Books for 13 years old girl!

Any recommendation books for a 13 years old girl. Books that might catch her eye!

What are her interests? What does she like to read? Would you describe her as mature or immature for her age?

I don't know her tastes and interests, but perhaps The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and the Anne of Green Gables series.

>2 lilithcat: She's a bit immature. She likes to be the leader, to command. Is to think of boys but is not so vain. She likes to read like adventure books for children, teenagers.

>4 girl.in.love.bts:

How about Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series? The female protagonist is 11 at the beginning of the series, and she definitely has adventures!

My daughter is 10 and enjoying the Chris Colfer series starting with The Wishing Spell.

I'd like to introduce her to Alanna: The First Adventure.

If she likes adventures, a girl detective series might appeal to her . I was a big fan of Trixie Belden, and the classic is of course, Nancy Drew.

I don't have any suggestions, but can I challenge recommenders to come up with something from this century? So far I see one, and a lot of stuff that I read decades ago.

The Enola Holmes mysteries, perhaps? Or the Theodosia series?

Nnedi Okorafor has some excellent middle grade books. I especially enjoyed Zahrah the Windseeker.

Seconding pretty much anything by Tamora Pierce.

>8 lorax: It doesn’t hurt to have an early exposure to the classics. I’d suggest the Alcott books, starting with Eight Cousins.

Exposure to the classics is fine. A steady diet of nothing but is not. (And while I enjoyed them as a kid I don't think Trixie Belden counts as "classic" by any definition.)

The Shadow Cipher by Laura Ruby
Katie the Catsitter by Colleen A.F. Venable
Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee
Jennifer Chan is Not Alone by Tae Keller
Jinxed by Amy McCullough
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

The Great Library series by Rachel Caine

Inkheart and sequels by Cornelia Funke

A wizard's guide to defensive baking by T. Kingfisher

Co-sign the T. Kingfisher, and I also recommend her Minor Mage.

Some suggestions of adventure books for her age range on the generally lighter reading side (all series link to the first book in the series):
Harriet the Invincible
The Keeper of the Lost Cities
The Wings of Fire
A Tale Dark and Grimm (Especially a fun series if you've read beyond mainstream fairytales)
The Frog Princess
The Forbidden Library
Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins

Some non-adventure books I also recommend:
Willow Falls Series
The Girl with the Silver Eyes (Especially if she's interested in historical context as the book itself takes some influence from the Thalidomide Tragedy of the 1950s. I read it myself when I was 12 and found the history very interesting)
Tuesdays at the Castle

My favorite series for a girl that age who loves adventure is the Bloody Jack series by L. A. Meyer. (Sounds gruesome, but it isn't. A girl - Jacky Faber - disguises herself as a boy and hires on a ship.)

The first one is Bloody Jack.

Also, is the reader in middle school or high school? If middle school, maybe The true meaning of Smekday, which uses a school essay assignment as part of the story.

I also recommend Snapdragon by Kat Leyh. It's great!

A current bestselling series in England is the Robin Stevens crime books set in a boarding school - a kind of mashup of agatha christie + malory towers. Retro but apparently addictive. The 1st is Arsenic For Tea

ETA also, drat, book #1 is Murder Most Unladylike

>22 2wonderY: thanks 2wonderY. I failed on linkage there

I'd like to second the Anne of Green Gables series, especially since 'She likes to be the leader, to command. Is to think of boys but is not so vain. She likes to read ...'

I haven't read them myself, but the Enola Holmes books? She's supposedly the much younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft. (And they have been adapted for the screen.)

As for recommendations from this century - I was that age in the '80s, so that's what I read. My kids are boys, but my younger son is around the same age. He likes Rick Riordan, Skulduggery Pleasant, Hunger Games but his taste (when you can get him off his screens) runs to gothic, like Five Nights At Freddies

The winds of Mars by H. M. Hoover.
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3349476W/The_winds_of_Mars?edition=key%3A/books/...

Books by Terry Lynn Johnson, Monica Hughes https://www.librarything.com/author/hughesmonica-1 such as Hughes, The dream catcher and other science fiction.

I don't think our OP ever came back to review any of these suggestions, but still a helpful list for someone else in future.

My daughter's almost 13 now and discovered Hinton's The Outsiders which she's become weirdly infatuated by. Also likes the Warriors series about the cats.

>26 Cecrow:

still a helpful list for someone else in future.

Maybe. But I always wonder about recommendations based solely on age. I do wish people asking for these would say something about the child's interests, reading level, maturity, etc. Makes a huge difference!

I think that's part of the emerging answer, that there's no one-answer-fits-all for a given age. Lots of variety here.

>27 lilithcat: People always give the age, though. Because that 13 yr old is the 13 yr old they know so they don't think about the variations. It used to drive me spare when I specialised in children's - nobody asks for a book for a 38 yr old like all 38 yr old personalities come out of the same jelly mould (actually, they do sometimes but rarely)

>29 nessreader: I suppose they’re thinking of reading levels? And, yes, I know they’re variable too but maybe not as much. I suspect I’ve been guilty of similar when asking for something my kids might read.

And the original 13 year old must be around 15 by now :0)

>30 humouress: The best thing is hearing what authors or books they've enjoyed recently; that gives a handle on genre or style.. But uncles and aunt's don't always know so we all just take a punt in the dark.

Didn't notice the date until later. That's the thing, you can recommend a book but it may not suit their personal interests at all. Provide a variety and let them pick. Or try and ask to further define what might be good. I tend to suggest books I enjoy. That's strange, I had to read The Outsiders by Hinton as required English reading. It's not something I would normally have read. Everyone has their own tastes. Of course, The Outsiders makes me think of Forrestal, Someone like me and Bloor,Tangerine. Not really related to Hinton's but both good reads.