<p>Margaret Mahy and Cynthia Voigt are great–good strong female characters struggling with family issues and growing up. S couple of Mahy’s books have some sexual content, though, if you’re concerned about that. </p>
<p>My daughter is hooked on Francesca Lia Block novels, and manga.</p>
<p>oh did anyone recommend Persepolis yet?
[Pantheon</a> Graphic Novels](<a href=“http://www.randomhouse.com/pantheon/graphicnovels/persepolis.html]Pantheon”>http://www.randomhouse.com/pantheon/graphicnovels/persepolis.html)</p>
<p>And Madeline L’Engle wrote several series with characters that overlap Wrinkle in time- but more young adult and not so much fantasy</p>
<p>Anything by Sarah Dessen. Fantasy by Shannon Hale. And of course the Twilight series by Meyer.</p>
<p>Along with the aforementioned Briar Rose by Jane Yolen, Terri Windling had a whole series of fairy tales with a deeper take than what we usually get.
[Amazon.com:</a> “Terri Windling’s “Fairy Tale” Series”](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Terri-Windlings-Fairy-Tale-Series/lm/3G8GUKNEEOGLU]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Terri-Windlings-Fairy-Tale-Series/lm/3G8GUKNEEOGLU)</p>
<p>This is really too much fun I am supposed to be doing my homework!</p>
<p>My daughter was much the same. Some of her favorite books in high school were Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, Michael Chabon’s Kavalier & Clay, and Jonathan Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated. She also inhaled Sylvia Plath’s journals and poetry. And Kerouac’s On The Road, which teenagers have always loved.</p>
<p>My son read science fiction (albeit high-end, philosophical science fiction) almost exclusively for a long time. His entry into “real” literature turned out to be Salman Rushdie’s young adult fantasy novel, Haroun and the Sea of Stories (which I would recommend to anyone). That led him to The Satanic Verses, and from there to all of Rushdie (and also to a decent appreciation of Bollywood as well).</p>
<p>As for me, I second mathmom’s recommendation of Ursula K. LeGuin, especially The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, and Always Coming Home (one of the few truly unique books out there). Someone mentioned Dorothy Sayers, her Gaudy Night is a great novel disguised (poorly) as a detective story.</p>
<p>I am also a huge fan of two comparatively little-read novellas: Philip Roth’s The Ghost Writer, and William Maxwell’s So Long, See You Tomorrow, both of which are fine for sophisticated teen readers. (The Roth presumes some familiarity with The Diary of Anne Frank.)</p>
<p>If she likes Girl of the Limberlost or Christy, try Mrs. Mike. I loved this book as a kid and D loved it at about 14, nice change of pace.</p>
<p>If she hasn’t done Greek myths in school they can be interesting reading, also Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare, sounds hokey, but great reading at that age. Also in the classic theme, 14 was my Wuthering Heights summer.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the recommendations. The library link is also great.
I think I will suggest she give Enders Game a try since so it seems to keep coming up as a hit.</p>
<p>My D loves Scott Westerfeld, he writes a series Uglies, Pretties, Specials. I don’t know if she has read them but my D always recommends them.</p>
<p>emeraldkity- I am passing on the fairy tale link to my oldest.
Now if you can solve another problem. Dear sweet daughter loves to read in the bathtub. Makes borrowing from the library nearly impossible.
