I loved those, there is a fair bit of 'extended universe' stuff for a childrens series as well (there was a 'Legends of Deltora' book, and another one with a story about how the shadow lord ended up in Deltora and stuff like that).

For when she's a year or so older, I'd recommend the Darren Shan Vampire Saga books. It's about a teenage guy (well, about 12/13) turning into a vampire and having to leave his life behind to pursue this new life that he only chose to save a friend.

It's quite dark, but for a mature kid, it's fine. I'd not get onto Darren Shan's Demonata books, they are really dark for child/teenage horror...

pft, when I was 13 I picked up Interview with a Vampire. Love me some Vampire Chronicles.

Well there's a little bit of blood and gore in the Vampire Saga. But just a little.

The Demonata, however, is far more extreme. I'd get banned if I said what it detailed. It's horrendous.

Well the same for VC, but it's philosophically dark and is meant for more of a advlt reader.

My side of the mountain... It's a short book but very well written... Loved it as a kid and have read it through multiple times...

If she's as mature as you say... and likes adventure type novels... give The Talisman By Stephen King and Peter Straub a try... as well as the Darktower series... both are great... but The Talisman may be more suitable for her age, seeing as the main character is around her age and it isn't as dark as some of King's other books...

Anne Rice is an accomplished writer who manages to put a lot of culture into her books. I learned quite a bit about Renaissance artists from her book Vittorio the vampire.

She is also intelligent and knows her stuff.

No calling vampires supernatural for Rice! She is quite correct of course, supernatural solely and only refers to the divine and the correct term for a godless non-natural thing to occur is preternatural.

I remember when I first read the version of Cinderella with foot mutilation. I didn't really feel that grossed out, but it was disturbing. Now I probably would enjoy that version since I like macabre things.

I always read tons of books about dinosaurs and other science and historical stuff. I would recommend the Icefire series if she likes dragons, but not sure if those would keep her attention. The books are about clay dragons made by a family coming to life. The third book is ultra long compared to the rest, too. The series doesn't go by the name Icefire on any of the books, but each book has the same type of cover. http://cd.pbsstatic.com/l/97/6797/9780545326797.jpg

Oh, how could I forget the Last Dragon Chronicles?

I've been reading those books since I was eight. Amazing stuff, I really liked the concept. Who wouldn't like a clay dragon coming to life and being your best friend?

Wasn't really fond of where the series went starting with the fourth book, and the ending wasn't that great. But then again, what else could've happened to have kept it awesome?

I'd recommend this to the OP's daughter with two thumbs up (if I had a third thumb, that would be raised as well). Though it is hard to follow if you're not reading them consecutively; it gets especially confusing with the sixth book.

DADDY (mommy?) WHY DID THEY KILL __________?

I think The Talisman might be suitable, although there's probably lots of swearing and some advlt themes.
The Dark Tower series has six, intense violence and drugs. So I'd say to wait on those.

But the Eyes of the Dragon would be suitable. It's a light fantasy story he wrote for a younger audience, and I don't recall there being any swearing.

Although, you might not want to introduce her to King yet. If she likes one book she'll want to read more. But nothing else would be suitable for children.

This might be a bit unexpected, but Lovecraft has some very nice fantasy novels, which contain a bit of horror but in my opinion, nothing that is scarier than what Secret of NIMH has. Which is still quite a lot but I digress!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Cycle has several good ones, which rely more on fantasy and dreams of awe, than horror and insanity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream-Quest_of_Unknown_Kadath is my favorite, has cats that jump to the moon, men who have decided to leave real world and decided to be kings in the Dreamworld and has a nice, Narnia-like happy ending with wanting to go back.

And since they are linked, after that would come http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silver_Key

And after that would come Through the Gates of the Silver Key, but that has a bit more horror, drugs and murder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strange_High_House_in_the_Mist has a bit eeriness, but not overly much, contains a tale about a hunting god that rides on dolphins, saving people and hunting evil-doers.

Gah! Was at the place today and completely forgot about asking that person, sorry OP. Didn't have time to stick around since I needed to bolt out of there. I'll be sure to ask her on Friday when I head back there.

Agreed! She does such a magnificent job of painting a scene. It's like I'm in the room watching Lestat and Louise banter back and forth while Claudia plots in the corner, looking all sweet and innocent.

Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight and Dragonriders of Pern series
Piers Anthony's Ogre, Ogre and the Xanth series
Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men and Disworld series

What I enjoy most about Rice are all the cliches she manages to artfully avoid.

Quite unlike for instance Twilight or True Blood, vampires in Rices books are still human. Released from mortality and societal mores possibly even more human than before, to give meaning to their unnaturally extended life they develop deep passions.

And she is indeed very adept at using words to paint a picture.

Pratchett should be required reading on any school.

He is the dikeens of this age in that he is not only an incredibly accomplished and witty author, he is also a great moralist able to hold up a (funhouse) mirror to reality and society.

Wee Free Men is apart of the discworld series

I started with the third book because of the cover. When I wasn't being virtual schooled, I saw the book at my school's library and thought the cover looked cool. Best choice I ever made.

Indeed, almost everything you find at your school's library is really good, or least something you enjoy reading. Best thing I've picked off a school library shelf would be the Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. Awesome books, and they lasted me a while.

Didn't read too much when I was 9, but I guess Narnia (didn't read but I hear it's a blast among kids) and Harry Potter (read and loved it at the time) books are the best bet if she's into fantasy (or if she doesn't care about the setting).

I'll throw in the house of scorpions

...Sorry. You've made a whole thread to figure out the name to a book to recommend it to a young girl. You're a great person, and I'm not being sarcastic here.

One possible suggestion, if she has access to a pc/laptop/tablet, is to download Amazon's free Kindle reading app. There are a lot of free books; if nothing else, she could look around and see whether she likes a certain author or genre without having to buy the book first. You can also check out the reviews to see whether it would be appropriate.

Most of her work is suitable for younger readers, and many of them have a teen as the lead character. http://www.angelfire.com/biz/spunbystefan/booklist.html.

I think that is what drew me into loving her adaptation of vampires. They were still very much human, and had to learn to deal with what they had become. Like with Lestat, mostly only drinking from the evil doer so that he may save his sanity. But he also, from time to time, would become attracted to "normal" people and would hunt them for months on end before taking them. Lestat learned to accept his nature very quicly and became a natural born hunter while Louise resented it for the longest time and would refuse to consciously drink from humans. I think that's what made me like Louise more than Lestat for a while, he refused to let go of that last strand of humanity, he is by far one of the most tragic characters I have ever read about.