Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion CRAZY good reader...never reads...???

My girls and I both liked the Hunger Games series for the first two books and found the third book very disappointing. The characters kind of went off in directions that didn't seem to be supported by their earlier behavior. It is violent, but not something that I worried about terribly in that it is the type of violence that isn't something my kids are likely to see in the real world.

I worried a lot more when dd13 read The Lovely Bones when she was something like 11 or so b/c the main character is raped and murdered and was about the same age as my dd. That seemed more real and, had I read it first and realized that, I probably would have tried to direct dd away from it.

My youngest is enjoying a book called Reswyt on her Nook right now, but I haven't read it so I really don't know much about it.

Another nice series is the Penderwick Sisters. They are newer books, but have an old-fashioned feel. I see a lot of great ones listed above. We've often gone with Newbury winners, and anything by E.L. Konigsburg, is great, too.

I absolutely "ditto" all comments about ignoring Lexiles. First of all, I can't even guess what our adult lexiles would be (1500+? 2000+? does it go up from there?), but most of the best-selling books are only around 700-950. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, for example, which I recently read, has a lexile of just over 900. Does that mean it can't be of interest to me, just because I'm capable of reading something supposedly more difficult? Of course not. Most NY Times best sellers (things like Jodi Picoult books, for example) are often only in the 700's. I encourage anyone who is at a school that absolutely requires the children to read in their lexile range, to point this out to the teacher. You can even ask them what they have been reading in their personal time, and show them the lexiles :-)

But I do agree that highly capable readers should intersperse some more challenging vocabulary/sentence structure into their reading, so the classics can be great for this! They contain age-appropriate content, but are more challenging than current books.

I do think my own daughter had a temporary phase of being turned off from reading, and it may be that she was reading overly-challenging, or boring-to-her books. Once she settled into some books that were more enticing to her, she got right back into it, with gusto!

Good luck.

The VP has good feedback, but... lots of books appropriate for your daughter? The lexile bookfinder has *3* books in your daughter's range (-100/+50) that are fiction and labeled non-conforming (appropriate to a younger audience). And 675 fiction books that might or might not be completely inappropriate (_Mists of Avalon_) or otherwise uninspiring for a child that age (boring/too long: _Mansfield Park_ is a great book, but...).

Tell your daughter she graduated out of lexile and now gets a full run of the library? And quietly collect some suggestions that go all the way from high to low?

Some short(er) stories in the "right" range:
Kipling's Jungle Book
Sherlock Holmes
Poe (might be a bit gory)

Does the Tolkien allergy extend to all SF&F? Do the girls issues have to be contemporary? If not early Robin McKinley has some fairy tale re-renditions and two YA books (The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, young girls coming of age through adventuring) that would be age appropriate. Steer well clear of Deerskin (rape/incest) and maybe also Sunshine (vampires, very gory).

What was that werewolf/moon series (so many of them, so few age appropriate...)?

I agree with all the other posters who ignore the lexile range and the reading logs. I understand why the schools use them, but don't find them helpful in our situation.

Have you considered magazines, such as Cricket? The reading isn't difficult but each issue has a variety of stories, poems, pictures, etc. about all sorts of topics. My DD9 (also a very advanced reader) loves to get the magazine each month. It might be a way to ease back into reading. There are actually several different magazines to choose from and they cover everything from literature to science to archeology. It's a good way to uncover topics that might be interesting and lead to other books on a certain subject, too.

http://www.cricketmag.com/ProductList.aspx?type=M

Not her lexile level, but a book she might enjoy - "Out of my Mind" by Sharon Draper. Just started reading it with ds8 and he's really enoyed the first few lines LOL I bought it on my Kindle, but we read the first few pages on my phone as we were walking home one day. Must get back to it when we get a chance !

My son (5) does this. He CAN read really well but I know he has NEVER EVER read at his level at school (possibly not at home where I can see either). I know this cause when I start a new bedtime story with him, he reads phrases over my shoulder, asking me to hurry up to the part where it says"......". When I suggest he reads the book he quickly states that it's too hard, there are no pictures etc.

It sounds as though you have a plan now, some other books you may want to look at: Little Women (Louisa May Alcott), Judy Blume books are all awesome, Sue Townsend books (Diary of Adrian Mole), ! When I was her age I also loved to read the pre-teen/teen girl trying to figure out her life kinda books.

I'd say let her read what she wants to read - as an adult I recall re-reading a lot of Enid Blyton books like Naughtiest girl in the school etc over and over. I just really enjoyed the stories I'd really say let her read what she wants - and then every now and then select 5 or 6 new books and let her choose 2 from those to add to her collection (these could be closer to her level if you wanted)

Thank you ALL for you wonderful suggestions and concern! It's amazing how much common sense is on this forum and not in real life. She came home from school yesterday very excited to finish up her Cat Book and wanted to start right away on The Hunger Games. So, she finished her book last night and asked to go to the library to get the Hunger Games. Would you know they are so popular that there were no coppies left in the library. The Librarian, who knows her Lexile and has been asked by the VP to guide DD's reading choices suggested a book. The Grimm Legacy. She is excited reading it, but I looked it up and it is a 600 Lexile! I know I know...I was just complaining that I don't WANT her to have to read at HER Lexile....but 600 is even BELOW her grade level! Anyway...I am happy she is going to enjoy this book and I have a feeling it will be read in a day and a half, so we better go find those Hunger Games and I'm going to write down some of your suggestions too! Thank you!

OMG! Look at all my spelling problems! You must be amazed that I have offspring who reads so well! lol!

She also asked me to find her the Alex Rider Books.
I looked them up at a Lexile 680 to 780....

Not great, but a little closer...So, those are the things she is interested in at the moment...I guess. The are Fantasy? No? Realistic Fantasy? Thriller?

I don't know..
The Cat Who Books were mysteries...so, I really don't know what she likes. I don't THINK she likes SiFi. She claimes to HATE talking animals, yet she LOVED Harry Potter.
Again...thank you for all your thoughts.

My DD9 just read one called "The Ruby Key" and couldn't put it down. Lexile 860. It has magic and other worlds a little like Harry Potter (although nothing is really like Harry Potter). It has a sequel called "The Silver Door."

How are they handling reading at school? I mentioned on another post that my DD hates her school reading group because they stop too often to overanalyze every little thing. It definitely takes the fun out of reading.