teenage girls

[renic]

i read alot of cynthia voight

 

if that helps any.

[Reni]

I loved The Pigman......also loved Love and Rockets when I was a teen.

 

While in school Emily had to read a certain amount of time a week - it was like pulling teeth. (ouch, no pun intended) With her bi-polar issues, it is hard to make her do much of anything without a battle. So, with books - I kind of nudge

 

I LOVED Anne Frank when I was in Jr High.

 

There are so many great suggestions. I will take a peek through the list of book award winners......she has read a few of those in the past.

[viatroy]

Don't forget To Kill A Mockingbird.

 

My daughter was heavily into Francesca Lia Block at that age, or maybe slightly older. I didn't read them (maybe I should have) but gathered they were rather edgy, which might appeal to your gal.

[austrya]

Have you checked out any listmania lists on Amazon to see if there is something there?

[Synthesizer Patel]

i capture the castle - dodie smith you can tell her it's a film too, if it'll make her more likely to read it.

[EL the Famous]

What about the Road Dahl books?

[M. (hristine]

I LOVED Anne Frank when I was in Jr High.

I figured you loved it, which is why I offered a different perspective.

 

It took me a while to get it through my skull that Sarah wasn't going to dig something just because I did. That the point was to engender in her a love of reading. Both of my older kids loved to read from the get go. Reading at the table, in the car, they always had a book with them. With Sarah I had to take a different tact, and had to be more dilligent and subtle in encouraging it.

 

(Propbably none of this applies to you and your daughter. Just throwing my experiences out there.)

[Mrs. Peel]

There was a show on local NPR a couple days ago about children's summer reading habits. They said a child can slip backwards in their reading levels during the summer break if they don't continue with the a similar routine as they have during the school year. The librarian (I think) they were talking to reminded people that it's not really what they're reading, but how much they read. You might say "what's enriching about a book on sports", but it's not that they're reading about sports, it's that they're reading period. Pretty interesting.

[M. (hristine]

Exactly.

Thanks for saying what I couldn't seem to.

[Mrs. Peel]

One of the few times I've been told that instead of saying it myself.

 

 

Here's the link to the broadcast in case you're interested.

[Reni]

speaking of what I loved.....Emily just came out to me and said, "do you have some good CDs that I would like?" I sent her off with Descendents, Operation Ivy, White Stripes and the Zero Boys. She is rocking out in her room, and I think a little astounded that her mom has such good taste.

 

She asked about Operation Ivy - and I explained how I was friends with their guitarist who later went on to front Rancid (as we all know) and that they stayed with us on tour when I was pregnant with her and she was at a Rancid show in my belly, before they ever put out their first album. She thought that was pretty cool. (that said, I think Rancid are pretty crap - other than that 1st 7")

 

Maybe this will get her off of her My Chemical Romance phase......though her favorite of favorites are the Ramones. She just got a Ramones tote bag at the mall last week - I had mixed feelings. I love the fact she loves them so much - but am a little put off by the fact there exists a Ramones tote bag for purchase at the mall!

 

--

 

yeah, Emily has never been a strong reader - though I have always encouraged it. She liked being read to when she was younger, and goes through spurts where she will read a lot and then it will be a dry spell for awhile. I just like to keep books around and in her vicinity and suggest she read with me, etc.

 

I wish Emily would go to the library with me - I can't even get her to go with me to pick out movies from the library. I ask her to go with me, every time. If I made her go? fuggedaboutit.

[gogo]

I had a discussion on that subject with someone at work, a few years back. He was concerned that his then-teenage daughter was reading lots of garbage, but I told him that I spent a whole lot of summers in my teenage years reading a whole lot of Jackie Collins, and it really didn't do me too much harm (except for the fact that I can never really enjoy sex unless it's in the back of a limo or on a private jet, but really, isn't that true of most people?).

[M. (hristine]

Hardest I've laughed all day. Thanks Maudie.

[Reni]

stop it !!! you are going to make me pop my blood clot where my tooth used to be from laughing so hard!!

[anodyne]

a lot of kids in high school have a hard time reading fiction/literature, but not non-fiction. however, since schools are heavily slanted in requiring fiction, they label strong readers as weak because they are better reading technical non-fiction (think video game strategy guides or installation instructions). this post is a bit off topic, but throwing some nonfiction around might be good as well.

 

i wasn't too much older than emily when i read A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. smart-ass kids love that book because so few of their teachers are familiar with it, making class discussions lots of fun! jim loewen's LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME is a bit easier and also incendiary.

[TimRoss]

The Book Thief: Still reading it, but so far it's fascinating.

 

The Skin I'm In: Great book. She'll love it.

 

 

Hello!

 

This feels like the good old days of VC.

[Reni]

a lot of kids in high school have a hard time reading fiction/literature, but not non-fiction. however, since schools are heavily slanted in requiring fiction, they label strong readers as weak because they are better reading technical non-fiction (think video game strategy guides or installation instructions). this post is a bit off topic, but throwing some nonfiction around might be good as well.i wasn't too much older than emily when i read A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. smart-ass kids love that book because so few of their teachers are familiar with it, making class discussions lots of fun! jim loewen's LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME is a bit easier and also incendiary.

