I read The Phantom Tollbooth to Cosette when she was 10 or 11 and she really loved it. You might also consider Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain, or some of Daniel Cohen's ghost-story books (if those are even still in print). And there's always Norse mythology. :D
Bizarrely, when Erica was visiting a couple weeks ago we randomly discovered The Phantom Tollbooth moviedealiething on television, and we ended up watching the second half of it, and she was definitely interested.
Quite all right. There was a period in my life where I read Sweet Valley Twins books. It was the beginning of my inherent dislike of all fictional characters who share my name. *fistshake*
With Cynthia on this one. Norse Myth and Legend to go with the Greek/Roman - lots of glorious imagery about snakes that circle the world and giants and rainbow bridges and rather silly, childish Gods who misbehave and fight and generally wreak havoc, even to their own end.
Massive influence on Neil Gaiman (even to the point of writing his own Norse myth, "Odd and the Frost Giants") and if you find the right translation, suitable for an 11 yr old.
Look for some Tamora Pierce. She writes fun little fantasy stories. They're not deep or anything, but entertaining and actually written for kids.
Another fun author around this age range in Monica Hughes. It's been ages since I read these, but I have fond memories of them (I tried to read them again recently, but apparently the "Local Authors" section at my library doesn't allow books to be checked out. WTF? You mean you have a "Local Authors" section in order to reduce access to their books? You can claim that you have a copy but never actually let anyone read it!)
Also, Garth Nix. His writing is much darker. At least in the ones I've read there tends to be some death and necromancy involved. I'd put these at about the same level as His Dark Materials and say "go with your instincts" about either. My feeling is that a library would probably put these in a "Young Adult" section, while Tamora Pierce feels much more like a kids book (though I'm getting it from the library's Young Adult section
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I second Tamora Pierce, though, if I remember correctly, as her heroine grows up in the series, there are some sexual references.
My brother was addicted to Diana Wynn Jones around that age.
I'm trying to remember what I liked at that age and all I can come up with are The Phantom Tollbooth and (believe it or not) Norse mythology. Which scared the CRAP out of me, but I loved it.
Ah, I cannot believe I didn't think of Tamora Pierce, especially given one of my cousin's obsession with her.
I've read some Garth Nix, and yeah, it is much darker. I don't know if Erica's quite at that level yet, but I can certainly loan her my copy of The Golden Compass and see how that goes. I remember her being intrigued by the blurb on the back, anyway.
Even if my copy of The Golden Compass is ten jillion years old.
I really loved Monica Hughes. I tried Erica on it about a year ago, and she was sort of into but possibly not quite ready for it, but now might be a better time.
Erica has sophisticated reading taste, which is partly my fault I am sure, but as far as ability and patience goes she's pretty even with her peers, so I would likely stay away from the adult books for a few years.
I think I was around 11 or 12 when I read Dragonsong and Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffery, so I second that suggestion. I liked the Xanth books at that age, too, but then I read some of Piers Anthony's other stuff and it turned me off of Xanth altogether. Bleh.
Don recommends the Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny.
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Worth a shot, if I can find it.
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I was boring when I was her age. I was addicted to the Baby Sitters Club :P
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Quite all right. There was a period in my life where I read Sweet Valley Twins books. It was the beginning of my inherent dislike of all fictional characters who share my name. *fistshake*
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Massive influence on Neil Gaiman (even to the point of writing his own Norse myth, "Odd and the Frost Giants") and if you find the right translation, suitable for an 11 yr old.
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Teach her to read 10th century Norwegian instead.
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Norse mythology would be excellent, if I could find a good translation. Which is the hard part. But very good idea.
And I'm saying so to Cynthia, too.
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Another fun author around this age range in Monica Hughes. It's been ages since I read these, but I have fond memories of them (I tried to read them again recently, but apparently the "Local Authors" section at my library doesn't allow books to be checked out. WTF? You mean you have a "Local Authors" section in order to reduce access to their books? You can claim that you have a copy but never actually let anyone read it!)
Also, Garth Nix. His writing is much darker. At least in the ones I've read there tends to be some death and necromancy involved. I'd put these at about the same level as His Dark Materials and say "go with your instincts" about either. My feeling is that a library would probably put these in a "Young Adult" section, while Tamora Pierce feels much more like a kids book (though I'm getting it from the library's Young Adult section ( ... )
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My brother was addicted to Diana Wynn Jones around that age.
I'm trying to remember what I liked at that age and all I can come up with are The Phantom Tollbooth and (believe it or not) Norse mythology. Which scared the CRAP out of me, but I loved it.
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I've read some Garth Nix, and yeah, it is much darker. I don't know if Erica's quite at that level yet, but I can certainly loan her my copy of The Golden Compass and see how that goes. I remember her being intrigued by the blurb on the back, anyway.
Even if my copy of The Golden Compass is ten jillion years old.
I really loved Monica Hughes. I tried Erica on it about a year ago, and she was sort of into but possibly not quite ready for it, but now might be a better time.
Erica has sophisticated reading taste, which is partly my fault I am sure, but as far as ability and patience goes she's pretty even with her peers, so I would likely stay away from the adult books for a few years.
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Don recommends the Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny.
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