Reading recommendations for a 14-year-old girl?

July 2, 2008 11:39 PM

I've sponsored the daughter of friends in a charity event. As part of the sponsorship, I can name a book for her to read. Here's where it gets interesting -- My friends' politics are left of center, while mine lean to the right, and I'd like to introduce their daughter to something she might not encounter otherwise. It should be age-appropriate and not over the top (like Atlas Shrugged). All suggestions appreciated.
posted by quidividi to human relations (51 comments total)

How about "Animal Farm"?
posted by Asparagirl at 11:57 PM on July 2

What about a book you remember fondly from when you were that age?
posted by tomboko at 12:10 AM on July 3

Prometheus Award winners might be a good place to start, if she's amenable to SF.
posted by mumkin at 12:12 AM on July 3

So, she's fourteen? Soon enough she'll be exposed to all kinds of things her parents don't approve of. Don't bring politics into your friendship with these people, and don't use their kid as a tool to do so. I'm not sayin' that you're trying to sabotage the household or something, but you singled out politics as the path to broaden her mind. Just broaden it. What was your favorite book when you were fourteen?
posted by Roman Graves at 12:29 AM on July 3 [16 favorites]

Please don't allow your politics to influence your answer. The OP is asking for suggestions of appropriate reading material for a 14 year old. Not if you think he should or should not be introducing this child to another point of view that she wouldn't get in her home. We don't know anything about the OP's friendship with the parents and certainly cannot judge if they would appreciate the gesture or not. That is not the question that was asked. If you would like to make a relevant suggestion, do so. If not, move along.
posted by pearlybob at 12:50 AM on July 3

I'm getting there Roman, had a child to tend to. Depending on the families religious practices, there are many, many moderate/conservative Christian authors that aim for this age group. An amazon search will give you lots of results on many relevant topics. If you want to stay clear of religion, I would suggest a biography. Maybe a political figure that you and the child have discussed or someone that she has shown some interest in. I was going to try and search for you but the aforementioned child is not settleing down so I need to run. Good luck!
posted by pearlybob at 1:17 AM on July 3

I think that The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass would be a good choice.
posted by phunniemee at 1:23 AM on July 3

Trying one more time. Found a conservative book club that had some suggestions. I gave it just a brief glance and the kids books looked pretty young for a 14 year old. You may find something that works elsewhere on the site.
posted by pearlybob at 1:28 AM on July 3

Any amount of Heinlenn's work would seem to be suitable for your purpose, I would have thought.

Although, honestly, this just sounds like the sort of thing that kick off the loss of a friendship.
posted by rodgerd at 2:08 AM on July 3

The OP's asking for a book that would expose the girl to ideas she might not get in a left-of-center household. To assume that will damage the friendship assumes a lot about the nature of both the friendship and the friends. Imagine, if you might, someone who both votes Democratic and is open to interesting, counterintuitive ideas -- astounding, I know, but these people exist. It doesn't have to be Ann Coulter, FFS.

Anyway, how about In Praise of Prejudice: The Necessity of Preconceived Ideas? It's a Gladwell/Freakonomics-type counterintuitive exploration of where prejudices come from, how they might be useful, and what harm might come from trying to eliminate them. I haven't read it but the Amazon page looks interesting.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 2:42 AM on July 3 [1 favorite]

"Something she might not encounter otherwise" might be the best angle to work with. You could give her an idea of the immense landscape of ideas out there and get her curious rather than indoctrinated. How about something like Sophie's World?

If you're set on political philosophy, there must be some engaging introductions to the (competing) ideas that inspired America's founders, for example. I just don't know any offhand. Autobiographies are fun; you could try Ben Franklin's.

I like the Animal Farm suggestion, but check if it's required reading at her school.
posted by trig at 2:59 AM on July 3 [2 favorites]

Please preview any prometheus award books carefully. I have nothing against libertarian sci-fi, but at least one of the award founder L. Neil Smith's books has graphic depictions of torture, slavery and rape. I'm not saying it's a bad book, but you probably don't want to give it to a fourteen year old girl.
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:05 AM on July 3

Most of the modern Baen books are libertarian sci-fi, unfortunately the editorial quality seems to be slipping in favor of pushing a specific political view. Still, there are some gems, and my friend who hates sci-fi and loves Jane Austen enjoys Lois McMaster Bujold, I'd suggest 'Cordelia's Honor' or maybe 'a civil campaign'. Both are basically love stories set in war, but present different political philosophies without the straw man idiocy so rampant in thinly disguised polemics that other sci-fi I've read has become (I'm looking at you David Weber and John Ringo).

