SF/Fantasy books to read to a 9 y.o. girl

These are all fairly old books but I was probably about the same age when I read The Farway Tree series by Ednid Blyton and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (which I never realised was part of The Jungle Book collection until I was checking the name just now) and would only have been a year or two older when I read John Christopher's The Tripods series. It's been a long long time since I read them but from memory they are at least a decent read and an easy introduction to sci-fi.
 
You might try Garth Nix's "The Keys to the Kingdom" series. It's a lot of fun and really entertaining. Sure the main character's a boy, but there are plenty of females too.
If she's a more traditional girl try "The Two Princesses of Bamarre." It's by the author of Ella Enchanted, can't remember her name though.
 
Susan Cooper and Dianne Wynn Jones.
(Dark is Rising and Chrestomani)

Oh, and Hugo Pepper, for the pictures.
 
Thadlerian said:
See if you can locate any translated Astrid Lindgren. Ronia the Robber's Daughter and The brothers Lionheart are true classics - some of the best young Fantasy found.
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Astrid Lindgren FTW! Pippi Longstocking is still one of my role models.
 
There's a wonderful series called 'Icefire' by Chris D'Lacey which is very gentle fantasy. The first is perhaps a bit too gentle for my taste, but my daughter loved it. The first book is called 'The Fire Within' and the fantasy element to the story is the pottery dragons that have a life of their own. The second in the series is slightly darker, but all of the books are suitable for a 9 year old and they are certainly a chunky read.

Alternatively try either 'Dragonrider' by Cornelia Funke, or 'The Divide' by Elizabeth Kay. Both are suitable and fun reads.
 
For my 10th birthday I got given a book called Mr Galliano's Circus by Enid Blyton. I read it so many times and it seems like yesterday-oh the memories! I still have it and will read it to my kids when they're a bit older.
 
A good series still in progress (but with an ending planned relatively soon) is Michael Scott's The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. The fourth book, The Necromancer, comes out later this month, and the first one is called The Alchemyst. They star a pair of brother/sister 13 year old twins who discover their magical powers. It also features a lot of historical and mythological figures, which might pique your little one's curiosity, as well.

Happy hunting.
 
JB_Dresden said:
Michael Scott's The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series ... It also features a lot of historical and mythological figures, which might pique your little one's curiosity, as well.
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It's been piquing my interest for quite a while. I've had it in my hand at the bookstore several times, but never quite made up my mind to buy it. Perhaps I will now.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
It's been piquing my interest for quite a while. I've had it in my hand at the bookstore several times, but never quite made up my mind to buy it. Perhaps I will now.
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yeah this new one coming out has a corresponding game you can play as well: www dot questforthecodex dot com
 
How about the Harper Hall trilogy-Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums by Anne Mccaffrey.
Catwings series by LeGuin, followed by the Earthsea series.
 
I agree, K. Riehl!

One of my Granddaughters has read a lot of the books by Anne McCaffrey. She loves them as much as I do!

One thing I have noticed is that reading the book first is better than watching the film first. In the film, so much is missed out.
 
http://www.duanevore.com/ten-young-...ntasy-who-kick-ass-whom-youve-never-heard-of/

Some of my favorites, with some Caveats. To Conquer Chaos probably wouldn't appeal to most 9-year-old girls (I could be mistaken), and Rite of Passage has some heavy stuff, including sex, that you might not want to expose her to. And although I do mention Lyra from His Dark Materials, I thought the series got downright dismal and depressing by the end.
 
Have you tried "How to Train your Dragon" by Cressida Cowell. It is mostly aimed at boys, but my 7yr old daughter loves them too when I read to my 10yr old ds. She wanted to dress as Toothless for World Book Day. It has a very strong female character, Camicazi, who I love, but she sadly doesn't make an appearance until the third book in the series.

"Ingo" by Helen Dunmore is a hauntingly beautiful book (but not spooky), about a girl living by the sea who is drawn into the world of Ingo (mermaids). It had the same sort of weaving of mystery and tension through it that many of the Dark is rising series by Susan Cooper that has already been mentioned.

Jenny Nimmo has already been mentioned for her Charlie Moon series, the Snow Spider series is also worth a look at.
 
I suppose she isn't 9 years old anymore.

I read this when I was 9 years old and it started me on sci-fi.

Star Surgeon (1959) by Alan E. Nourse
Star Surgeon: Alan Nourse: 9781598180657: Amazon.com: Books
Star Surgeon by Alan Nourse - Free eBook
LibriVox
Review of Star Sugeon by Alan E. Nourse : SFFaudio

It can make sense for publishers to regard SF and Fantasy as a single genre but I don't think it makes sense for the readers. Kids can learn science from real science fiction.

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Science_Fiction_(Bookshelf)

psik
 
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