spending all our money on brand new novels

[ontology]

I really love my job.

Now, not every day is the giddy glory that the eight hours last Saturday were, but going to work and doing my work continuously makes me happy. Borders may not get a ringing endorsement from me as companies go, and certainly I have to wade through a lot of bureaucratic nonsense, and sell a lot of rubbish books (and even rubbisher things which are not books and sometimes not even remotely book-related), but the real part of my job, the centre of it, is taking care of books and interacting with customers and I love it.

I've had some really lovely customers lately. On Wednesday this dignified woman in, I think, her sixties, in a long coat and an elegant scarf and glasses and possessing an accent somewhat suggestive of upper class New England came in looking for a copy of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which she said was an old, old favourite that she hadn't read in years. We had a very companionable conversation and I think I will have to put her in a story someday. Today an attractive bearded young bloke (in a Death Note t-shirt with 'L' on the back, n'aww) bought a copy of the sole Dresden Files graphic novel, and we enthused about the series together. (I am currently on book six -- begun this very evening -- and am utterly addicted; it is marvellous.) 

And although I have to reschedule my library-and-Hockman's day, I really love working Saturdays, because the bookstore is very, very busy and full of book-loving people (in varying degrees) looking for something to fall in love with, and I have the best interactions and am happily occupied all day. We didn't have anything to shelve or repair today, so I was told to concentrate mainly on customer service -- hurrah!

Now, a question for the f-list. What books would you suggest for a) reluctant readers (of both sexes), and b) girls who like Twilight and are primed for introduction to better things (or the friends and relations of girls who like Twilight, trying to find them new things to read)? I can suggest plenty of books for women and older teens who enjoyed Twilight (or hated it!) -- Robin McKinley's Sunshine, of course, for proper vampires and a heroine who is not a dishcloth, and Emma Bull's War for the Oaks for a much better supernatural romance (inside a plot that is actually awesome, and more importantly, there!) -- but younger girls? I am at a loss. There are plenty of other rubbish teen vampire pop romances (they litter the YA section lately), but I feel the need to somehow instil a love for actual literature. As for reluctant readers, I was in no way one and find their minds difficult to comprehend. ;) What sorts of books would hook a boy or girl without the ravenous lust for literature I seem to have been born with? I want to recommend favourites of my own, but I don't know which of them would be the most apt (though I imagine Gail Carson Levine is a good place to begin with girls), especially since I was reading things like Dickens and Alcott and L'Engle at the age of nine, and Tolkien by twelve, and T.S. Eliot by fourteen (not counting the Practical Cats, which I think I must have been in love with all of my life, because I have no memory of being introduced to them but every memory of being familiar with them). A lot of people come in with, especially, ten- to fourteen-year-olds looking for something, anything that they'll read, usually because their schools require them to read some fiction, and I try my best to help them, but am floundering rather a lot.

I made brownies to bring to work, because... look, I'm not a suck-up, really! Uhhh. Heh. Anyway, this time I didn't forget to bring them, as I forgot the cookies I made a week and a half ago (and then I forgot them again when I meant to bring them to Jonathan's...). I also bought a baguette on the way to work and brought cheese from home for a lunch of bread and cheese; very old-fashioned and delightful.

And I'm bicycling again! I've missed being Bicycle Girl! The weather today is marvellous -- rainy and warm and windy and alive, and there is little like strenuous excercise in pleasing weather to lift one's spirits. Of course on the way to work it was very wet, and while the rain was mostly drizzle and not much trouble, the streets were full of puddles and I had to sponge mud from my entire person upon arriving at work. Siiiigh. But the way home was dry and absolutely perfect, and there was wind in my hair, and I may have sung a lot.

(Also I may have kind of wandered into Rue21? And they were maybe sort of full of their usual clearance racks of awesome and win? And I may have purchased one (1) grey and black striped shirt with a bow, two (2) elegant waistcoats in different styles, and one (1) very lovely summer dress consisting of a white ruffled blouse and polka-dotted skirt -- for two dollars apiece. However, dear readers, it is highly unlikely, for I only ever spend my money on extremely important and serious things.) 