What elements of what you thing of as conservatism would you like to introduce her to? Economic conservatism, social conservatism, Christianity, respect for the military? What are her parents deficient at teaching her with their liberal values?
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:24 AM on July 3

*think* not thing
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:26 AM on July 3

When I was a young lad and had just discovered Nineteen Eighty-Four, my mother gave me another book in a similar vein that I had never heard of, and to this day most people familiar with the author's works have never heard of it, let alone read it-- Anthem, by Ayn Rand. I loved it. The novel (almost a novella, considering its short length) takes place in a dystopian future where humans have reverted to an almost Medieval society where all individualism has been forbidden to the extent that the word I has been removed from language (the narrator uses the first person plural). High School kids eat this stuff up. :)

The story is similar to Yevgeny Zamyatin's We, but it's not written with any hint of satire. It's kind of like Logan's Run meets THX-1138, and if you can ignore (or are unaware) of Rand's politics the story is enormously enjoyable, particularly the climax of the story where the author discovers The Word.

This is coming from a HUGE liberal.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:28 AM on July 3 [3 favorites]

my misgiving with ayn rand is that she's a terrible writer. her ideas and premises are interesting, but i found her ideology too transparent in her books, and thought it off-putting (i was 18 when i read "atlas shrugged"). although some people love her, so who knows.

eugenia ginsburg's "into the whirlwind" is a really amazing memoir of a russian academic deported to siberia during stalin's purges. the current translation is very good and literate, and the book itself is totally absorbing and reads like a novel. i suppose, if you have conservative leanings, you could give it to her in the spirit of teaching her what happens when a government accumulates too much centralized power. or something like that. i doubt it will ever cross her mind--she'll just identify with a smart young woman protagonist who uses her wiles to survive in an impossible situation.
posted by thinkingwoman at 4:36 AM on July 3

allan bloom, the closing of the american mind?
posted by bluenausea at 4:40 AM on July 3

n-thing "Anthem."

Ayn Rand is not the best writer in the world (when I read Atlas Shrugged, I usually read John Galt's speech and the actual plot of the book concurrently, so I at least finish them at the same time). I suggest Ayn Rand because this is something that very few kids are exposed to in high school - unless they go out of their way.

Orwell is also a great suggestion: 1984, Animal Farm. I love dystopian sci-fi, so I'd throw in Farenheit 451 and Brave New World as well.
posted by SNWidget at 4:48 AM on July 3

Animal Farm, 1984.
posted by unixrat at 5:03 AM on July 3

Ender's Game? Count of Monte Cristo?
posted by prefpara at 5:15 AM on July 3

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.
posted by COD at 5:19 AM on July 3

The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith

Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, by David S. Landes

plus votes for Ender's Game, 1984, F451
posted by gmarceau at 5:41 AM on July 3

Studs Terkel.
posted by box at 5:49 AM on July 3

OK, I usually try to keep to Thumper's Rule here but unless you think overt sexism is an essential conservative value I would avoid Ayn Rand... your friends daughter will be completely repelled by how women are represented & she won't think well of you for offering it (nor will they).

How about Zora Neale Hurston? She's no liberal & is an absolutely brilliant writer - her work overflows with insight, wisdom, humor & passion.

"Their Eyes Were Watching God" is considered a classic, and justly so.
posted by jammy at 6:06 AM on July 3

Animal Farm and 1984 are great suggestions.
I loved Poland by James Michener..it's long but fascinating, and definitely paints a bleak picture of far-leftism.

I really think Animal Farm is exactly what you want, though. Or maybe something about how Cuba sucks.
posted by emd3737 at 6:27 AM on July 3

Seconding Ender's Game. She will almost certainly get assigned Orwell in school, and likely Ayn Rand as well eventually.
posted by nax at 6:31 AM on July 3

Another vote for Ender's Game per nax's reasoning.
posted by jmd82 at 6:37 AM on July 3

If she's open to science fiction (which appears, for some reason, to be the consensus), I'd recommend Stanislaw Lem's Cyberiad. Not because it fits some sort of political ideology (because that is, honestly, a stupid reason to read a book), but because it's a fantastic read.

If you're trying to "undermine" left-of-center politics, incidentally, stuff like 1984 would only cement in her mind the reason why stuff like the PATRIOT Act is dangerous. Certainly, Animal Farm is about the dangers of going too far Left, but 1984 is about the dangers of going too far Right (at least by modern American standards).
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:50 AM on July 3

nax - I wouldn't be so sure about that. I was in a pretty fleshed out G/T and AP program throughout middle school and high school, and of all of those books, I was only ever assigned Animal Farm for class. No Ayn Rand (English teacher considered it to be fascist), no 1984.

Yes, Ender's Game is probably one of the best out there, but don't assume that Ayn Rand and Orwell will be thrown into the pot.

