Shows
Shoes
Following
Mistborn series and anything else by Brandon Sanderson
The Timebound Series.
Artemis Fowl! Also Inkheart.
@Crissy YES!! I LOVE ARTEMIS FOWL!!
A wrinkle in time
Joan Aiken’s Dido books, starting with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Classic and different. Otherwise, at her age, I was reading Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, and lots of historical fiction.
@Leslie The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is so good! I’ve never met someone else who’s read it before!
@Bethany, I have all ten books! When I started reading them, there were only four.
The Kingdom Keepers series. Rick Riordan wrote them and they’re all about the Disney parks. There’s maybe six or seven books, not counting the sequel series.
Any 11 year old that uses the term “cliche” is ok by me
Molly Moon series!
@Kylie I loved Molly Moon!
The Last Dragon Slayer by Jasper Fforde. Completely hysterical, clever, and unpredictable in every way possible. If your 11 year old is sassy or sarcastic she will thrive in this series.
@Rachel she is ridiculously sassy and sarcastic!!!
The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix!!!
The land of stories Series
I was in love with the wizard of oz series in like 4th grade…
Red rising series
Protector of the small series by tamora pierce (my favorite series of hers, but I enjoy most of them). Also the chrestomanci books by dianna Wynne Jones (she also has a few other series I read and enjoyed).
Jacqueline Wilson is always good
Skullduggery Pleasant
Anything by Tamora Pierce really. I was in 5th grade and reading at a college level when I started her song of the lioness series, and I found them captivating. Might be a bit PG-13 tho.
The Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett.
Here to concur re: Garth Nix (Sabriel) , Tamora Pierce (anything tbh, but lioness, protector of the small or Wild Magic) and Tiffany Aching (Pratchett)
I’ve been that kid, so…
My kids (boy and girl) loved the Daniel X series by James Patterson as well as Carl Hiassan’s books (Hoot, Flush, Scat, Chomp)
It might be too much(creepy) but the Southern Reach trilogy is ridiculously intriguing
Books by Margaret Peterson Haddix are full of plot twists in almost every chapter..
I’ve read The Missing Series and The Shadow Children..
i love them..
going to read Just Ella series.. I’m expecting another action-packed twists in the plot
Sherlock Holmes? I started reading that at 11 and was hooked!
I read this UF series at age 11 and have been a fan of them since then. Do note it’s got mature content, but it isn’t too heavy (imo)! The series is called Kate Daniels, it’s written by Ilona Andrews. The MC is amazeballs and i’ve looked up to her since forever. If you aren’t afraid of exposing her to mature content, this might be a really good series!
The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Gideon Cutpurse, Eyes of the Dragon, Graveyard Book, Mercdes Lackey’s Elemental Masters series, Emily of New Moon +series, Tamora Pierce every book, The Blue Sword & Hero and the Crown by Robin Mckinley- also her Deerskin book and Spindles End are fantastic. I also love The Secret Garden, Jane Eyre, and The Little Princess.
The Elemental Masters series is amazing as are all of Tamora Pierce’s books.
Also forgot anything by Diana Wynne Jones
@Jessica yes! I love her Chrestomanci books and Howl’s Moving Castle Series
When You Reach Me (helps if they’ve read a Wrinkle in Time as the book is referenced a lot)
The Obsidian Mountain trilogy and The Enduring Flame trilogy by Mercedes Lackey are pretty good. There is also The Four Kingdoms by Melanie Cellier, though being that they are retellings of fairy tales, she might be reluctant to read them. Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee was a good one.
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede (it mocks a lot of the cliches too, which I loved at that age).
Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce
A series of unfortunate events by Lemony Snicket
OCDaniel
The Great Gatsby
NASHVILLE by Antonia Michaelis.