Books for teen girls?

[HappyChristian]

I know we've talked about books for kids before, but I'm on a mission. I am very familiar with a great number of good books. But a young lady I know, who is a voracious reader, wants good, clean books to read. I am compiling a list. Any recommendations?

She doesn't want anything that is like Harry Potter, no demonism, no sex, etc. She likes historical fiction. Help, anyone?

[Annie]

Let's see...historical fiction...
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (nonfiction)

Other fiction:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Social commentary/historical/science fiction
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Gathering Blue (sequel) by Lois Lowry
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher

Allegorical fiction
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald
Phantastes by George MacDonald
At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

Other great fiction
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Philosophy
How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer

Some girls have enjoyed the Elsie Dinsmore series by Martha Finley. I'm not partial to them myself--just not my preferred taste.

I have heard that the Bodie Thoene series (including Vienna Prelude...not sure of other titles) is good...It is definitely historical fiction/adventure, but I'm sure there's romance thrown in there. Since I've not read them, I can't recommend them from personal knowledge.

I'll post more if I can think of them.

I will say that I do not recommend so-called "Christian romance" books to teenage girls, for a couple of reasons. For one thing, there are so many better choices out there. For another, books like that tend to instill unrealistic expectations in girls by presenting a totally skewed picture of true manhood, which sets the girls up for disappointment in marriage later on.

[Anon]

Good list...I've heard good stuff about Bodie Thorne too but have not read them myself.

I used to love Jerry B. Jenkins "Margo Mysteries" which are now out of print but can be found on Ebay....they do have some romance in them though. They are Christian mysteries.

Jannette Oake's books are actually nice reading....I guess some romance in those too....

Some nonfiction I really like are "Evidence Not Seen" although I'm sure she already read it. "The Worst Hard Time" was a very good historical book about the Great Dust Bowl. "Dorie, the girl nobody loved" is another excellent biography, very short and easy read but excellent. She actually became friends with the author from Evidence not Seen later in life.

I love Charles Dickens....any of his are great.

I used to read all the Sherlock Holmes mysteries as a teen. O Henry short stories are also really great reading.

I actually would not recommend the Scarlet Letter though. Its such an acclaimed book (no offense Annie, your list you posted is GREAT) but I was not at all impressed with the book and when I read it, I found it actually somewhat embarrassing and also rather spiritually dark. I can't quite understand what's so great about it. Also would not recommend Tolkien.

I've read so many books its hard to remember them all, and which are good for teen girls and which would need a tad more discernment.... but anyway Annies list and mine may give you a place to start....

Oh many love Christmas Carol Kauffman's books, although its been forever since I've read them, and they tend to be somewhat sad and depressing.

[Annie]

Some nonfiction I really like are "Evidence Not Seen" although I'm sure she already read it. "The Worst Hard Time" was a very good historical book about the Great Dust Bowl. "Dorie' date=' the girl nobody loved" is another excellent biography, very short and easy read but excellent. She actually became friends with the author from Evidence not Seen later in life.[/quote']

I love Evidence Not Seen. Also Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss and A Chance to Die by Amy Carmichael. Elisabeth Elliot's Passion and Purity is a must-read for teen girls as well. I also like Nancy Leigh DeMoss's books on modesty and other life issues. She's written some geared especially for teen girls, I hear.



Yes...I love "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Last Leaf"...and that one about the soldier who meets the woman who has been writing him--can't think of the title. Works of genius, all of them!



I can understand why you would say this. I've heard others object to Tolkien's writing. Have to disagree, though.

[CJP56]

How about Caddie Woodlawn, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, The Little House books when Laura was older; about the only romance novel I would suggest would be Love Comes Softly. I don't like romance novels (the usual type) as a rule, but Love Comes Softly isn't the usual junk. The Magic Garden by Gene-Stratton Porter made me cry like a baby. How about Pollyanna, Understood Betsy, Children of the Covered Wagon, Heidi, Eight Cousins, The Small Woman,(a great non-fiction book about a missionary lady in China), Anne of Green Gables books, especially when Anne is older. Three books by Dr. Bill Rice are: Brother Super, (screamingly funny) and Noel the Lovin' Lion, and Cowboy Boots in Darkest Africa. His books are non-fiction but they are Can't Put It Down riveting reading. How about Ivanhoe? How about To Kill a Mockingbird?
I have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings probably 30 times and I have read all four books out loud to my girls and we have the books on tape and CD. I completely wore out one set of books and had to buy another set. I never get tired of them. My grandson loves to listen to The Hobbit now. Some don't recommend them, but some do. The Hobbit is aimed mostly at kids, and a lot of it is funny, but you have to read it first to make sense of The Lord of the Rings. To open those books is to step into another world and watch people, and Hobbits, fight and struggle with the last breath in their bodies to rid the world of a terrible evil. There is a line in the song "The Impossible Dream" that says, "to fight for the right, without question or pause, to be willing to march into Hell for a Heavenly cause". That sums it up pretty well. In that world it is ok for tough strong men to cry. In that world some put the safety and welfare of others far above the safety of their ownselves. A lot of girls wouldn't care for those sorts of books, but reading them will make them a better person, IMHO. Please don't judge a book by the movie someone made of it. The Lord of the Rings movies are outright garbage!!!! CJP56.

[HappyChristian]

Thanks for all the ideas. Truth be told, she's most likely read a good bunch of them, but there's some gold in those lists!

