I have found the My Boyfriends a monster series and was wondering if anyone has read them?? And if so would they be ok for an 11 year old girl who has a reading level of 11th to 12th grade.
11 years old with a high reading level is the hardest time to find books. Too advanced for kids’ books, but not old enough to be interested in stories written for an adult reader.
I hit a real slump at that age. I literally read Catch 22 when I was 11 because it was on my parents’ shelves. Did I technically read it? Yes, my eyes went over all of the words. Did it mean anything to me? Did I actually enjoy it? No! But I’d read all the children’s novels and didn’t have anywhere to go.
My best recommendation is The Hitchhiker’s Guide, which is funny and silly enough for a kid while still being suitable for an adult reading level.
Other than that, I remember around that time I read a lot of those serial sci fi and fantasy series that only come out in mass market paperback, by authors that really churn ’em out and have rows and rows in the books stores. Adult reading level, but not overly mature or literary; just straightforward stories with cool stuff like dragons or space ships.
Smooth-Review-2614 on
What kind of tv does the kid like? You can introduce her to most adult genre fiction.
At this age I was reading a lot of fantasy, science fiction, and mysteries.
Try the Dark is Rising books by Susan Cooper. This was the basis of the Black Calderon movie.
BambooBlueberryGnome on
I would recommend Rick Riordan’s books. The reading level might not be as high as 11th and 12th grade technically, but they’re engaging and have complex enough characters and conflicts that they appeal to a lot of kids and teenagers. I have AP students who re-read them because they still like them.
Another fantasy series is The Queen’s Thief series which mostly (after the first book) features adult characters, but has a lot of charm and complex story lines. A Series of Unfortunate Events is another that is definitely darker, but still geared towards her age range.
If she’s looking for more advanced reading levels, I would recommend some classics along the line of The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, Anne of Green Gables, and the like. More complex reading level, but charming and age appropriate stories.
Definitely be careful with YA books as they have drifted more and more towards a 16+ demographic as far as content. Some will great, but others will include topics that she isn’t developmentally ready for yet. There are a lot of great middle grade stories that she might like for the stories even if the reading level is technically “easy” for her. I would worry less about matching her exact reading level than finding something she loves.
KindOc on
Maybe The Hobbit by Tolkien.
ftr-mmrs on
Seconding the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.
Also The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Anything by Ursula K. LeGuin.
Anything by Jane Austin, the Bronte sisters (although Wuthering Heights may need a warning).
If she ends up liking historical romance novels. She might like Georgette Heyer, but I though she was a crappy writer.
Then, maybe let your daughter pick from literary books that high schoolers would read, and decide of she should read it. For example, if she is inclined to read To Kill a Mockingbird, probably good. But Anais Nin, maybe not.
retiredlibrarian on
See if she’d like Agatha Christie. Other than murder, there isn’t anything objectionable. I’d suggest she’s starts with Murder on the Orient Express; however any would do. Some are just more engaging than others.
Has she read the Anne of Green Gables series?
HatenoCheese on
Not a book recommendation but two resources:
1. The website Common Sense Media has reviews of a lot of books and movies that tell you what kind of content is in them so you can make informed decisions about your kid’s reading. Unfortunately they don’t have everything but they have a lot.
2. The app StoryGraph has user-submitted content warnings for books. It doesn’t flag things like sex and profanity but you can see if there’s SA, gore, etc. Again, not every single book has the info since it’s crowdsourced but can be a helpful quick check.
7 Comments
I was this girl!
11 years old with a high reading level is the hardest time to find books. Too advanced for kids’ books, but not old enough to be interested in stories written for an adult reader.
I hit a real slump at that age. I literally read Catch 22 when I was 11 because it was on my parents’ shelves. Did I technically read it? Yes, my eyes went over all of the words. Did it mean anything to me? Did I actually enjoy it? No! But I’d read all the children’s novels and didn’t have anywhere to go.
My best recommendation is The Hitchhiker’s Guide, which is funny and silly enough for a kid while still being suitable for an adult reading level.
Other than that, I remember around that time I read a lot of those serial sci fi and fantasy series that only come out in mass market paperback, by authors that really churn ’em out and have rows and rows in the books stores. Adult reading level, but not overly mature or literary; just straightforward stories with cool stuff like dragons or space ships.
What kind of tv does the kid like? You can introduce her to most adult genre fiction.
At this age I was reading a lot of fantasy, science fiction, and mysteries.
Try the Dark is Rising books by Susan Cooper. This was the basis of the Black Calderon movie.
I would recommend Rick Riordan’s books. The reading level might not be as high as 11th and 12th grade technically, but they’re engaging and have complex enough characters and conflicts that they appeal to a lot of kids and teenagers. I have AP students who re-read them because they still like them.
Another fantasy series is The Queen’s Thief series which mostly (after the first book) features adult characters, but has a lot of charm and complex story lines. A Series of Unfortunate Events is another that is definitely darker, but still geared towards her age range.
If she’s looking for more advanced reading levels, I would recommend some classics along the line of The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, Anne of Green Gables, and the like. More complex reading level, but charming and age appropriate stories.
Definitely be careful with YA books as they have drifted more and more towards a 16+ demographic as far as content. Some will great, but others will include topics that she isn’t developmentally ready for yet. There are a lot of great middle grade stories that she might like for the stories even if the reading level is technically “easy” for her. I would worry less about matching her exact reading level than finding something she loves.
Maybe The Hobbit by Tolkien.
Seconding the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.
Also The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Anything by Ursula K. LeGuin.
Anything by Jane Austin, the Bronte sisters (although Wuthering Heights may need a warning).
If she ends up liking historical romance novels. She might like Georgette Heyer, but I though she was a crappy writer.
Then, maybe let your daughter pick from literary books that high schoolers would read, and decide of she should read it. For example, if she is inclined to read To Kill a Mockingbird, probably good. But Anais Nin, maybe not.
See if she’d like Agatha Christie. Other than murder, there isn’t anything objectionable. I’d suggest she’s starts with Murder on the Orient Express; however any would do. Some are just more engaging than others.
Has she read the Anne of Green Gables series?
Not a book recommendation but two resources:
1. The website Common Sense Media has reviews of a lot of books and movies that tell you what kind of content is in them so you can make informed decisions about your kid’s reading. Unfortunately they don’t have everything but they have a lot.
2. The app StoryGraph has user-submitted content warnings for books. It doesn’t flag things like sex and profanity but you can see if there’s SA, gore, etc. Again, not every single book has the info since it’s crowdsourced but can be a helpful quick check.