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Good books for a 10-year old?
GR_Zombie
Krillin ItRegistered User regular
Krillin ItRegistered User regular
So my young cousin loves reading and her birthday's coming up, so being the awesome cousin I am I decided to get her her first "real" book. Up to now she's only read kid's books and the occasional comic I've brought her, so I'd like to get her something with a little more meat to it.
I was thinking of picking up The Golden Compass based on what I've heard of it, but I've never read it myself so I don't know if it'd be too complex or whatever. I'm a big fan of Neil Gaiman so Coraline is also on the table. Other than that I have no idea what would be good for a 10-year old girl, so any and all recommendations are much appreciated.
I was thinking of picking up The Golden Compass based on what I've heard of it, but I've never read it myself so I don't know if it'd be too complex or whatever. I'm a big fan of Neil Gaiman so Coraline is also on the table. Other than that I have no idea what would be good for a 10-year old girl, so any and all recommendations are much appreciated.
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I would give Tamora Pierce a look.
* It doesn't get bad, just weird. I don't think an inexperienced reader would react well.
Another Gaiman book that's suited for younger audiences is The Graveyard Book, it's pretty good!
Diggers
Wings
(the Bromeliad Trilogy)
Only You Can Save Mankind
Johnny and the Dead
Johnny and the Bomb
(the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy)
All excellent young adult fiction from Terry Pratchett.
It's realllly charming.
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Thanks all!
Few people are also aware of the How to Train Your Dragon books by Cressida Crowell. They're really fun and similar to Harry Potter, but with vikings (and nothing like the movie but still good!).
EDIT: And if she likes spooky stuff, Coraline! (There's also a graphic novel version! I like to encourage people into getting kids to read comics!)
DAMMIT I was scrolling down the replies thinking "nobody's mentioned Redwall! I'm totally going to mention Redwall!"
You beat me to it. :P
But yeah, the Redwall series is fantastic, I remember really loving those books around that age...also the Hobbit, and another vote for the Golden Compass. I also really liked "The Giver", although that's a much darker book (I guess Golden Compass and the others in the trilogy were a little on the dark side as well, but great books nonetheless.)
When I was 10 years old I was reading Star Trek books. >>
Strong female characters, variety of magic/adventure/fantasy style (depending which series) and there's lots of books to choose from.
Yes, Coraline! Fantastic book.
OH, also, anything by Roald Dahl, because those are hella fun, even though they might be slightly below her reading level.
Aaaand, the Series of Unfortunate events is good, and The Princess Bride!
(I'm just looking in my book case to see what a 10 year old may like. )
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Man, I loved Redwall right around that age. They are a pretty easy and enjoyable read for 10-14yo.
The Giver is really, really good. I think I read it once in middle school (13ish) but to be honest I didn't "get it" until I read it again in high school. It deals with some pretty adult ideas, IIRC. I hope kids still have to read that in school,
Edit- Also they are both pretty dark for a 10 year old, so watch out. I guess they'd be on the same level as The Giver, another good read.
Yes
My cousins enjoyed Series of Unfortunate event books
So I'll just throw another suggestion in for the Hobbit. It has a much more coherent, sturdy narrative compared to the LOTR trilogy.
Series:
The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
The Earthsea Cycle, Ursula K. Le Guin
The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper
Abhorsen, Garth Nix
Standalone books:
The Once and Future King, T.H. White
Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
King of the Wind (or anything else, really), Marguerite Henry
The Eagle of the Ninth (or anything else), Rosemary Sutcliff
Just for fun:
No Coins Please, Don't Care High, I Want To Go Home (or anything else), Gordon Korman
Seriously. Redwall series. Its ridiculous and that's about the time I started devouring them. I remember when my teacher would ask me if I actually read books that long. Anyway, it led to a lifetime of reading / writing / vocabulary skills that were light years ahead of my classmates.
My favorite thread on these forums on the eight years I've been reading was the SE++ thread about the unfortunate passing of Brian Jacques. Up until that, I swore I was the only person in the world who knew about Redwall.
Also, scones.
They are all great books!
EDIT: Oh wait all of these except for Prydain have already been mentioned, now that I read the thread.
But yeah, check out the Prydain series if you can find them anymore. The old Disney movie The Black Cauldron is based off a mashup of the first two books, but as a whole the series is so much better than that film.
I also liked Animorphs back then but those are so late 90s/early 2000s that they wouldn't be the same now as they were in 2001-3.
But then I also read "The Client" around the same time. People thought it was wierd that I was picking Adult books for book reports rather than the 30-40 page "Children's Novels"
It would depend on her reading level. Narnia for typical... Shannara for advanced, perhaps?
Pfft! What, you think you're special? Who has two thumbs, taught himself to read, was reading the weekend newspaper by 6 years old, and used to read Encyclopaedia Brittannica for fun in elementary school?
:^::^: This nerd assed super dork geek, that's who.
Terry Pratchet Discworld series
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"The power of the weirdness compels me."
It's how I got my niece into reading... She promptly squandered her new love on Twilight. Which because her parents expect me to be the authority on what she reads, meant I had to read it, too. Just sayin' the plan can backfire.
When I was 11, someone lent me a copy of Ender's Game. I remember my brain soiling itself when I read it.
Either way, who said you had to give only one book? I'd say get 2 or 3 books of different styles and see what sticks.
I am actually reading the Subtle Knife right now (sequel to Golden Compass) and I would wait until she is a bit more experienced as a reader. It starts off very fantasy-like but quickly dives headlong into straight up Sci-fi and I'm not sure the average ten year old would like it.
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Haha, hi5 for reading encyclopedias for fun as a kid.
edit: re: Golden Compass books, I think they'd be great for a 10-year-old assuming her parents aren't religious and won't get in your face about it.