Jump to content

Recommended Posts

So contemporary she's not even published yet .. Darcy Burdock a new funny, smart and very modern ten year old heroine from children's writer and performance poet Laura Dockrill ..( latitude, big chill,) You can pre-order on amazon tipped to be next tween novel big thing!http://www.thebookseller.com/news/rhcb-signs-laura-dockrill-three.html
Been thinking about this thread alot so I asked my Teen and preteen which teen books the felt had good role models, (as it seems there are loads for younger readers,) and apart from Katniss from the Hunger Games and some Malorie Blackman they didnt feel that any of the 'heroines' in their books were people that they'd aspire to be. They pointed out though, that most books that they read now dont have a heroine, The main protagonist is usually in some sort of moral pickle or emotional turmoil and makes mistakes...so the gils identify with them in a more adult way...much more like the sort of books we read. Their example of this was Before I Die, the story of a terminally ill teenager, fulfilling her life dreams in a short time - she is brave and organised, but she also rails against her situataion in a very teen-ish way. They also start to read adult book - eldest just read The Help for example...so maybe the fact that there are not many books with aspirational heroines is because, like us, they wouldnt want to read it because it is a bit too 2 dimensional asthey get older.
Julia Golding writes really brilliant female characters - Cat Royal in The Diamond of Drury Lane is a great role model (this won the Smarties book prize a few years ago) and she has also written a series of spy adventures featuring Darcie Lock. My daughters are a bit too young for Darcie at present but I have them in mind for the future (not sure re age range but probably year 5 onwards).
Agree with gwod that aspirational heroines can be 2d. I've just bought my newly 11 year old Anne Frank's Diary. Not fictional obviously but a really good read. Anne is a teenager dealing with ordinary teenage issues including puberty and boys but living in a scary dangerous world. In spite of the topic the book is not depressing. Would really recommend.

This thread is bringing back so many memories.


For the historically minded, I used to love The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, with heroine Kit Tyler in 17th century New England, and Mary Anning's Treasures by Helen Bush which I'm not sure is even still in print. It's no literary masterpiece but I was fascinated by the true story of a young girl who became a famous fossil collector in 19th century Devon.


Michelle Magorian is also good- Rusty in Back Home is a great sparky character and the book also tackles the subject of women retaining their independence post-WW2. I didn't like A Spoonful of Jam as much but the issues faced by the protagonist Elsie are still relevant.


ETA, on the subject of non-fictional aspirational women I should add the biography of Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson is a classic- excellent for the younger reader.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Where did I say he did a good job? Yup and Corbyn was very close to Len McCluskey and funded by Unite wasn't he...they're all as bad as each other... Labour have to purge their party of the far-left - they're a disaster. Allan Johnson summed it up so well on election night in 2019....  
    • Thank you for the detailed advise @trinidad It is definitely damage we are concerned about. I don’t think Evri would agree to pay the bill to fix our gate or letter box if they were to be damaged as a result of their delivery drivers helper. Our doorbell can be heard from outside when rung so we don’t quite believe the aggressive simultaneous door/letter box banging is necessary. It can be quite a shock it is done very aggressively.  I’ll definitely action the steps you’ve kindly provided along with a phone call tomorrow. I do sympathise with the role drivers have and how busy they are, which is why we tried communicating directly with her but sadly we haven’t succeeded 
    • What outcome would you like? Disciplinary action? Not to have the driver back? Retraining? I know there is alot of pressure on drivers to deliver within a set day. if he slams the gate, is it evidence he is causing damage, or is the noise a irritant to yourself? You could put a sign up or buy a signing asking to close the gate gentle???? can you hear the door bell from the door? he might be ringing, not hearing and therefore knocking. In trhe notes section of the be livery page, there is a note section, although there is not 100 per cent these notes would be read as these drivers are constantly rushing.  I did a google search for you, i found this and you can try the envri website Contact Us | Evri   To complain to Evri, you can follow these steps: Contact Customer Service: Call Evri's customer service at 0330 808 5456 for assistance with your complaint.    1 Write a Letter: Address your complaint to Capitol House, 1 Capitol Close, Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS27 0WH.    1 Use the Official Website: Visit the Evri complaints page on their official website for detailed instructions on how to submit a complaint.    2 Email or Call for Specific Issues: For issues like missing or damaged parcels, you can email or call 0800 988 8888, which is free to call.    1 These methods will help you effectively communicate your concerns to Evri.   My driver is called anthony, he is brilliant to be honest. I cant fault him.
    • When I have more time and energy, I will look up the actual number of votes cast for each party in that election, rather than the number of seats won. I'm interested to see that you apparently  think that  Boris Johnson did a good job of "leading the country through Covid." Is your memory really that short? I won't stoop to calling Johnson and his cronies names in the way that you seem to think is appropriate for left wing politicians. At least the left wing politicians have some semblance of morals and a concern for people who aren't in some over privileged inner circle and/or raking in money for themselves on the back of an epidemic. I'm not going to open a can of worms on here  by commenting on the disgraceful so called "purge". 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...