There is nothing like curling up with a book that you love.
They are good friends that you can visit again, and again. Books are also new friends that you can meet for the very first time!
A world that was previously unknown to you is discovered when you crack open a book. (Or turn one on, in this digital loving world.) I love how you can travel through history and to imaginary places!
Books are in my blood. My great-grandparents owned a bookstore. My aunt and uncle owned a used bookstore. Another aunt is a children’s librarian. The rest of us are just book obsessed!
My mom started us off as infants and kept reading to us until our early teens. She introduced me to many of my favourites! I am amazed when I look back and realize how many of the books shaped how I relate to the world and who I am today.
Here are 10 books that every young girl should read. Many are classics, some are more modern. All of them hold a special place in my heart.
10 Books Every Young Girl Should Read
1. Grandma’s Attic
Oh, Grandma’s Attic, they are sweet, funny, and life-shaping stories based on the lives of the author’s grandma Mable and best friend Sarah Jane. Mable and Sarah Jane are a younger/old-fashioned version of Lucy and Ethel.
As you read the books you will find yourself laughing till you cry, crying through their sorrows, and learning through all the stages of the girls’ lives from childhood to motherhood.
My top picks:
- All of them! 🙂
2. Little House Series
Laura Ingall’s Wilder’s Little House Series will always have a soft spot in my heart. They are the first chapter books I remember my mom reading to us as children and the first “big books” I read when the world of words finally made sense to my brain at the age of nine.
She takes you back to the time of the pioneers, to a simpler (though not easier) way of life. Girls and boys alike learn what life was like through the joy, sorrows, and delights of life on the frontier.
I have read the whole series more times than I can count. My childhood best friend and I were obsessed to the point where we knew the chapter, page number, and exact paragraph of our favourite passages.
My dream home was even designed after Laura’s home where she wrote the books. (Perfectly normal thing for 10-year-old to decide right…?)
The series also inspired many recipes that I have created.
My top picks:
- Little House in the Big Woods
- Little Town on the Prarie
- These Happy Golden Years
3. Rhoda Straight and True
My aunt handed me a copy of Rhoda Straight and True at my Grandma Burnett’s house when I was about 10 years old. It deals with hard issues that are still 100% relevant today, though the book takes place in New York City during the 1950s.
It is a coming of age story of a young girl named Rhoda, where deep issues like bullying, poverty, friendship, and mental effects of war are dealt with.
4. The Ordinary Princess
This sweet tale is everything a fairy tale should be and isn’t. You are drawn into the story of princess “Amy” who is nothing like what a princess should be and who is like the title suggests quite ordinary. It is a pure delight to see how her story ends in its own happily ever after that is unlike your typical ever after.
5. Jane Austen
Dear Jane Austen, a list like this would not be complete without her books.
I didn’t actually “read” the books on my own until my twenties. Instead, I listened to them on audio (back in the cassette tapes from the library days), when I was in High School working on art projects.
I really like how Jane Austen so accurately portrays human nature, the good and the bad. It is what makes her characters so relatable and loveable (or dislikable).
My top picks:
6. Little Women
I dreamed of being Jo, yet as I have grown older, I realized that I am no Jo March. I’m okay with that now. I more of a Meg, with a touch of Amy…
Louisa May Alcott, (I was always crushed that it wasn’t spelled M-a-e) taught me the importance of family, through thick and thin. She so accurately portrayed all the emotions of life in Little Women.
I enjoyed seeing Marmee’s girls grow, I have been able to relate to the girls as I grew, through each season of life that they passed through.
7. The Christy Miller Series
Christy Miller shaped so many things about my perspective of God, relationships, and life. They are the most “modern” books on my list.
The author Robin Jones Gunn beautifully weaves the story of grace throughout out the series as you see the characters grow, mature, and learn through all the intense emotions teenage girls feel, and the difficult choice they have to make.
8. The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narina are not focused on just girls but there is so much to learn from them! My regret is that I didn’t discover the rich beauty and fun delight of the series until adulthood.
They are full of deep lessons of integrity, trust, and perseverance amongst other things woven throughout all the books. Those are all important lessons for any young girl to learn.
My top picks:
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
- The Horse and His Boy
- The Last Battle
This White Hot Chocolate inspired by The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a delight!
