books for my nieces

[boxofdelights]

I've got two nieces, 10 and 13, both read a lot. The last time I saw them, I gave the 13-year-old A Natural History of Dragons. Turns out she *loves* dragons, so I lucked out there. The book she was reading was The Life of Pi. I gave the 10-year-old The True Meaning of Smekday, which I was worried might be a little young for her, but I love that book so much I wanted to share it, and it turns out that like most avid readers, she enjoys things intended for older and younger people.

So I'm casting my mind around for Christmas presents. I haven't read Uprooted, but it seems very popular among my reading list. Maybe Seraphina, but a kid who loves dragons has probably read it already. The Cloud Roads wouldn't be too mature for a kid who chose to read Life of Pi, right?

Do you have any suggestions?

Comments

[ignipes]

I don't think The Cloud Roads is too mature for a teen, not if she's an avid reader. The characters are adult but it has a lot of teen-friendly themes in it and the writing is straightforward.

For the younger one, good middle grade books I've read recently: Hoodoo by Ronald Smith, The Thickety by J.A. White, The Real Boy by Anne Ursu.

Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles are probably too young for the dragon-loving 13-year-old if she's reading adult books, but they are really great and involve a great deal of dragons, so she might like them anyway.

[boxofdelights]

I know she's read Dealing With Dragons. I have put the other three you suggested on my to-read list; they all sound very interesting!

[silveradept]

Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making would work.

Seraphina has a sequel, so more dragons there.

Jasper Fforde's The Last Dragonslayer is short on the dragons, but long on the great fun and they're should be a lot in there that makes a media-savvy child smile a lot.

[boxofdelights]

I'd forgotten about The Girl Who... That's a good suggestion!