I am stuck home supervising 3 14 yr olds. One male so I am stuck.</p>
<p>I was an avid reader as a teen, and a big fan of historical fiction. I’d suggest two semi-classic novels: Gone With the Wind, and Exodus (Leon Uris). (Although a recent re-read of GWTW left me cringing at some of the author’s implicit racism).</p>
<p>Enders Game is a great book, much more readable and still thought provoking than a lot of the required reading my kids did in late middle early high school.</p>
<p>I was just going to suggest Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind but the previous poster got to it first! True about the racism but also very interesting as a portrait of the thinking of a particular era and lots of interacting characters and historical background. Exodus might be a good choice too. And stuff like Sarum by Edward (?) Rutherfurd (and his book about London as well).</p>
<p>Also, if she has not read Louisa May Alcott, she might enjoy them–they aren’t exclusively children’s books and give a wonderful sense of life in the middle nineteenth century–start with Little Women and go on through Little Men and Jo’s Boys. Intresting juxtaposition with GWTW since LW is also Civil War era and of course very northern. Some of the lesser-known LMA books are interesting too, such as Under the Lilacs and Rose in Bloom.</p>
<p>If she likes long adult fiction, Helen Hooven Santmyer’s And Ladies of the Club might appeal. And if she does not mind reading supposedly children’s books, I would suggest the whole Anne of Green Gables series, in chronological order–after the first book, Anne is of high school and college age, adn then an adult–so quite appealing for older readers.</p>
<p>Was just going to post some classics also:</p>
<p><em>Little Women</em>
<em>Anne of Green Gables</em>
<em>Gone with the Wind</em></p>
<p>but see that the titles have already been posted.</p>
<p>No one has mentioned <em>The Witch of Blackbird Pond</em>.</p>
<p><em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em> by Harper Lee is an excellent read also.</p>
<p>I recommend Sarah Dessen’s books.</p>
<p>I’m not much for girl-fic, but I do know from science fiction:</p>
<p>Podkayne of Mars, Robert Heinlein</p>
<p>In the Enders’s Saga by Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead is by far the best, most-mature of the lot. You do need to read Ender’s Game, first, but make sure you stick *Speaker *in front of her, too.</p>
<p>Just for fun, the Honor Harrington books by David Harrington are good, as are the Vatta’s War books by Elizabeth Moon. Both collections feature young women as protagonists who are smart, strong, and self-confident. I just finished the last of the Vatta’s War books a couple of weeks ago.</p>
<p>Another vote for “No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.” A wonderful book.</p>
<p>I think Jane Austen is a bit of a slog. A slightly more modern book that might be a more satisfying read for a young teen is *Jane Eyre *by Charlotte Bronte.</p>
<p>How about *The Count of Monte Cristo *or The Three Musketeers? Dumas frequently gets lumped in with “classics,” but let’s not forget that he wrote popular entertainment. They are quick reads and a lot of fun.</p>
<p>If she’s not typecast as a “girl reader” The Firm or The Client by John Grisham and *The Hunt for Red October *are both lessons in plotting a complex story. </p>
<p>How about Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein or Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov?</p>
<p>I LOVED Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. :)</p>
<p>I also really like Tamora Pierce (although it’s more fantastic, but definitely a good read), Francine Rivers and Tracie Peterson.</p>
<p>My 14-year-old daughter loved</p>
<p>Water For Elephants
My Sister’s Keeper</p>
<p>Has no one suggested The Time Traveler’s Wife? Sounds like it would be a good fit for what your daughter is looking for. It’s a step up from beach reading but just as romantic and enchanting.</p>
<p>My D loves books by Jodi Picoult - Nineteen Minutes and My Sister’s Keeper are her favorites.</p>
<p>She also loves some more fun books - The Boyfriend List and sequels come to mind - but many others.</p>
<p>Cangel - I had forgotten about Mrs. Mike. I don’t know if my D ever read it or not, but it was one of my favorite books back then! Something really stupid about the book sticks with me to this day: When Mrs. Mike gives birth to her son, she names him “the most beautiful name she could think of” … Ralph. Apologies to anyone here named Ralph, but that was my first hint that names that appealed to one person did not automatically appeal to everyone. 
I used to think folks with certain names had parents who didn’t like them.</p>
<p>Some of these titles are really wonderful books. But 14 is such a “between” age. Some 14 year olds have babies of their own, others were playing with baby dolls not too long ago. My D read Water for Elephants this past year, and loved it. It would have been too much for her at 14.</p>