Kevin's Watch

I loved the Circle of Magic, the Circle Opens and the Circle Reforged series, ali. (at least, I hope The Will of the Empress continues into a series.) I haven't read any others of her books yet though. I wouldn't recommend The Will of the Empress for an eight year old though, and some of the Circle Opens plots are a bit dark as well.

I was going to add Earthsea as well. Also, I understand those Narnia books are popular with the younger set. By the time I finally read them, I was too old to appreciate them, but everybody I know who read them young love them.

With that said, give her a try on Finnegans Wake by Joyce. Maybe she'll understand it better than I was able to.

And there's always A Wrinkle in Time, and its sequels. Been a while, but the girl, Meg?, is of prime importance.

My six year old, who ISN'T really into reading that much-well he likes getting read to, I read him Eragon a few months ago-anyways..he likes reading the Magic Treehouse books.

My Eight years old..although, posibly not as advances as HLT's girl, I doubt if he could read the latter HP books, loves toread non-fiction book.

Books on the Solar System, or Dinasaurs, or the Human Body...stuff like that

The best part, is that those kinds of books are SO available at the local library.

My favorite book when I was young (aside from the Narnia series, and the Boxcar Children.... and the Babysitter's Club- shaddup- ) was Wren to the Rescue. I haven't read it in at least 10 years so I can't really tell you why it's awesome, but I remember that I loved it, and in looking it up on Amazon it looks like it's a series. Neat, I didn't know that.

Also, I had dumbed down versions of a few Sherlock Holmes stories that I liked a lot. I know you said she didn't like mystery, but Holmes is fantastic.

Menolly wrote:I loved the Circle of Magic, the Circle Opens and the Circle Reforged series, ali. (at least, I hope The Will of the Empress continues into a series.) I haven't read any others of her books yet though. I wouldn't recommend The Will of the Empress for an eight year old though, and some of the Circle Opens plots are a bit dark as well.

The Circle books were okay, IMHO. They might actually be a tad better for an eight-year-old than the Song of the Lioness books (tho I really think the Alanna books can stand up against most any fantasy series I've read). My girls kinda grew out of them by the time she finished the series -- tho MagickMaker read them all. I think. Hmm. I am going to point her to this thread so she can gush properly (tho I think today she is either finishing her portfolio for her drawing class, or is crashing after pulling an all-nighter to get it done, as today is the last day of finals).

Melting Stones, about Briar's student Evvy, is out on audio, with paperback publication due this fall sometime. So...the series continues.

I LOVE Tamora Pierce!!!

I would recommend her books to anyone!!! They'll be great for your daughter, they all feature female main characters, who are very strong-willed. The circle of magic books are geared toward younger readers than the series' featuring Tortall, so you might want to start with those. they feature a group of four kids, three girls and a boy.

Menolly, I wasn't a big fan of Will of the Empress, I couldn't get through it. But I love all her other books.

Also, Ender's Game is a great book. Might be a little advanced though...I think I read it when I was 13 or so...

I would recommend The Dark Is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper. The story is gripping, but understandable for a young adult. I understand that a movie was made of the second book (movie called The Seeker), but I have not had a chance to watch it yet.

I would also recommend anything by Cornelia Funke, who is known as "the German J.K. Rowling." In particular I would recommend the series that includes Inkheart, as it features a smart young heroine.

And last but certainly not least, I would highly recommend the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. They were some of the first fantasy books I read, and they really have held up through the years.