As you would imagine - I have both of those.....good picks!!!

The Book Thief: Still reading it, but so far it's fascinating.The Skin I'm In: Great book. She'll love it. Hello! This feels like the good old days of VC.

and you have great taste......you gave her Frindle and she loved that one!! Were you the person who sent us Stargirl? I can't remember who sent that! We read that one together......I bet she'd like to read it again, even!

[Mrs. Peel]

She asked about Operation Ivy - and I explained how I was friends with their guitarist who later went on to front Rancid (as we all know) and that they stayed with us on tour when I was pregnant with her and she was at a Rancid show in my belly, before they ever put out their first album. She thought that was pretty cool. (that said, I think Rancid are pretty crap - other than that 1st 7")

 

 

 

First 7", first album, 1/4 of second album.

 

Now, the Descendents never made a bad record. Good choice!

 

What about getting her one of the many books about the early days of punk? Too much sex and drugs?

[Reni]

yeah I guess the 1st album wasn't that bad - I wish I had a record player, I'd love to hear that 7" right about now.

 

I just gave her the Somery CD - though I have a few others, if she wants to expand

 

I have a great book about girl zines - though some of it may be a bit to sexual for someone her age.

[EL the Famous]

I spent a whole lot of summers in my teenage years reading a whole lot of Jackie Collins, and it really didn't do me too much harm (except for the fact that I can never really enjoy sex unless it's in the back of a limo or on a private jet, but really, isn't that true of most people?).

 

That was brilliant.

[insideoutoflove]

I can't recommend "The Golden Compass" enough, and the movies coming out in December, so she'll be ahead of the game if she reads it now!

seconded. what a fantastic book. i remember the first time i started reading it, i put it down like a chapter in and insisted that i hated it and that it was absolutely horrible. like a year later someone convinced me to try it a second time around, and i didnt put it down til i finished (funny, i did the exact same thing with the first harry potter book..)

 

i went through a fantasy phase when i was that age...i was into these vampire books called Cirque du Freak (there's like 30 of them now..but they're quick reads. they're about a young boy who becomes a half vampire and eventually has to decide whether he wants to leave his old life/family behind and join his 'new' vampire family or go back to his old ways. its really a good series, highly recommended)

 

Neal Shusterman is a great author as well....I absolutely loved the book Downsiders, as well as the Shadow Club (though a bit dark/heavy..)

 

what else..what about the Redwall series? was that that age, or older? can't really remember. but those were excellent (dont think i ever got through all of them though..)

 

Ender's Game (and its sequels) was also a really great book.

 

Jerry Spinelli's another great author.

 

thats all i got for now..i know there are more though..

[trestle]

i capture the castle - dodie smith you can tell her it's a film too, if it'll make her more likely to read it.

 

 

 

 

I second this- my daughters loved it and they enjoyed the film as well.

[kidsmoke]

Kate, Alissa strongly recommends the "Inkheart" and "Inkspell" books. She loved them both.

 

In this family, Brennan is my "non-reader"....well, not really, but he's an action-based kid and would rather, anytime, be doing something than be curled up with a good book. But when we last flew on a several-hours-long flight, I insisted he bring a book, and we settled on the first Artemis Fowl, which tom, Alissa and I had all loved. Brennan sat beside me, and within a few pages I noticed him smirking to himself, then giggling out loud, and before a half hour had passed, he was tugging at my sleeve and reading passage after passage aloud to me. These are clever, involving, and very fast-moving stories. I've read every one in the series and enjoyed the hell out of all of them, so they aren't too childish (or maybe I am? ) They do need to be read in order, as it is an ongoing story.

 

You're doing the right thing by just keeping a ton of reading materials around her. She'll get drawn in to whatever, wherever her own interests lie. I'm a firm believer that "those who don't read are as badly off as those who can't read" (I forget whose quote that is). I think we humans desperately need exposure to other views besides our own, even if it's fiction. It's how we grow. These forums provide the same thing, I think. Exposure to views other than our own.

 

Somebody recommended "Reviving Ophelia".....good call! Also, a great reference for books which champion strong, smart, independent girls & women is "Great Books for Girls" by Kathleen Odean. Maybe your library would have a copy you could refer to. It lists 600 girl-friendly books.

 

Oh, another that Alissa loved just recently was "Cry of the Icemark" by Stuart Hill. Great lead female in that one too.

[sharkycharming]

I am a middle school librarian-to-be, so this is my area precisely!

 

Suggestions:

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews

Atonement by Ian McEwen

Cut My Hair by Jamie S. Rich

[Reni]

I am going to have to bookmark this thread for birthdays and Christmas! So many great suggestions!!

 

I loved the book Reviving Ophelia, though I read it in my early college days - when Em was still a wee baby. My mother in law mentioned it last week - so, maybe it's a sign I revisit it.