Tomorrow, Dad and I are going to see Slumdog Millionaire (which has somehow made its way, very late, into our cinema, probably on sole virtue of having won many Academy Awards, because indie films are about as common in my cinema as capital letters in an e.e. cummings poem). I'm kind of enjoying my life right now; and that feels good.

Comments

[aohdwyn.livejournal.com]

For tween-age girls? Tamora Pierce, all the way. Great heroines, nothing explicitly sexual (some stuff that shocked me, when I was a prudish ten years old, but looking back is very tame, and nothing a teen girl can't handle) and very fast reading. No vampires, unfortunately, but I've never been a big reader of vampire fiction, and what vampire fiction I'm A) reading now or B) have heard of, is all very much adult, explicit stuff. Charlaine Harris, for instance, is wonderful, but not in the least YA. TBH, I think that's why Twilight is so popular -- it fills an as-yet unfilled niche, being sexy vampire fiction without the sex. Of course, like I said, not that knowledgeable about vamp-fic.
Lessee ... I don't know if Borders would have it, or even if it's still in print (with the popularity of YA vamp novels, hopefully they're reprinting it, and you could suggest that they stock it?) but Vivian Vande Velde's (oof, is that a mouthful) YA vampire novel Companions of the Night would be a great post-Twilight book. No sequels, unfortunately, but all of her books are great, and she's a prolific author who deserves to be more in the spotlight.

Other, more general fantasy/YA/romance authors appropriate for teen girls ... Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles = awesome, as are all her books; Diana Wynne Jones, of course; Tanith Lee's stuff is great, though a lot of it is sadly out of print; Diane Duane's Young Wizard series is Amazing, and good for post-Harry Potter readers too; Sherwood Smith's Wren series (I think it was re-printed recently as a box set?) and her Crown/Court duel books; and ooooh, Shannon Hale is a relatively new writer with amazing YA books, I wish she had been writing when I was 12, I would devoured her books then.
That's all I can think of that would fit the age group ... and all, I think, not too difficult reading for those unfamiliar to it.

[bornofstars.livejournal.com]

Seconding Tamora Pierce! Her Circle of Magic series was my first introduction to Fantasy Other Than Harry Potter, and while they're not high literature, the characters and plots are pretty fantastic. Her Immortals quartet (beginning with Wild Magic) was also a favourite of mine, and her Alanna books are good as well. Really, you can't go wrong with Tamora Pierce if you're looking for quality YA fantasy.

As for reluctant readers, perhaps try Lois Lowry's The Giver or A Wrinkle in Time; they're both science fiction, but subtle enough that I don't think it would alienate readers, and they're full of ideas, and beautiful writing. The Sight is a fantasy about wolves that I absolutely adored as a pre-teen - the writing is quite good, and the story is enormously compelling and original. My friend Megan's sister loved it, and she isn't a reader at all. And what about E.L. Konigsburg? Her books are always wonderful.

I'm trying to remember other books I loved when I was younger...hm. Perhaps I'll return with more titles...

[aohdwyn.livejournal.com]

The Immortals Quartet was my favorite as well. =) It was much easier for me to connect with the uncertain, emotionally damaged Daine than with brave, tomboyish Alanna.

Oooh, I LOVED From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg! I spent my childhood being dragged from one museum to the next, and it was always fun to imagine being able to spend the night in one. I would love to spend the night at the Art Institute, although I'm pretty sure the Hall full of Armor would be inordinately terrifying at night.

[bornofstars.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely - I enjoyed the Alanna books, but never truly connected emotionally with them. Daine and Numair I loved.

The View from Saturday is my favourite E.L. Konigsburg. A gentle sense of humour and a bunch of intelligent, misfit children coming together? So lovely.

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

Heeee, my mother just gave me our extra copy of The View from Saturday. (But of course it was the paperback. Hmph.)

I love E.L. Konigsberg because she writes for children in the same way that most people write for adults -- something about all of the layers and ideas and interesting ways of looking at things and organising the telling of the story itself is so wonderful and right and expecting that children can understand things too, and it makes me happy.

