by Arthur Koestler. An excellent read.
The first of 6 related books. Historical fiction set in 1906 Minnesota . One for each year of high school, one follows the main character for a year in Europe gaining experience to be an author . The last book ends with the protagonist married and her husband going off to WWI. Recently reissued, the WSJ had articles recommending the books last summer. Lovely books.
introduction to the Dark Tower universe and written for young adults.
King wrote that book for his daughter, Naomi, who was around the age of the OP's daughter.
except for the scenes with "the drummers", so I'd suggest she wait until she's 16.
I think that was the age I discovered classic scifi and mystery. Dorothy Sayers and Ursala le Guin come to mind. Are they classic enough?
In the not-at-all classic category, I recently read The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and enjoyed it very much. I believe there is a sequel now.
Also Member of the Wedding, Flannery O'Connor short stories, Animal Farm
The comments are priceless
Tears are rolling down my cheeks and my stomach hurts from the laughter.
Rudy36 even weighs in.
I've saved the comments for when I need a good laugh.
OMG, that is funny - thanks!
Found the comments useful.
If you enjoyed this book, you might also like "All You Need is Love: Tributes to My Gay Friends," by Fred Phelps and the staff of the Westboro Baptist Church.
It's a shame Bacchus and Kayo didn't write a review.
Russell Kirk wrote an expansive (really, it's a bit too long for the topic) essay on the question. But he gives a really good run down of recommended classics that can be gleaned by skimming.
Then, I would take her to the public library and let her meander through the "921" section (biographies) of the non-fiction areas. After the 921 area, you move into some interesting cultural sections, dealing with Britain, China, India, and other remote lands. Then, in the 940 section through 973, you deal with American World Wars and the Civil War. There is a lot there, and there is a ton of non-fiction she could select from.
If she has a favorite author, then the fiction books are listed alphabetically, by the first letter of the last name.
If she wants to read the Classics, the local library should have all that she needs.
Note: If she's doing a paper, the Reference section is numbered the same way as the non-fiction, but the books are ones that they don't want to leave the library.
I spent my last Saturday volunteering at the local library, but when I was sliding my non-fiction cart of books past the Reference section, I saw so many Reference books in disarray, I spent three hours just re-arranging them in proper order.
a little much for a thirteen-year-old?
I suppose if she is both very precocious and very virtuous, those would be good. But they're really quite heavy.
Dickens is less so, but he's rather ponderous. But Copperfield is one of the better books ever written in modern English, so I wouldn't hesitate to give it to her if she were up to the challenge.
One might also suggest, to segue from Dickens to one of his better biographers and commentators, Chesterton's fiction. It's not the best literature in history, but it's a terrible lot of fun and surprisingly deep. The Flying Inn, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The Man Who Was Thursday, etc.
The Christian Brothers (De la Salle) pushed our little envelopes out, and I am forever grateful to them for it.
They also had us read "Hiroshima" by John Hersey and "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller.
(Although it was junior year because sophomore was American lit.)
But a sophomore in high school is 15, not 13. Dr. Zhivago is a pretty hefty story thematically for an eighth-grade girl. Maybe it would be OK, but I would be hesitant to recommend it in general terms.
I don't think anyone should read The Crucible, but that's only because it's terrible.
A wonderful book, but it flies under the radar in the U.S. It won a couple of awards in the U.K.
getting mentioned in this thread.
in her mother/daughter book group:
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Faith, Hope and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
As far as classics go, I know they also read Little Women recently (not many liked it) and The Hobbit (which most did enjoy). I think they all particularly liked The Giver.
They have not read To Kill a Mockingbird, as they have all read it for school (some multiple times. But that would be first on my list.
I read it at 13 and thinking back the themes were way beyond that age group. I don't have kids but I'm pretty sure the violence in that book would be over the top for most ndnation parents. (my parents get a pass because living in Denmark at the time, books in English were hard to come by)
I read that book, The Great Santini, the Water is Wide, and a few other violent books ("All Quiet on the Western Front" is one that jumps out) right around that time.
The family rape scene in that book is beyond disturbing and in my opinion, nothing a young girl should read. I agree that his books are fantastic but I like to think there are things young women don't need to have in their heads at that age. Of course I read it pre-Law and Order SVU so maybe I'm being too idealistic about what 13-year-olds know.
Pride & Prejudice
Little Women
The Count of Monte Cristo (perhaps an abridged version, perhaps not)
The Three Musketeers (again, perhaps abridged)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Sherlock Holmes
A Tale of Two Cities (although you might have to encourage her to stick it out for a bit... it starts slow, but turns into a page-turner)
Watership Down, maybe?
The Princess Bride (maybe not a classic, but a very fun read)
Lord of the Flies
Ender's Game
I don't know your daughter, obviously, but for me, Mark Twain and Hemingway and some of the other selections below did NOT resonate for a long time. I'm still kind of "eh" on them, style-wise, although I understand why they're important and well-regarded. I just think that for younger readers, those books might be a little bit more appealing to boys than girls, especially for a girl coming out of young-adult fiction which often includes or even revolves around romance.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
The Secret Garden
Bridge to Terebithia
And I second A Wrinkle in Time and The Giver.
North of Beautiful
Legends of Erin
Legends of Narnia Prince Caspian
The Deathly Hallows
The Half Blood Prince
Jane Eyre
Emma
Grapes of Wrath
lyrics NSFW
at Angelicum.net. It's a homeschool program with a great books component, so there's books for the kids to read each year. Most of them are available for free from gutenberg.org, so you could get her a cheap book reader and load it up.
Don't necessarily go straight to her grade level: there are lots of good recommendations at the younger levels, too. My Sarah(1of1) has enjoyed the John Carter of Mars books quite a bit, for example.
For example, here's the fifth grade list:
LITERATURE – THE GOOD BOOKS PROGRAM
The Hobbit by J.R. R. Tolkien
An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott
20,000 leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne
From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne
Hans Brinker by Mary Mapes Dogdes
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Book 1
The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Book 2
The Beasts of Tarzan & Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Books 3 & 4 Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Book 5
Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Book 6
Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Book 7
Tarzan the Terrible by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Book 8
The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott
The Dash for Khartoum by G. A. Henty
The Ranch on the Beaver by Andy Adams
Wells Brothers: the Young Cattle Kings by Andy Adams
Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott
Bonnie Prince Charlie by G. A. Henty
In Freedom’s Cause by G. A. Henty
Just go to the angelicum.net website, click on curriculum, and select a grade. Then look at the Good Books listing. I find good books for myself to read from this list.
My Antonia
Watership Down
or The Old Man and the Sea.
Probably a good idea, plus most of the books Karl listed. I'd also suggest Sherlock Holmes mysteries.
Otherwise, yeah. Probably so.
Of Mice and Men
The Giver
Anything by Jane Austen
Anything by Sherman Alexie
Ethan Frome (not my favorite, but she may like it)
Ender's Game
Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn
The Call of the Wild
The Once and Future King
A Wrinkle in Time
His Dark Materials
because the writing in The Hobbit is insanely more difficult.
I transferred high schools and I had to read it at both schools. I've never hated a book as much as the Scarlet Letter.
Ok, that' s a lie, I really disliked Beloved and The Hours also.
They may be a little young for her if she is mature for her age. They also have old-fashioned ideas about a woman's place in the world, unfortunately.