Cryptonomicon.

At about that age my father handed me the Hobbit and it changed my life.

It was the first serious fantasy novel I had ever read, by which I mean not a childrens book.

She might also enjoy Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin.

Ender's game is a good book, but it is written by a biggot who keeps complaining that today you can't be a biggot anymore without people berating you for it, which I find to be a tad silly.

No, bigotry does not fall under freedom of speech and also can't be hidden behind religion. I'd stay away from that poisonous mind.

For similar reasons, I'd stay away from C.S. Lewis also as his brand of western superiority propaganda should have remained in the Victorian age.

Roald Dahl has been mentioned in the thread and he was one of my favorite authors at that age.

The Dragon Rider series by McGaffrey could also be fun, though it's been some time since I read them and can't remember if there is much advlt content in there.

The Abarat series by Barker seems to be aimed at teenage girls, though it has a refreshing lack of sixual innuendo, swooning girls and handily avoids all those sickly sweet tropes.

Why not just take her to a bookstore or library and let her decide for herself.

American Psycho.

Seriously though, I was 10 when I read Jurassic Park and I loved it. A bit advlt oriented and perhaps more for "boys" for the dinosaur theme, but could work.

All we have in town is a tiny mom-and-pop bookstore where the best thing to do is find a book online and order through the brick book store. We're heading to the library tomorrow, now armed with a buch of ideas. The limiting factor there is again size of the library (we're in a small town), and the 7 year old active boy who will be with us

I started reading Dragonlance at about 11 or 12 and continued to read that series for years after until I finished the first generation. If she has any interest in fantasy, maybe that?

Oh man, I think Dragonlance was what REALLY got me into reading. LOTR was great, but Dragonlance....ohmahgerd

I remember reading the Deltora Quest series sometime ago. I'd say it would be perfect for your daughter, though it is a bit short, IMO. Good story about three travelers trying to save the land from the evil Shadow Lord by recovering the seven magical gemstones of the Belt of Deltora. There's about eight books in the series, though they're a little over one hundred pages each, so it's probably too short for her. Thinking about it, I don't know if it's that challenging, either.

For something more dark/terrifying, Malice and Havoc by Chris Wooding are pretty good. It's about a comic book that steals children (well, they go in willingly, they just don't know that the ritual works) into its dangerous world, and two teenagers uncover this conspiracy and investigate. I wouldn't recommend it if your daughter gets scared easily, but then again, I get scared easily and I didn't find it that scary. But some of the images/images described can be a little disturbing.

I'm a terrible book recommender.

Oh, the Leviathan trilogy will be perfect for your daughter if she likes a blend of steampunk and historical fiction. It's an alternate world set in 1914-ish (WWI), except that Britain and France have genetically altered beasts that serve as there mode of transportation, fighting wars, etc. and the Germans and Austrians have steam-powered machinery for the same things. Very good trilogy, though sometimes it can get a bit more mature/dark (not in a sixual way. I think. I haven't read it since... ). I'd recommend that above the first two I've recommended already.

Captain Underpants. All of it. Every one of them.

If she likes bathroom humor, get her at least one of these books. Sure, you might feel like calling libraries once she repeats them even though the jokes are tame(I'm making fun of how this series is on the list of most challenged books). Series of Unfortunate Events is pretty good if she likes dark stories. The Captain Underpants books are not challenging at all. They are funny, though. I still laugh at them and I'm 18.

Pilkey also made a great book about Gargoyles that I highly recommend if she likes beautiful art work. If she doesn't, then not sure if he'll be into it. The art is amazing for what it is. It also is perfect for anyone who happens to enjoy reading about monsters and various things such as that.

Kids can handle quite a bit. Just look at what the Don Bluth movies did. All Dogs Go to Heaven touches on things like being murdered by your boss. Land Before Time is about a dinosaur who lost their mother to a T.Rex. This also was pretty much shown fully in the movie, as well.

The Lion King is Hamlet with lions and has plenty of scary moments. Bambi is about a deer losing its mom. Pretty much every fairy tale a child knows is really pretty disturbing if you find the Grimm Brothers versions of the ones with said versions. Oh, and many super hero types of shows for kids can get pretty violent. At least stuff like Gargoyles was pretty surprisingly advlt for being a Disney show. It also was a show I watched at the age of 6 and wasn't scared of one bit.

There's also American Tail. I'm sure a movie about a mouse finding his mom and being lost has some disturbing moments. Secret of NIMH is about rats being tested in labs, which is pretty morbid on its own.

I loved Shel as a child. I also couldn't get into the Narnia books, but I just happen to find short fictional stories easier to handle and like non-fiction more these days. I usually went towards the darker stuff when I could once I was able to trick my 2nd grade teacher and 3rd grade teacher into letting me go past the reading levels recommended for me. I can read at a pretty high level and already could read at a high level by the time I finally learned to read(I believe I was about 8 or 9).

Let her browse around. Use a library so you don't end up spending like crazy, obviously. I can't think of any good books for if she likes non-fiction, so let her choose that.