[aliseadae]

Second to the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg and also her The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place. They aren't SF/F but her books would be good for reluctant readers.

I'll think about this one and get back to you with more suggestions!

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

Wow! I am, essentially, seconding everything here. ;) Tamora Pierce was what turned me from a reader into a Serious Reader -- not the kind of reader who reads serious books, but the kind of child reader who would occasionally skip recess to read -- and Diane Duane's books probably changed my life. Patricia C. Wrede's stuff is so good that I like re-reading it even now, and it's really funny besides; Diana Wynne Jones does wonderfully wacky stuff that no one else can pull off.

As for boys -- not that girls won't love these also, because obviously I did, but I've never met a boy who liked Tamora Pierce much unfortunately -- T.A. Barron's Merlin books are excellent. Also, Orson Scott Card. <3

Banui, you are the Good Samaritan of all things literary, you know that? ;) Yay for improving young reading minds!

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

Banui, you are the Good Samaritan of all things literary, you know that? ;)

It is my life's goal. :D

(Although it is extremely distressing when a young teenage girl comes in looking for a book to read, because she HAS to read a book for school, and I try to interest her in Gail Carson Levine or Madeleine L'Engle or someone, and she walks off with a Clique novel instead. Inside I cry a little.)

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

(I know what you mean. My younger sister reads the Clique novels and all of that stuff. Inside I cry a little, too.)

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

Not that knowledgeable about vampire fiction myself -- I love a good vampire story, but almost all of them are crap. (Hence why I am writing my own?) Stupid teenage girls falling in love with vampires. They're alien and creepy and WILL EAT YOU. Unless you are Joss Whedon, I will probably not be interested.

Ooh, yes, Diana Wynne Jones! I think I can see some reluctant readers latching onto Howl's Moving Castle, or the Chrestomanci books, especially girls starved for adventure stories in which girls actually get to DO SOMETHING, and still get to be girls while they do it.

I keep meaning to read Young Wizards myself, but I've never run into them except in bookstores, and I, having little money, never buy books I haven't read. Except for today. But that was the sequel to a book I had read and I couldn't just buy one! And yes, Sherwood Smith!!! Crown Duel & Court Duel might be a good recommendation for Twilight fans looking for more fantasy romance, though this is of course a very different kind. And Wren is great fun; haven't read those in ages, though.

[bornofstars.livejournal.com]

Also! I covet your job so much. I would have loved to have talked with the dignified older woman.

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

I think she's one of my favourite customers I've ever had. She was just so... elegant, and fascinating. Perhaps she reminded me a little of Madeleine L'Engle, in retrospect, though we only spoke for a few minutes.

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

and I think I will have to put her in a story someday
Essentially: you = ♥. :)

[suangelita.livejournal.com]

Bridge to Terabithia is good. A fantasy-esque book for girls would be "The Perilous Gard." Also, Tolkien's "The Hobbit." Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" though it might be too "kiddie."

See, the thing is, there's either kiddie lit, or more adult lit. Youth Lit just sucks. ;)

Oh! Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" sequence. And Lloyd Alexander's "The Chronicles of Prydain."

For those who are a little older, Stephen Lawhead's "Pendragon Cycle" rocks. Taliesin, Merlin, and Arthur in particular.

Of course, Howard Pyle. Men of Iron, Adventures of Robin Hood, Story of the Champions of the Round Table.

And George MacDonald. The Lost Princess, The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie (sequel to Goblin), Sir Gibbie.

Victoria loves Anne McAffrey, but I'm not sure what level that's on. Gotta actually read it. ;)

[barefoottomboy.livejournal.com]

Nth-ing the Tamora Pierce, especially the Circle of Magic quartets for younger (i.e. more ten than fourteen) readers.

Sunshine is definitely for the older teen and above, but how about Beauty or Spindle's End? Ella Enchanted too for the younger girl reader. (But Levine's follow-up effort is sadly very poor.)

Yes! to Diana Wynne Jones as well, especially the Christopher Chant books for younger readers, of both sexes.

