I have had numerous questions about what is ok to let young girls read. Honestly, I have no idea what is ok for your teenager, but I do know that my own mother was fairly open-minded in what she let me read. This list of books may reflect that open-mindedness.

I will give you one clue, though. Check between the mattresses if you are suspicious you aren’t seeing everything your girl brings home from the library. 

Raise your hand if you know what I’m talking about. I personally know a few of you that did this, so I expect to see at least three hands in the comment section. Four if you count mine.

Here is a list that Liz and I compiled. We have not personally read every single one of these books, but we have it from good sources that they are good books. Always do your own checking, though, and please don’t blame us if they don’t meet your personal criterea! 😉

Here’s the list:

Vinegar Girl – Anne Tyler

Rose Cottage – Mary Stewart

Mara, Daughter of the Nile; Master Cornhill; The Chalice; Sawdust in His Shoes; – Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Life of Pi – Yann Martel

In His Steps – George Sheldon

The Lighted Heart – Elizabeth Yates

Pay it Forward – Young Reader’s Version

Flint’s Gift; Flint’s Truth; Flint’s Honor – Richard S. Wheeler

The Virginian – Owen Wister

Around the World in 80 Days – Jules Verne

The Pit – Reginald Maddock

Shane – Jack Schaeffer

Kisses From Katie – Katie J Davis

My Name is Malala -Malala Yousafzai

The Boys in the Boat – Daniel James Brown

The True Confesions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi (I read this one many times when I was about 15)

God’s Smuggler – Brother Andrew

Piecing Me together – Renee Watson

Bud, Not Buddy – Christopher Paul Curtis

The Watson’s go to Birmingham – 1963 – Christopher Paul Curtis

The Charlatans Boy – Jonathon Rogers

The Screwtape Letters – CS Lewis

Echo; Esperanza Rising; The Dreamer – Pam Munoz Ryan

The Boundless – Kenneth Oppel

Fever 1973 – Laurie Halse Anderson

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 – Jim Murphy

The Giver; Gathering Blue; Messenger; Son – Lois Lowry (I read this set a few years ago. A little creepy, but very interesting)

The Goose Girl; Enna Burning; River Secrets; Forest born; Princess Acadamy – Shannon Hale

The first few books of the Brotherband Series by John Flanangan. Further in the series may not be appropriate.

Hattie Big Sky; Hattie Ever After – Kirby Lawson

A Fall of Marigolds – Susan Meissner

The Hiding Place – Corrie Ten Boom

The Witch of Blackbird Pond -Elizabeth Speare (Another favorite of mine. I read it again awhile back and it was just as good!)

Unbroken – Yound adult adaptation

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

The Three Muskateers – Alexandre Dumas

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

Moby Dick – Herman Mellville

Gulliver’s Travels – Tom Swift

Great Expectations – Charles Dickens (This one is a great classic. A mansion. A heartbroken lady. Intrigue.)

Mallory Towers series – Enid Blyton (This set takes place at a boarding school. The story is about school life and the antics the girls get up to. Innocent fun)

Some of the Jeanette Oke books (you be the judge)

If you don’t feel like reading every book before you let your child read it, go to goodreads.com and read some reviews on the book. Reading a few reviews could give you a good picture of what is in the book and that will help you know if it’s good material for your daughter (or son).

The following suggestions are from a post on my status asking for book suggestion. They are either what they will allow their teenage daughter to read or what they remember reading at that age. I can’t vouch for all of these suggestions, but I have read lots of them and heartily agree that they are good options!

Authors that were mentioned (a lot of these more than once!):

Jean Stratton Porter

LM Montgomery (duh)

John Flanagan (start with the Brotherband series)

James Herriot

Alber Payson Terhune (The Lad books, some short stories)

Frank Gilbreth (another duh)

Walt Morley

Walter Farley

Jim Kjelgaard

Gordon Korman (my personal least favorite. Too much disrespect)

Lousia May Alcott

Marguerite Henry

Hilda Stahl

Lois Walfrid Johnson

Cheney Duvall

Gilbert Morris ( I really enjoyed the The House of Winslow series when I was in my teens)

Christmas Carol Kauffman

Specific books mentioned:

Riding Freedom and Paint the Wind – Pam Munoz Ryan

The Chronicals of Narnia – CS Lewis

Hope Rising and A Bridge Called Hope – Kim Meeder

Dawn’s Early Light and Yankee Stranger – Elswyth Thayne

Miracles on Maple Hill – Virginia Sorenson

The Emily books – LM Montgomery

Mr Popper’s Penguins -Richard Atwater

The Circle Trilogy – Ted Dekker

Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keen

Hardy Boys – Frank Dixon

Babysitter’s Club – Ann M. Martin (I might stick with the older books in the series)

The Three Investigator books (Amen!! These are so fun) – different authors, just search The Three Investigaters

The Healer’s Apprentice – Melanie Dickerson (and others by this author)

The Blue Castle – LM Montgomery

Daddy Long Legs – Jean Webster

The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Orczy

Whew! That should keep everyone reading for a good long while. Let us know what were favorite books of yours as a teenager. Another question I would like answered is if you use the local library? If so, how do you go about making sure you (or your children) are checking out good wholesome books?

-Eva

(Picture credit: The Besotted Bookworm)