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What is a good sf/f book series for an eleven-year-old girl? And is not Harry Potter?
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Depends a lot on reading level. My 13 yo daughter has been reading adult f/sf for the last couple of years, though she still reads the young adult stuff. She self-censors on things that are too disturbing.
That said, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books by Rick Riordan are fun, if a bit (ok, a lot) derivative.
My daughter loves the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett.
She also really likes the Song of Ice and Fire books by George RR Martin, but those are *very* dark and challenging.
Not series, but the YA books by Neil Gaiman are fabulout: Stardust, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book come to mind.
For old school sf, I liked John Christopher's Tripod books and Asimov's Foundation, but those might be a little male-centric.
That said, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books by Rick Riordan are fun, if a bit (ok, a lot) derivative.
My daughter loves the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett.
She also really likes the Song of Ice and Fire books by George RR Martin, but those are *very* dark and challenging.
Not series, but the YA books by Neil Gaiman are fabulout: Stardust, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book come to mind.
For old school sf, I liked John Christopher's Tripod books and Asimov's Foundation, but those might be a little male-centric.
I wish I had read Gaiman when I was 11.
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My daughter is 12 and loves the Rick Riordan books. If I ever get the time to actually finish Twilight, I'm going to start on The Lightening Thief.
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I'd say 'His Dark Materials' is a pretty good bet.
I started reading Conan Doyle when I was eleven.
Jules Verne is a good idea too.
Edit to comment that I turned out pretty well besides being a Mahalo yellow belt with a green tip. :p
Jules Verne is a good idea too.
Edit to comment that I turned out pretty well besides being a Mahalo yellow belt with a green tip. :p
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia Series, Book 2) 
EDIT: Okay, I swear you said charlie and the chocolate factory first ;p
Anything by Roald Dahl actually. Dahl is a glaring omission from my list below. I totally brain-farted on that.
Anything by Roald Dahl actually. Dahl is a glaring omission from my list below. I totally brain-farted on that.
I disagree. I think people should check up first about the author and his political ideas. SPOILER: the end is not very woman-friendly.
Do you mean the end of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or the end of the series in The Last Battle?
Sorry, gonzojoe, I meant The Lion et al.
It is just that my comment arrived a bit later than yours.
It is just that my comment arrived a bit later than yours.
Correction. I meant The Last Battle.
Well, I can't say for sure from a girl's point of view, but when I was 11 I started in on David Eddings and the Belgariad series (five books total). It is absolutely responsible for getting me hooked on fantasy Sci-Fi.
The Hobbit was also a good book to start in on - much easier to read than the Lord of the Rings series.
The Hobbit was also a good book to start in on - much easier to read than the Lord of the Rings series.
Look to the movie industry over the last five years or so. Harry Potter's success has seen a number of children's sci-fi/fantasy books turned into films in its wake.
The Golden Compass movie was made from the first book in the trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.
The Chronicles of Narnia has seen the first two books in the series of seven turned into films, and this is a personal favorite of mine, as I grew up reading C.S. Lewis (although I wasn't too fond of the movies).
There's also The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DeTirlizzi.
Don't forget A Bridge to Terabithia... chances are your girl will read this for a class at some point. It's pretty popular in a lot of curriculums.
And for sci-fi, I highly recommend The Giver by Lois Lowry. It manages to be a sociological sci-fi piece that deals with discrimination and the possible consequences of technological advancement in an accessible manner for young people. This is also popular in many curriculums.
I'll also add Roald Dahl to this list, his books have an uncommon ability to spark the deepest level of the imagination. (thanks to easyeboy's answer for reminding of him.)
The Golden Compass movie was made from the first book in the trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.
The Chronicles of Narnia has seen the first two books in the series of seven turned into films, and this is a personal favorite of mine, as I grew up reading C.S. Lewis (although I wasn't too fond of the movies).
There's also The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DeTirlizzi.
Don't forget A Bridge to Terabithia... chances are your girl will read this for a class at some point. It's pretty popular in a lot of curriculums.
And for sci-fi, I highly recommend The Giver by Lois Lowry. It manages to be a sociological sci-fi piece that deals with discrimination and the possible consequences of technological advancement in an accessible manner for young people. This is also popular in many curriculums.
I'll also add Roald Dahl to this list, his books have an uncommon ability to spark the deepest level of the imagination. (thanks to easyeboy's answer for reminding of him.)
An 11 year old girl...that has the Twilight series written all over it! 
I wouldn't recommend it. If she wants to read it, she will find a way because it is all over the place.
If her father wants to recommend a book, we should give him fresh ideas (even from the XIX century).
Plus, what's the point on reading something so poorly written when she can just watch the movie?
If her father wants to recommend a book, we should give him fresh ideas (even from the XIX century).
Plus, what's the point on reading something so poorly written when she can just watch the movie?
"fresh ideas" from the XIX century?
Please reevaluate the irony in that statement.
Please reevaluate the irony in that statement.
The irony is in our own time and our own bookstores. Do you know how many children know Jules Verne?
You could get fresh ideas even from very old stories. It is fresh if author challenges his/her own time (not if she writes about her own fantasy-relationship to overcome her high-school trauma).
There was a time when writers created whole new worlds (both possible and impossible) with a lot of detail and not just vampire baseball.
You could get fresh ideas even from very old stories. It is fresh if author challenges his/her own time (not if she writes about her own fantasy-relationship to overcome her high-school trauma).
There was a time when writers created whole new worlds (both possible and impossible) with a lot of detail and not just vampire baseball.
Tamora Pierce has a number of series with female protagonists that are very good.
Angie Sage's series Septimus Heap.
Eoin Colfer's Artimus Fowl's series.
Angie Sage's series Septimus Heap.
Eoin Colfer's Artimus Fowl's series.
source(s):
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Alanna/Tamora-Pierce/e/9780844670027/?itm=...
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Magyk/Angie-Sage/e/9780060577339/?itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Artemis-Fowl-Boxed-Set/Eoin-Colfer/e/97814...
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Alanna/Tamora-Pierce/e/9780844670027/?itm=...
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Magyk/Angie-Sage/e/9780060577339/?itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Artemis-Fowl-Boxed-Set/Eoin-Colfer/e/97814...
Probably the Redwall books by Brian Jacques. There are a whole bunch of them, but they are pretty good.
In addition to the great suggestions of Discworld and Neil Gaiman's Young Adult books, if she is anything of a tech geek (Hey, it's the 21st century, it's happening a lot more), I'd recommend Cory Doctorow's books Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and Little Brother
source(s):
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Brother-Cory-Doctorow/dp/0765319853/ref=pd_bbs...
http://www.amazon.com/Down-Magic-Kingdom-Cory-Doctorow/dp/076530953X/ref=pd...
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Brother-Cory-Doctorow/dp/0765319853/ref=pd_bbs...
http://www.amazon.com/Down-Magic-Kingdom-Cory-Doctorow/dp/076530953X/ref=pd...
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Madeleine L'engle's "A Wrinkle In Time" series. That one had me enraptured as a pre-teen. I'm fairly certain young ladies will enjoy it as well.
One of my young teen daughters likes the Pendragon series by MacHale.
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