Stuck for reading ideas for 12-yr-old

I discovered Harold Robbins when I was 12.

We were in a hotel in Majorca which had a small library

My grandmother was appalled to see me sat on the beach, deeply engrossed in A Stone for Danny Fisher

I'm not suggesting this as suitable material

My granddaughter loved The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (part of a trilogy) and also the Philip Pullman Northern Lights books. And anything that involves a depressing, dystopian setting it would seem!

A good site for ideas is
www.lovereading4kids.co.uk

It divides books by age group but that can be flexible. I must admit that, at that age, I was fixated on Biggles books but those are ancient history nowadays.
I agree that Philip Pullman's trilogy is ideal, starting with Northern Lights. If she likes Sci Fi, she might enjoy Terry Pratchett's books.

I really loved science fiction at that age.

At about that age I devoured books. I loved the classics. I read Jane Ayre, Kidnapped, Treasure Island.
My DD read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings at about that age.
My 12 year old granddaughter is reading the trilogy His Dark Materials starting with Northern Lights.
She doesn't want to watch the current tv series until she's read them all.

BTW, you or she can read some of the Tomorrow book if you go here and scroll down...
www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781743548493/

I highly recommend books in the Tomorrow series by John Marsden - the main protaganist and hero, is Ellie, a teenage girl.

Tomorrow when the War began is the first in the series.

It's set in Australia and begins when a group of teenagers come back from a picnic to find that someone (we are never told who) has invaded the country and their parents are prisoners.

They then begin a sort of Resistance, outsmarting the enemy and sabotaging strategic points. Gloriously exciting and brilliant to show girls they are natural leaders.

Then there are the classics: Swallows and Amazons; The Railway Children; Paul Gallico's Snow Goose and Tarka the Otter series.

But do try the Tomorrow series....

If you ask in Waterstones they are very helpful and have their finger on the modern pulse. My granddaughter loves an adventure.

DD gobbled up the His Dark Materials books by Philip Pullman, which are now on TV. Though she was also totally into Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Anything involving zombies or demons seems to be a great hit these days. Try Suzanne Collins

Malory Blackman writes for the inbetweeners. My daughter loved her books around that age. Modern stories.

I’ve sent you a pm.

I love Simon Scarrow books, thanks for reminding me, must read some more.

DGS loves the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan
(But don't ask me any more!)

Pride and Prejudice - an introduction to Jane Austen - and could open up an author who will give pleasure for a lifetime.

At 12 I also read Jane Eyre, again an introduction to the Brontes

If she liked Michelle Obama, what about To Kill a Mockingbird? It's from the perspective of a tween girl, so is OK for kids.

She sounds like a maturer reader for her age so:

Lord of the Flies.

Of Mice and Men.

The Life of Pi

Anita and Me (Meera Syall)

To name but a few.

I loved reading the age group books too with my children! If you don't know Ursula Leguin, her Earthsea trilogy is well known young adult fare. Thinking about it, Lord of the Rings can also be young adult fiction but has possibly been wrecked as reading material by the films!

Oh how kind everyone is to go to this trouble! Thank you very much indeed. Lots of suggestions here to follow up. Yes, Michael Morpurgo and Harry Potter already consumed. The Kon tiki expedition might hit the bulls eye. Simon Scarrow, Meg Roscoff and Jean Nimmo are new names to me. Lots to go on

I discovered Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at the age of 12 and I’m definitely a girl. I loved them
IMHO Books are non gender

Also schoolreadinglist.co.uk
has lists for every year group from reception

Harry Potter, Philip Pullman, Ursula Leguin, Meg Rosoff, Hunger Games trilogy.

Whilst plumbing my memory, I trawled Google for a bit of help and came across this article which I thought was pretty useful :

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_adult_fiction

I just searched for girls’ school reading lists Y8 and got some interesting results.

I can't have been much older than 12 when I discovered Alistair MacLean and Hammond Innes, but they're probably a bit old-fashioned now.

I also read a lot of real life adventures like Kon-tiki.

DS moved on to Sherlock Holmes.

If she's interested in whodunnits there are lots of current authors whose books are intriguing without being too gruesome. Some stories are set in real localities, so maybe you can find a series set somewhere she knows.

Simon Scarrow books. They are so good.

Google , books to read before you are 12. or 13 if you prefer. We have done this for our GDs as soon as they were good readers, They love looking at the list and mark each book they have read and give it a score out of 20

You should be able to get suggestions from a local library and from bookshops.

Some schools have reading lists (suggested, not compulsory) for each year group. Perhaps you can get Y7 and Y8 ones from friends. There may be some fresh ideas on the list.

Has your granddaughter tried anything by Sue Townsend (Adrian Mole etc), or Terry Pratchett (the Disc World Series)?

Anyway, good luck, great that you’re making the effort to find the right book for your granddaughter.