As for reluctant readers (and I find these tend to be boys more than girls), my younger brother was one until he discovered the Horrible Histories, though I don't know if they made it to the US.
Otherwise you probably want something adventurous or exciting to reel them in. S.E. Hinton is usually short but excellent for a t(w)een boy market, who might also go for Ender's Game. L'Engle is definitely worth a try, I'd say: our teacher read us A Wrinkle In Time when I was in primary school, aged about nine or ten.
Ooh, how about Artemis Fowl? I haven't read any of the Alex Rider books (beginning with Stormbreaker?), but they're marketed at the same audience - boy spy, but without the supernatural elements. Also in this category are the Young Bond stories, which again I haven't read but seem to be wildly popular in the t(w)een boy demographic.
And for older boys (and girls!), John Marsden's Tomorrow When The War Began books, if you can find them. Oh, and Gary Paulsen - short adventure books with boy protagonists, try the Hatchet series. Paulsen was himself a reluctant reader, so knows the audience. :-)

This is fun! I'll think it over some more and get back to you!

(Also, you could try posting this to booklisters: it seems like there are a lot of discerning YA readers over there who could help. :-)

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

How reluctant-reader friendly do you find Ender's Game? It's so layered with heavy subjects and philosophy and things. I read it first at sixteen and didn't really like it. (Then I re-read it two years later and fell dizzyingly in love with it, and Speaker for the Dead probably changed my life.) But I've heard a lot of people talk about how much they loved it as much younger children, and I wonder what drew them to it. Of course, I was sort of timid as a younger reader (and I'm still a timid reader in some ways, because books and I get so intimately involved, and so sometimes the wrong book can really hurt me), so that may have had something to do with it?

I've recommended Artemis Fowl to several... well, parents, really, because usually they haven't had their children with them. It hasn't taken thus far, but I hold out hope. (A little boy bought one of the books on his own, too, so yay.)

I read A Wrinkle in Time when I was nine, too, but my reading experience and maturity level was so very different that I don't know what it would mean to other nine-year-olds! I know that it was one of those books that changed my life, though; I felt, reading it, that it was the first "grown-up" book I'd ever read, even though it was a children's book -- it felt so poignant and important and made me feel things I hadn't ever felt before.

I don't know why I didn't think to post to booklisters! *facepalm* Thanks for the reminder.

[barefoottomboy.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. It's actually quite difficult for me to judge reluctant-reader compatibility, as I could at no point in my life have been described as a reluctant reader. ;-)

Having said that, I think that the thing with a lot of layered books is that you don't necessarily have to engage with all the layers. Ender's Game works as a plain exciting action/adventure story, which is I think where it attracts younger/reluctant readers, especially as Ender is young throughout the whole book. There are of course a lot of dark elements which not all children will enjoy/cope with: Amazon lists it as having a reading age of 9-12, but it probably depends a lot on what kind of nine- or twelve-year-old.

I didn't really pay attention to age categories for books until quite recently. I don't think I was properly aware of the children's/YA/adult's split for a long time: I just read books. Though I did read more 'boy' books than 'girl' books, so I'm also at a slight loss as to where to steer the post-Twilight teen girl. It looks like you're getting a bunch of useful recommendations from others, though, so that's good.

[midenianscholar.livejournal.com]

Erm, am I the only one who ran from the Alanna serious positively disgusted and scarred as a 13 year old...? Maybe I'm abnormally sensitive or something. But I found it totally revolting (not the first one so much, but each sequel got more sexy and more edgy and the characters were just flat for me). *cough* Not going to rant about it...

I thought I'd just throw in a recommendation for reluctant boys. My little brother has never really been into reading. Mom's tried a lot of things, including Harry Potter, but it's just never sparked the Reading Fiend. Until my friend Beth, who is an elementary teacher, found this series for younger teen boys: Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The books in the series are: The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, and The Titan's Curse. (I think one of the books hasn't been published yet.) My brother devoured these books. I've never seen him read so much--even at the table! The books are about a modern highschool kid who finds out he's the son of the sea god in Greek mythology (can't remember the name).

He's reading Castaways of the Flying Dutchman right now, and I think he's liking that too.

