Reading List for Tween Girls

Do you have a little lady in your life who loves to read? If so, there’s a chance you’ve gotten to the point where you’re having trouble finding age-appropriate, wholesome books for her that will also hold her interest. I want to share with you some of my favorite books and series that stick out to me from my middle school-age days.

1. A Life of Faith: Elsie Dinsmore series by Martha Finley

Historical. Fictional. Inspirational. Some of my very favorites all in one! I read these eight faith-filled books set in the 1800s more times than I even remember as a girl -more than twice at the very least!- and hope to get back to these ones someday. I sooo recommend!

2. A Life of Faith: Violet Travilla series by Martha Finley

This series would be best read after the Elsie books mentioned above, as (spoiler alert) Violet is Elsie’s daughter. I remember loving these ones and reading them more than once too!

3. A Life of Faith: Millie Keith by Martha Finley

For whatever reason, this particular series didn’t appeal to me as a twelve-year-old, apparently, because I didn’t read them until I was probably seventeen. I still loved them at that age, though, and would recommend them to older teens as well as younger. So inspirational! (The first four of the eight books are shown below in a boxed set on Amazon.)

4. Glimmer Girls series by Natalie Grant

These were fun mysteries about three sisters, two of which are twins. I actually just bought one of these for my niece’s birthday! There are four books in total. They were written by Christian singer Natalie Grant, which I thought was cool!

5. Lena in the Spotlight trilogy by Alena Pitts and Wynter Pitts

These books caught my attention at a Christian bookstore one time when they were new, and I was excited to find out they were written by actress Alena Pitts, who starred as the young girl in the Christian movie War Room. I found them similar to the Glimmer Girls books, but they weren’t mysteries.

6. The Prince Warriors trilogy and sequel by Priscilla Shirer with Gina Detwiler

Never judge a book by its cover! I am guilty of doing this as a pre-teen when it came to these first three books. I eventually ended up reading them, though, and loved them! I actually read them more than once, and even wrote to the author twice! I was thrilled when she came out with a fourth a couple years after the first came out. They were full of adventure and are great for girls and boys! I haven’t been much into fantasy or stories with other worlds, but I definitely came back to these ones!

7. The Green Ember series by S.D. Smith

Again, I’m no sucker for fantasy, but these were edge-of-your-seat kind of books filled with action and adventure! I first heard about these books at a homeschool convention where the author had a booth and possibly was speaking, and they didn’t strike my interest at first, but then my family got into them, and I ended up reading them and liking them quite a bit! They are about personified rabbits, which is different than what I usually read/read, but it added some good variety to my reading list as a young teen. My family and I even met the author at another convention a few years later, after we knew what The Green Ember was all about.

So that wraps up my recommended list for middle school age kids! I know it can be hard to find suitable books for young minds in this crazy world we live in, so I am so thankful that these were all a part of my life back then, and am happy to pass these titles along to you and your tween if you haven’t heard of them! Happy reading!

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