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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 87
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 87 |
I'd second the "Jane Eyre" recommendation, possibly "Gone With the Wind" and absolutely "To Kill a Mockingbird" - if she hasn't already read those. My mother wouldn't let me read "The Grapes of Wrath" at that age; I don't know exactly why since I'd read some other things by then that weren't any more sexually explicit.
I also recommend Ngaio Marsh - her writing is very good and so are the mysteries. Dorothy Sayers is another mystery writer of about the same ere, along with Agatha Christie. Dorothy Gilman writes some very entertaining mysteries with Mrs. Pollifax (a Miss Marple sort of older worman but with a more physical take on her activities) which go to other countries and therefore include some cultural info that is interesting.
I read lots of mysteries....a good writer can teach lots in such a story and make it fun to learn!
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? -Ursula K. Le Guin, author (1929- )
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Let her run through the library shelves a couple times a week. That's what I enjoyed most at 13--just having an hour or so to go along all the shelves and pull out whatever I wanted, which was most always an odd collection. There are librarians there who could guide her if she wanted to ask--I never did--but there's some great power in knowing you can check out as many books as you like on as many varied subjects as you want and there is no rule that states that you must read every single page of everything you check out.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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OP
veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
"The Scarlet Pimpernel -Baroness Orczy (sp?)
Jayne Eyre
The Collected Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant especially the one about the pearl necklace!"
etc.
Good suggestions, all of them.
thanks,
k
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
I've recommended these at other times, and though they're not strictly adult books, I have loved them, and count them among my favorites, as has my 12 year old son.
Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen by Garth Nix. a fabulous trilogy.
I would second the mystery idea, Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie would be great summer reading.
I assume she's read Watership Down?
oh, almost forgot: Duncton Wood. the author's name escapes me at the moment... even better than Watership, I think....
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya
My Friend Flicka , The Green Grass of Wyoming, and Thunderhead a trilogy by Mary O'Hara
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin
My two cents for now.
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Joined: Jan 2002
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veteran
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OP
veteran
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I recommended Watership Down and The Plague Dogs. She's not byting on either of them, so far.
k
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
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Watership Down and The Plague Dogs
Definitely not teenager books, Keith. She needs a reasonably wide experience to understand, never mind enjoy, books such as these.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
I first read Watership Down in the 8th Grade, it changed my life. it led me to the Hobbit and LOTR. I have yet to make it through Plague Dogs, much too disturbing. I should probably try again. Shardik I finally got through on the second try...
formerly known as etaoin...
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OP
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Reference: Watership Down and The Plague Dogs
"Definitely not teenager books, Keith. She needs a reasonably wide experience to understand, never mind enjoy, books such as these."
I didn't read it myself until college, but Watership Down is on the Fairfax county recommended reading list for rising eighth graders. I added The Plague Dogs because I think the books are comparable - with the exception noted by the next poster that it's probably more disturbing.
OTOH, it could be she innately understands that she needs a wider experience to appreciate them. I've mentioned WD to her several times and she's balked in each instance. Guess I'll give the Adams books a rest. When she's ready, though, I think she'll love them.
k
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"I have yet to make it through Plague Dogs, much too disturbing. I should probably try again."
It is extremely disturbing. But it's a great book, if you can make it all the way through. I can't remember how WD ends, but I remember how The Plague Dogs ends!
"Shardik I finally got through on the second try..."
I have this one, but haven't read it. On my list, but it will probably be years before I get around to it. I waved it under her nose, but no bites.
Update: She now has about 6 books to carry her through the summer.
k
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