Embrace the young heroine! There are many exciting adventure books for teens and “tweens” out right now. These young heroines strive to figure out what their future will be, and take charge of it; a wonderful message for our daughters and sons. These adventures would appeal to both sexes; the pacing of these are very good.
What would Sherlock Holmes’ sister be like? Thanks to author Nancy Springer, we get a chance to find out: Springer has invented a resourceful fourteen year old: Enola Holmes. Enola was told by her mother almost daily that she would do very well on her own. In fact, her very name, Enola, is “alone” spelled backwards. On her 14th birthday, Enola’s mother disappears. While mourning and wondering over her absence, Enola’s two much older brothers descend on the house, trying to fit her into “proper” clothes, while decrying their silliness: steel corsets, bustle, train, etc. Enola discovers secret, cryptic messages with flower-related clues from her mother, and hidden stashes of cash. On the eve of deliverance to dismal finishing school, where Enola fears her corsets will be tightened down weekly to train a 15″ waist, at the risk of her death, she runs away. Arriving in London, she has adventures, some quite perilous, as she searches for her mother, a missing young man, and strives to evade her brother Sherlock’s thorough search. They are an easy read. One main theme is feeling alone and at odds with family, and trying to find your own way into womanhood.
Her first Enola Holmes book is The Case of the Missing Marquess; the sequel: The Case of the Left-Handed Lady. I just saw that there are three more sequel books after these. (YAY!) Reading levels in online reviews go from grades 6-9 (not sure about 6th grade… some dark descriptions of London’s poor and attempted stabbings), and grades 9-12. I think junior high and high school would be best. No sex.
Nancy Springer’s other tales involve heroines associated with Robin Hood and Camelot. In Rowan Hood, Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest we meet the daughter of Robin Hood. It’s also an easy but entertaining read with many adventures: meeting forest beings, a giant minstrel, and a nobleman’s daughter, and striving to free Robin Hood from the Sherrif of Nottingham’s prison. This one was melancholic for a large portion due to the opening plotline, yet will resonate with young women trying to find their place in the world. Four more sequels follow this one. Her books about Camelot are on my upcoming reading list. No sex in Rowan Hood.
Author Juliet Marillier has written a captivating Celtic fantasy trilogy. The stories are based on an Irish family living at the Sevenwaters hold, in the midst of a magical forest. These books would be for high school age reading, in my opinion. In book one, Daughter of the Forest, the younger daughter of six brothers, Sorcha, is left to roam free with them by a grieving and absent father. When he returns with a new bride, an evil sorceress, great challenges threaten to tear the family apart. Then the brothers are changed by the step-mother’s evil magic. Their sister must flee, and complete a quest to free her brothers. This book is a blend of fantasy, magic, romance and adventure. I think it’s based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, the “Wild Swans.” One incidence of rape, that I could have done without (not essential to the story).
In the sequel, Son of the Shadows, Sorcha’s children are also caught up with Fair Folk’s plans (magical beings), subterfuge, family secrets, fiefdom politics, and more. Sorcha’s daughter Liadan, a well known healer, is captured while traveling by the infamous hired mercenary, the “Painted Man.” His skin is intricately tatooed on one half of his body, and his face bears the sign of the raven. Ordered to heal a man, Liadan wonders whether she will live to see Sevenwaters again. Her future changes greatly from then on, and she has to choose which path that future will take. This book is by far my favorite, although the first book is a close second. Note: this book contains some sex and a scene where an arm is amputated to save a man’s life.
Child of the Prophecy is the third book in the series, detailing the life of the next generation of Sevenwaters women. It shows the young heroine’s study of magic in a desolate, near deserted island; trying to fit into her disgraced mother’s former home; and the Sevenwaters clan’s attempts to regain possession of the magical isles between ancient Scotland and Ireland. The series as a whole is very good and I recommend it.
Juliet Marillier has other series out, too: Foxmask, Wildwood Dancing, and Dark Mirror (the Bridei Chronicles). Some of them are quite dark, and even I had to stop reading them for a while because they were depressing me with their characters’ periods of longing and hopelessness. There is sex in Fox Mask.
I just finished “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” by Joan Aiken. Young Bonnie’s parents are going on a trip to cure her mother’s illness. Bonnie, who’s about eight or nine years old, is left in the care of an unscrupulous relation who fires the servants, burns the father’s will, and puts Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia into forced labor at a so-called school. But plucky Bonnie isn’t one to lie down quietly and take it all, and she and Sylvia triumph over their scheming enemies. The plot and pacing are quick, and pretty believable. It was a fun romp similar to “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” No sex.
Edith Pattou’s East was an enthralling read. The story is told from changing character’s point of view in each chapter. In this fairy tale, a child’s future can be foretold by the direction they were born. The mother swears that her daughter is an East child (complacent), but really she was born facing North, meaning she will be a wanderer. Very soon the daughter meets a talking, magical polar bear, who promises to make the family rich if they give their daughter to him. The girl decides for the family, leaps onto his back, and they travel very far away to a magic, luxury-filled cave. The young girl tries to figure out who the mysterious polar bear really is. It’s a fascinating retelling of a Nordic fairy tale. No sex.
What would you do if your sister went to visit an aunt in the city, and disappeared? And what if you found out that there was more to who you were, that you were more than just a farm boy? The adventures Hero’s Song and its sequel Fire Arrow, also by Edith Pattou, detail a medieval adventure of a young boy, two girls, and an elf, and their fight against evil. He finds out more about his destiny along the way. It reminded me of the wonderful magic lands in Lord of the Rings. The pace was great, and entertaining even for an adult. It’s inspiring to see a girl who’s great at archery, and the focus of the second book is more on her character. I highly recommend this author. No sex in these books, preteen characters (about 12-14).
How does a girl meet boys, when she isn’t allowed to even smile at them, much less talk? What is it like for a young woman growing up in modern day India? In Kashmira Sheth’s Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet we learn and grow with the main character as she smiles at a cute boy a the public pool (no talking!), her older sister marries and has a child, and her life changes. She wonders who will want to marry her, because her skin is “koyal dark,” darker than her beautiful sister’s. She also wants an education. This story is a wonderful mesh of customs, old and modern, colliding head-on and trying to find a middle ground. Very compelling story, highly recommend. No sex.
What can a young woman do when her heart’s desire, Lancelot, falls for another woman, who’s King Arthur’s wife as well? Can Lancelot see her as a woman, when she’s grown up in a travelling war camp, as sister and healer to them all? Can she escape the Picts who’ve taken her in time to save Arthur’s forces and her family? Lisa Ann Sandell’s Song of the Sparrow is Arthurian legend and adventure told entirely in non-rhyming poem form. The story’s sparse words ring as clear and true, we empathize with the young woman’s heartfelt longing. Highly recommended. No sex.
Enjoy these tales. Good reading!