[barefoottomboy.livejournal.com]

Poseidon?

I was actually less than impressed by the Alanna series myself, particularly beyond book one. But I do like the other Pierces I've read (= the Circle books).

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

I never read Tamora Pierce myself, so I can't tell you. :p I think a librarian recommended one to me and I flipped through it and they were talking about sex? And I was about ten at the time and that pretty much stopped me from ever reading them.

Ooh, I've heard about the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books! Thanks for the reminder! We were at a Sonlight meetup last summer and there was a young boy there who was completely hooked, and his mother was talking about how the whole family was reading them and just loving them and they had to get the next one right away! and it made me really happy, because I love seeing families get involved in reading together.

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

I would probably also recommend Tamora Pierce, although that isn't based on much; I really liked Wild Magic but wasn't as much in love with the one that came after it, and that's...all of hers I've read. Both are good with magic and fast-paced plots and heroines who actually do things, but I loved what she did with the protagonist's dialect in the Wild Magic, and in Wolf-Speaker she's talking completely proper because she's had grammar lessons now she's civilized and stuff. Which...okay, fine, but made-up dialects are interesting and I love them to death, so...yeah.

Also adding to the recc's for Lois Lowry, L'Engle, Artemis Fowl...ooh, Kenneth Oppel! I know I keep hammering on that for you personally, but I could see those being good for boys--Silverwing and Sunwing, at least, are from the POV of a young male bat, and Firewing is mostly as well (although the end of that one triggered my personal fling-across-the-room reaction, which was to take a hard bike ride until I rode my anger out--no, really), and Darkwing is kind of the same sort of thing. Whatever the case, they're very fun and fast-paced. He's also got a series about an actual human kid, which are sort of steampunk because mostly this kid flies airships, and what romance is involved is largely a crush on a girl who's also allowed to be a normal girl character. There's Airborn and Skybreaker, which I've read, and then apparently Starclimber is coming out next month.

Um...older teen guys would probably like Dresden Files. I'm not sure how old you'd have to be for those...they're not really explicit, as you've seen, but--well, yeah.

Re: Vivian Vande Velde. She is very good, overall, but uh...I would have to make a note on Companions of the Night, which is that I really, really do not recommend it. I read it after warriorofshadow said it was a vampire book that made her angry. And...yeah. The first few chapters are really good, and then we find out that the vampire in it is actually a dick, and the heroine does almost nothing, and it ends with her saving him from a villain who's even dickier (moral: vampires who do kill people are okay because some people are worse?) and telling him she loves him. Readers are left to wonder why. There are a few good scenes, but the majority of it really isn't worth it. Heir Apparent is pretty good, though, and Dragon's Bait is great; I liked Now You See It... too.

You might suggest Harry Potter, though--I seem to remember reading in Sherwood Smith's blog recently that fewer kids are actually reading the books, even though they're still watching the movies. So it would be worth asking if they've tried those, anyway, especially since they're apparently good for reluctant readers.

I feel like I at least know of some other good vampire books. And...I can't think of any of them except Sunshine.

Oh, well, speaking of Robin McKinley anyway, I could see Dragonhaven being good for teenage guys, at least since its protagonist is...you know, a teenage guy. Diana Wynne Jones is good for basically anybody; I'm not as in love with some of her earlier books, but Dark Lord of Derkholm and the Chrestomanci books are just plain fun. Oh, and what about Un Lun Dun? That's a great YA book.

Neil Gaiman, of course. InterWorld is YA and the sort that's compulsively readable. You might try the Pendragon books; I've only read the first two, but they're better than they look, written from the POV of yet another teenage guy. Oh, and Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles are good--great heroine in the first one, anyway. They kind of go a little downhill as they go along, I'm afraid--they're all still good, but Cimorene is an awesome character, and none of the others are from her POV.

And as usual, I'm sure I'll get back to you if I think of more.

[barefoottomboy.livejournal.com]

I read Airborn recently and rather loved it (needs more steampunk though!), so hearing it has a sequel makes me very happy!

Thank you, Banui, for making this post - lots of excellent recommendations I will have to look up for personal consumption! :-D