Non-fantasy pre-teen books for girls?

by mereme at 03/28/07 1:44PM
I am in need of some good books for a friend of mine's daughter - who is 12, and has a little difficulty with reading. The daughter doesn't like books that are too serious, and Mother doesn't like fantasy books. I've suggested Little House, Anne, and the Our Canadian Girl series, and they have tried them - but they don't seem to appeal to the daughter - whether it's the seriousness or the old-fashioned-ness, I'm not sure. She does really like the Harry Potter book that her Aunt gave her, but her mother really doesn't want her to read that strong of fantasy books.

Does anyone know about any of the Christian bookstore books for girls?

I also would like to know of Bibles for this age group, with pictures in them? Any help would be appreciated.
  • hermione_weasley
    Hmm....I jsut turned fourteen, but fantasy is my domain...so.....umm...I really enjoyed Trixie Belden around that age, and Nacy Drew. The Wedding Planner's Daughter is a really good light, sweet book that's easy to read. The Lady Jane Grace Mysteries are good, but they do talk about some slightly more mature things. The Girls of Many Lands and American Girl books were also some of my favorites. And I loved the Ramona books at any age, especially Ramona, Age Eight.
    by hermione_weasley at 03/28/07 6:18PM
  • hermione_weasley
    Oops. *just turned
    by hermione_weasley at 03/28/07 6:19PM
  • mereme
    Thanks so much, Hermione - having suggestions from someone who was more recently there is wonderful!
    by mereme at 03/28/07 10:11PM
  • butterfly
    Hmmm...what about Box Car Children. They aren't overly hard to read and they have a bit of mystery/action in them too.
    by butterfly at 03/29/07 7:57PM
  • tucksmom
    You mean she does not like historical fiction? or books written with "old" vocabulary? New books NOT historical fiction OR fantasy may include: Rules by Cynthia Lord, Weedflower by Kadohata, Vive la Paris by Codell, Part of Me by Holt... I'd suggest looking at them at the library and choosing a couple that may work.
    by tucksmom at 03/29/07 8:13PM
  • tucksmom
    But Weedflower and Part of Me are more "serious" than the others.
    by tucksmom at 03/29/07 8:14PM
  • sonya05
    Yeah, Boxcar Children along with the ones you already suggested were my favorites at that age. What about The Series of Unfortunant Events? those are very easy books.
    by sonya05 at 06/06/07 11:30AM