I don't think she would object to a little romance - after all, real life has romance. But I agree with Annie - Christian romance is not good for teen girls! Actually, a lot of what passes for Christian romance is nothing but Harlequin with God thrown in!! Unfortunately, much of what is being written as Christian fiction now is going in that same direction.

I love historical fiction, and will be steering her to some that I have read...but I have to be careful of that, even. Some of the books go into such intimate detail that it's sickening, and not something I want to read, let alone recommend to a 17 year old!

I don't know what she would think about Tolkein - don't know what her mom would think, either. I know my son liked them, but he's a guy.

Again, thanks for the suggestions. I will add them to my list. Even if she's already read them, it will make a good list to share!

BTW - I did like Scarlet Letter! Hawthorne was the grandson of Puritans, and his reason for writing that was to show the hypocrisy of some of what the Puritans practiced. Isn't it interesting - the judgment on Hester(that was her name, wasn't it...it's been dog's years since I've read it!) was exactly the opposite of what Christ said to the woman caught in adultery!! Yes, the book was dark, but it was an indication of the thought processes of the day. Not sure if her mom would want her to read it, though, even if she was interested. Some books are best left to adulthood! (not saying that is, just some...)

I enjoyed The House of the Seven Gables and The Fall of the House of Usher, too. Those were dark, yet suspenseful.

[Anon]

I thought the "demon baby" was extremely disturbing in the Scarlet Letter, but maybe that's just because of some of my family background...

[Bakershalfdozen]

Great lists!

I can recommend Bodie Thoene's Zion Covenant and Zion Chronicles historical fiction series. They are so incredibly accurate that some universities are recommending/requiring them as reading for certain subjects. The time period is WWII and deals with Germany, Nazis and the events that led up to Israel becoming a nation again. The fiction portions of the books are riveting and both series are "can't put down" type of books. There is some romance but it is life romance, not Harlequin romance. That is not the focus of the books, however. That actually plays a very small role.

[HappyChristian]

Great lists!

I can recommend Bodie Thoene's Zion Covenant and Zion Chronicles historical fiction series. They are so incredibly accurate that some universities are recommending/requiring them as reading for certain subjects. The time period is WWII and deals with Germany, Nazis and the events that led up to Israel becoming a nation again. The fiction portions of the books are riveting and both series are "can't put down" type of books. There is some romance but it is life romance, not Harlequin romance. That is not the focus of the books, however. That actually plays a very small role.

Is it the Zion Chronicles where the main character goes into an underground vault and reads the history?
I like Thoene's books. The series on Ireland is excellent.

[Bakershalfdozen]

Is it the Zion Chronicles where the main character goes into an underground vault and reads the history?
I like Thoene's books. The series on Ireland is excellent.

No, that is the Zion Legacy series and the first books are about Israel's struggles in the first days after becoming a nation. The later books in that series are set in the underground vault with the character reading old scrolls from the first Century A.D. That series led into the latest series called the A.D. Chronicles.

The Zion Covenant series starts with pre-War Germany and weaves fictional characters lives with the details of the struggles of the Jews and the great evil of the Nazi regime. Every main fictional character, however, is based on the true story of someone who lived during the time period and were later interviewed by the Thoenes.

The Zion Chronicles series is about how Israel became a nation and is set in the months leading up to May, 1948. Again, every main fictional character is based on the true story of someone who lived during the time period and were later interviewed by the Thoenes. Some of the characters of the Covenant series overlap into the Chronicles series. For example, the character Rachel is someone from the Covenant series who was introduced as a 13 year old daughter of a Jewish Rabbi in Poland who's family was slaughtered. In the Chronicles series, she is now an adult and we learn what horrors she lived in order to survive and how she came to Israel. (All immigration during that time was illegal so the Jewish people who traveled to Palestine then did so at great peril. But, they had no where else to go.) Rachel learns of the true Messiah and of God's unconditional love through family, friends and the man who would become her husband. "Rachel" is a real woman who really lived much was what was written in both series.

[HappyChristian]

Okay - the overlap must be what made me think it was the same. I've read just about everything they've written, but after a while, the reading in the vault got to me (a little mystical for me...).

I think she would like those, and the others that they've written about other parts of the world. They are definitely prolific writers, who study their backgrounds!

Has anyone read the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers? Not all of her books would be suitable for teen-aged girls (I'm thinking specifically of the one she wrote fictionalizing Hosea), but I think this trilogy might be good - it's set during the aftermath of Christ. Pretty good, too.

[Annie]

I thought the "demon baby" was extremely disturbing in the Scarlet Letter' date=' but maybe that's just because of some of my family background...[/quote']
The Scarlet Letter is very symbolic...with many figurative literary devices. It is not meant to be read for entertainment or diversion.

[AmazingGrace]

I am a young lady as well, and I must say I would not ever recommend the majority of Christian "romance" if they write about things and romanticize/glorify things that we personally would not do in real life, then why would we spend time reading about them??? A wonderful book that has not been mentioned yet, but she has probably read, is the classic Pilgrim's Progress. Also I would recommend: Beyond The Gates of Splendor, My Utmost For His Highest, We Twelve Girls, In The Arena (a chinese missionary's biography), A Chance To Die, Evidence Not Seen, ANY of the Louisa May Alcott books especially Little Woman and An Old Fashioned Girl, The Elsie Dinsmore books, and to try to find some missionary biographies. There are quite a few excellant missionary biographies available for relatively inexpensively at Amazon.com(A Chance To Die,Evidence Not Seen and Beyond The Gates Of Splendor.)

[HappyChristian]

Thanks, Amazing. I'm compiling quite a list.