9. Anne of Green Gables Series
Anne was my imaginary big sister, which is completely fitting since she had her own imaginary friends.
Who doesn’t love the “Anne Girl”? She is my INFP kindred spirit. It’s no wonder that I was such a fan from an early age.
What can’t you learn from Anne? She is the best friend every girl needs to have. Seriously, though, you follow her from childhood all the way through motherhood. In Anne, you see a raw look at emotions and life, and how to press on and embrace life anyway.
My top picks:
- Anne of Green Gables
- Anne of the Island
- Anne of Windy Poplars
Fun thing, the copy of Anne of Green Gables was from my Aunt Pat, the librarian. It was given to her by my great-grandparent’s who owned the bookstore!
Raspberry Cordial anyone?
10. Always Plenty
Alway Plenty is the newest on my list. It won my heart this past spring before it was released to the public. My sweet friend Caroline Rose Kraft retold the beautiful, true story of a young girl named Eddie, and her family in the mid-1940s.
It is a delightful read that is reminiscent to Sarah Plain and Tall.
Well, there you have it!
Way, way late to this party, but thank you for the excellent list. One hill that I will die on is to plead with your first-time readers of the Narnia books is to read them in the order that Lewis published with, with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first and “The Magician’s Nephew well down in the list at #5, even though chronologically it’s first and seems to be now marketed as the first book in the series.
Another recommendation, for those who enjoy a bit of fantasy, I recommend the Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. Based on Welsh mythology (somewhat), it features a couple of teenage protagonists and their companions as they save the kingdom. Start with The Book of Three and read the whole satisfying series through to The High King.
Thank you! 🙂 Yes, indeed! The first time I read the Narnia books I read them chronologically.They hold a deeper meaning when you read them as you suggested.
I’ve never hear of the Prydian series. Thank you for the suggestion! I’ll have to look them up.
You should add Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
That is a delightful read!
This was lovely! I would add The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes; The Golden Name Day by Jennie Lindquist; The Velvet Room by Zilpha Snyder and so many more!!
Thank you. <3 I haven't read any of those. Thank you for the suggestions!
Thank you for this list. There are so many books out there, it’s hard to go through them and make sure they are truly meaningful.
Although the main character is a boy, I would also add the Becoming Jesse series by Patsie McCandless. Beautiful, uplifting lessons and a great read-aloud or read alone book!
You’re welcome! I’ll have to look for that. Thank you for the recommendation!
I am so glad you have The Ordinary Princess on this list! It was the first book I ever bought at a book fair with (remember those lol) and I have read it hundreds of times. I still have that little paperback! I know that it really informed who I have grown up to be in a huge way.
Book Fairs are the best! 🙂 It is such a special book.
Book titles for young girls of color?
This is an old blog post that really could use updating. Thank you for asking to help me remember! Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry is an excellent book. It’s not heart warming which I think is what my original intent was with this list, yet it is an important and good read. It’s one that has stayed with me since I first read it when I was about 12.
I love a good book list! I own all but 3 of the books on your list! The Ordinary Princess has always been a favorite of mine but it’s often underrated. I would also add the Elsie Dinsmore series, the Betsy-Tacy series, Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter and First Date and Starring Me by Krista McGee (modern Christian stories similar to the Christy Miller series).
The Ordinary Princess really is underrated! I can’t say that I have a fondness for Elsie Dinsmore but I did have a friend grownup cup that loved them. I was just thinking about reading Freckles the other day, it’s one that I have been meaning to read! I’ll have to check out First Date and Starring Me. Thank you for the recommendations!
Johanna Spyri’s Heidi should be a must-read for every young (and old!) girl!
Oh, yes! It truly is. I should have thought to include it. 🙂
Understood Betsy is one that I’d put on my list! Teaches contentment and the goodness in learning to become responsible and trustworthy.
I’ve heard other talk about that one but I haven’t read it yet. Thank you for suggesting it! 🙂
HI Katie,
You have some great choices here! Right now, I’m reading aloud Anne of Green Gables to my third graders at Rift Valley Academy. It goes along with the Social Studies unit we were doing on Canada. 🙂
How fun!
Oh I love so many of these books (the Grandma’s attic series was a favorite when I was a kid) and now I have some new ones to collect and read. Thanks for the wonderful list!
You’re welcome! 🙂 I read Grandma’s Attic books just for laughs and encouragement sometimes!