Me: Well, what I actually said to him [Chapters employee] was 'Do you have any books for twelve year old girls that are not Twilight, and do not reinforce negative gender stereotypes
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Tiffany's an awesome heroine. YA lit that is still enjoyable for... I guess that makes us OA?
Tamora Pierce is one of the few YA authors I actually liked when I was in the age range. The first series I read were her Alanna books, which were the ever fun "girl disguises herself as a boy and goes off to become a knight" plot. I think there are a couple follow up books in the same world where girls are now actually allowed to openlymeant for twelve year old girls. I was in the adult section of the library by then. I'm trying to come up with good stuff though, since the library now has a stupid policy where the middle school kids aren't allowed to check out books that have been deemed high school only. Like... The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
As you may have guessed, that comment got half eaten, so here's what it was supposed to say... hopefully.
Tiffany's an awesome heroine. YA lit that is still enjoyable for... I guess that makes us OA?
Tamora Pierce is one of the few YA authors I actually liked when I was in the age range. The first series I read were her Alanna books, which were the ever fun "girl disguises herself as a boy and goes off to become a knight" plot. I think there are a couple follow up books in the same world where girls are now actually allowed to openly. sign up because Alanna was awesome. Everything she writes features girls in prominent roles actually doing stuff. :p
My big problem is that I kinda skipped over reading books that are actually meant for twelve year old girls. I was in the adult section of the library by then. I'm trying to come up with good stuff though, since the library now has a stupid policy where the middle school kids aren't allowed to check out books that have been deemed high school only. Like... The Sisterhood of the
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Hmm... yes. I'd recommend Holly Black's "Tithe" and sequels. But common such things are not.
At twelve, I was fond of Anne McCaffrey's Pern books. (The Harper Hall trilogy was actually aimed that young, but I didn't have trouble with the rest.) They, and much of the other sci-fi/fantasy I read at the time, were mediocre on the gender stereotypes, but more "you can predict this from the copyright date" form mediocre than modern mass-marketing form mediocre. McCaffrey's first novel, Restoree, was actually a satire of gender stereotypes extant in sci-fi at the time, but it was a little hard to detect that in the '90s, much less today.
I second Anne McCaffrey. I read most of her stuff from age 10-14 or so. Yeah, the gender roles are a little staid now, more obvious to me as a 33 yr old today, but it's nothing like that Twilight tosh. Restoree is a nice one outside of the dragon stuff, plus there's The Ship Who Sings and Crystal Singer. She had some other short story collections out there as well. I tend to like her older books too, and the original series of Pern books, as I think it started watering things down once she expanded on it in with co-writers in later years.
I never read things like Nancy Drew or any other 'meant for girls' books, as my parents were sci-fi/fantasy people, so once I'd graduated from the McCaffrey stuff I was reading things like Tolkien (talk about gender stereotypes), Eddings and Asimov, Silverberg etc. I never really read any youth fiction.
Man I'm so out of touch with what's in that genre now.
If it were my own kid, I would not worry about age appropriateness, because God knows I was usually not reading things targeted at my age (Poe, Dracula), but she isn't, so I'm a tad more careful.
I shall have to check out this Tamora Pierce. I might like her myself. ^_^
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The best I've come up with is Tamora Pierce and Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books. :p
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*makes notes* Pratchett would definitely be a good choice. Is it bad that I don't know who Tamora Pierce is, or is it just showing my age?
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Tamora Pierce is one of the few YA authors I actually liked when I was in the age range. The first series I read were her Alanna books, which were the ever fun "girl disguises herself as a boy and goes off to become a knight" plot. I think there are a couple follow up books in the same world where girls are now actually allowed to openlymeant for twelve year old girls. I was in the adult section of the library by then. I'm trying to come up with good stuff though, since the library now has a stupid policy where the middle school kids aren't allowed to check out books that have been deemed high school only. Like... The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
Reply
Tiffany's an awesome heroine. YA lit that is still enjoyable for... I guess that makes us OA?
Tamora Pierce is one of the few YA authors I actually liked when I was in the age range. The first series I read were her Alanna books, which were the ever fun "girl disguises herself as a boy and goes off to become a knight" plot. I think there are a couple follow up books in the same world where girls are now actually allowed to openly. sign up because Alanna was awesome. Everything she writes features girls in prominent roles actually doing stuff. :p
My big problem is that I kinda skipped over reading books that are actually meant for twelve year old girls. I was in the adult section of the library by then. I'm trying to come up with good stuff though, since the library now has a stupid policy where the middle school kids aren't allowed to check out books that have been deemed high school only. Like... The Sisterhood of the ( ... )
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At twelve, I was fond of Anne McCaffrey's Pern books. (The Harper Hall trilogy was actually aimed that young, but I didn't have trouble with the rest.) They, and much of the other sci-fi/fantasy I read at the time, were mediocre on the gender stereotypes, but more "you can predict this from the copyright date" form mediocre than modern mass-marketing form mediocre. McCaffrey's first novel, Restoree, was actually a satire of gender stereotypes extant in sci-fi at the time, but it was a little hard to detect that in the '90s, much less today.
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I never read things like Nancy Drew or any other 'meant for girls' books, as my parents were sci-fi/fantasy people, so once I'd graduated from the McCaffrey stuff I was reading things like Tolkien (talk about gender stereotypes), Eddings and Asimov, Silverberg etc. I never really read any youth fiction.
Man I'm so out of touch with what's in that genre now.
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(And yes, I have actually been told "You'll never find a husband because you're too smart and you won't make a man feel needed.")
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Uhm... I liked Mercedes Lackey as a kid, too, but I'm not really sure if they were age appropriate or not. Same goes for Anne McCaffery.
I also read loads of Star Wars novels.
The "Who Wants To Be a Wizard" series was good, though I'm not sure I finished it.
Garth Nix has some really cool youth books about good-guy female necromancers.
I am sure there was more; all I did was read, as a kid, but trying to think of things is hard now.
And yes, write books!
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I shall have to check out this Tamora Pierce. I might like her myself. ^_^
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