Movies from the 80's vs movies now... It is like Robocop vs Robocop 3

If you want to scar her for life and challenge her, there's a book on Azetec historical stuff.

Science wise... you could investigate what she's fond of and try to look at intermediate stuff. I'll see if the person where i'm doing volunteer work knows anything since she deals with kids.

LOL. I feel for you... and the library.

We just went through the same thing recently and discovered her best book was the one she picked out, which is why I asked. I don't know what kind of access your girl has to knowing about other books, but don't be too surprised if she knows more than she's letting on.

I was really surprised when she didn't hit the typical fare, but instead, went to the classics. She ended up getting a few I would have never have thought for her. She's 10, by the way.

I suppose that should have come with the territory. Most kids who read often want more than what's "targeted" to them.

Throw her something from Clive Cussler. The books are really well written (there's even a recent movie called Sahara based on one his books, but don't hold the movie against the book) and feature quite a bit of action and adventure.

My favorite of the series was Night Probe.

Oh, right. "Series" because the books feature Dirk Pitt. You can look it up.

Heck, you might even be enticed to read them.

The everlost series would be good. ( Everlost,everwild, everfound) good books about a world in between life and death.

The Book Thief- such a good book, i loved it, its the story of a girl growing up in Nazi Germany.

A Land Remembered is another fantastic historical fiction one, its about florida and it spans several generations.

No child should ever study history without reading this book first

http://www.amazon.com/Connections-James-Burke/dp/0743299558/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374589104&sr=1-2&keywords=Connections

If she likes Historical Fiction, this is a good book about the colonial days of New Zealand

http://www.amazon.com/Maori-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/0441519253/ref=sr_1_65?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374589296&sr=1-65

In fact, as an Author, Alan Dean Foster is someone she could read. His Flinx and Ice Rigger books are suitable for a kid her age.

That was by Emily Rodda, right? I quite liked the Rowan of Rin series. At least of those that I read, there were a few published later.

Don't leave us hanging. What did she pick?

I didn't see all of them, but two I know she ended up with were LIttle Women and Catcher in the Rye. She wanted those because the internet told her they were good. Her parents thought they would be good for her, though as you can see, not titles some of us old farts would have recommended.

Oh, and one more note about the Clive Cussler books: the guy takes historical facts and twists them into fiction, in most of them, hence the recommendation.

Wow, I forgot about those books. This series is what motivated me to go to the library in grade school!

Maybe the Ranger's apprentice series? I loved those when I was her age.

The Giver

Ever World

Grimm's Fairy Tales (probably a little easy but a lot of good stuff that even I enjoy as an advlt)

Probably a little difficult but she could also try The Iliad/The Odyssey

Haha, I remember Captain Underpants. One of my favourite series when I was ten. I think this has hurt my rate of maturing.

I still like them, though. Helped with sparking an interest for reading, though I think it was the Magic Treehouse that really got me into reading. I remember reading about four Magic Treehouse books in one day.

According to my mom, I learned how to read (well, translate words on paper to spoken words) when I was three or four. Though apparently I had no sense of comprehension when "reading"; I was just deciphering words into spoken words. My mom thinks it's a miracle that I even know how to comprehend words today, as then she was convinced that I would never learn to comprehend words. But I learned to do that by kindergarten, I think. Either that or grade 1. I was reading chapter books by grade two, which was leagues ahead of all my other peers.

Still doesn't change the fact that I was stupid back then. Still stupid, when I think about it. :/ I think I'm one of those people that are not smart, but are perceived by those around him as smart when really it's everyone around him that's stupid, and he's not smart at all. So people think I'm smart, when really I'm not, and they're just too stupid to know.

But I digress. Reading's awesome, though I still think I have problems with comprehending words. Sometimes I have to read over something a second time because I'm not too sure what happened or what is being conveyed. Even on these forums, I misinterpret things written on here because my befuddled mind jumbles up the words. Just because I learned to read differently.

Didn't even think about it until my mom pointed this out but, Nancy Drew. I still - in my 30's - love reading the Nancy Drew series. It's not bubble-gum yet not super mature. For me it's an easy and relaxing read but, she might really enjoy them.

Ack. I feel like a knob for forgetting Deltora Quest. Great books, but yes, a little short (can easily get through them in a single sitting). Still, you've got the 7 of the original series, the 3 of the second series and 4 in the third series, so there's quite a bit to keep ker going. Otherwise they're fairly simple, but still creative and enjoyable books.

Wow, the ideas keep coming!

She's going to have a huge list.

We have Capt. Underpants on the shelf, as well as a Nancy Drew (I read a few Hardy Boys), but she hasn't taken to them. Same with Narnia, and she was surprised tose narnia posted so often. I probed, and truns out that she doesn't spend enough time getting into a book before ditching it. She might give some of these a try again.

Thanks folks!

Seconded. I read the first one around 7-8, but didn't find the last until I was in my 30's.

A new teen SF series by David Weber, takes place in his Honorverse. I like them (as a 56-year-old teen)

http://www.davidweber.net/books/67-a-beautiful-friendship.html

If you get a true translation, rather than a rewrite, these can be incredibly dark.