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.
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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.