Book Recommendations

[bobtheenchantedone]

I am tutoring a Chinese woman in English and she asked if I wanted to give her any homework. Since all of her reading and writing up to this point has been academic, I thought it would be a good idea to assign her some novels/other fun reading and have her try writing her own stories. Anyone have any suggestions for books? The idea is to expand her vocabulary and get her more familiar with English grammar and whatnot, but for them not to be too advanced so she doesn't have to work as hard as she does with the academic reading. I'm thinking of starting with well-written YA novels.

[Shrinky Dink]

Depending on her English level, it might help for us to know exactly what grade level of books your looking at (4-6 grade, jr high, or high school?).

When I was in 4th-6th grade, I really enjoyed Eva Ibbotson books, particularly Which Witch? and Journey to the River Sea.
Some books I enjoyed in Jr High and High School include Eragon (C Paolini), Wildwood Dancing (J Marillier), The Candy Shop War (B Mull), and Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians (B Sanderson).

Some books/resources might include the Beehive Book Award Nominees (http://www.clau.org/2014-2015-nominees- ... award.html) I have already read Skinny, it's interesting and oddly heartbreaking, and I've been wanting to read The Testing. You could also use the AR Book Finder to get a more specific search (http://www.arbookfind.com/)

[Violet]

I read a lot of fairy tale twists and historical fiction when I was young. Maybe something like The Westing Game? Ella Enchanted still rings true with me. Those do skew easier reading.

Re: beehive book awards, I didn't love Skinny, but there are some good ones from years past.

[SmurfBlueSnuggie]

Dianna Wynn Jones is one of my favorite authors. Her books are for younger teens typically, but have really great character development so that they are still fascinating to older readers. I also love Robin McKinley's versions of fairy tales. My favorites of hers a are some of the harder ones however. If I remember rightly, Fairest is a broad reading level.