Also, some other ideas as I had time to digest this on the metro. Starship Troopers may be a little too boy-ish, but it's still one of my favorites. Also, Heinlein's "Stanger in a Strange Land," is more pro-liberty than conservative per say, but it's still one of my favorites. Some people have described it as being a bit sexist, but I still think it makes very powerful points.

Basically, instead of looking for something "conservative," find something that pro-individual, regardless if it's sci-fi or anything else. I think that's a better message to try to get across than anything right-leaning.
posted by SNWidget at 6:53 AM on July 3

Watership Down. The bad guys are some kind of fascist commie bunnies run by a big mean dictator bunny who makes everyone conform and lets nobunny leave. The good guys are homesteaders who respect authority, religion, hard work, teamwork, and initiative. A female bunny's place is in the warren, having baby bunnies and taking care of the home, though males are allowed to do some digging in emergencies. There are no same-sex bunny couples. Etc. It's like an old cowboy movie, but with bunnies.

Basically, instead of looking for something "conservative,"

look for something old. Liberal values have become established in culture, so that supposedly conservative people today are very liberal compared to their counterparts half a century ago. Buy her any literarily great book published before about 1963 (when sexual intercourse began) and you'll almost certainly have a literarily great conservative book by today's standards.
posted by pracowity at 7:06 AM on July 3 [1 favorite]

If you are considering Ayn RandI would recommend "We The Living," over "Anthem." It has more of a story than "Anthem" and less ideology than "Atlas Shrugged" or "The Fountainhead." The college freshmen to whom I taught it several years ago loved it. (Much to my surprise.)
posted by mingshan at 7:36 AM on July 3

Oops, please forgive my typos.
posted by mingshan at 7:37 AM on July 3

The book thief.
Though it's not about politics per se, it is easily one of the best books I have ever read. And for some reason that age group seems to be interested in the holocaust in general [from all the books my peers at the time were reading and old class projects]. It's a nice read, just about the middle of the road as far as difficulty level goes, and the ideas in there are just great.
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Thief-Readers-Circle/dp/0375842209/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215097044&sr=1-1
posted by shesaysgo at 8:04 AM on July 3

Twilight (and the sequels) is currently all the rage with teenage girls.
posted by crios at 8:25 AM on July 3

As a data point, I graduated from high school in 2003, and Anthem, Animal Farm, and 1984 were all required high school reading.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:59 AM on July 3

If you're not wedded to fiction, look at P.J. O'Rourke. I gave my little sister his All the Trouble in the World and Peace Kills when she was in high school, and she loved them. He self describes as libertarian leaning, and his books are hilarious takedowns of both the left and right establishments. Great stuff for teenagers, who are already inclined to question authority.
posted by decathecting at 9:00 AM on July 3 [1 favorite]

It's been a long time since I read it, but The Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher might meet your criteria.

A completely different perspective - when I read Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed, I was struck by the nuanced and complex treatment of the society on Anarres, which repudiates property and ownership - to my reading, my idealistic "imagine no possessions" imaginings came up against the problems and conflicts of such a society. It gave me a lot to think about without feeling preachy.
posted by kristi at 9:39 AM on July 3

I gotta say, as a someone who once was a bibliophile 14 year old girl, I'd just focus on finding a book you think she'll enjoy. Every adult in her life is trying to teach her something, she gets assigned important serious books at school all the time, and that's noble, but if she'd doing the for charity, can't she also have a little fun?

I'd find out if she has any interest in sci-fi fantasy stuff. At 14, I loathed it and would have really resented being made to read it. However, if she's into that kind of thing, she'll think you rock. Also, I was assigned probably half of the books people have suggested, (Ender's Game, 1984, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Sophie's World among others) so it's worth doing a little poking around to see what's on her reading list already. I did seriously adore Ender's Game at that age, even with my hardcore sci-fi prejudice, so that's probably my favorite suggestion so far.

If you really want to focus on a finding a book that will enrich her rather than giving her a book she'll enjoy, I'd focus on something with strong female characters and a great, empowering portrayal of women. It's really hard to be 14, not quite a girl, not quite a woman, and be trying to figure that out. The more great images of women she's exposed to at that age, the better.
posted by mostlymartha at 10:44 AM on July 3 [2 favorites]

My favorite book when I was 14 was Return to Modesty. I didn't agree with everyone it said at the time, and that has become more true as I get older, but it was a powerful book for me at a time when I was entering high school and coming in contact with a large number of teens who were making different life choices than I was. It provided a reminder that I was in charge of me, that I could make my own choices and that nobody owned my body but me. It was a very good thing to hear at the time.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:27 AM on July 3 [1 favorite]

Ender's Game.
posted by konolia at 11:39 AM on July 3

Ender's Game.
posted by arcticwoman at 12:12 PM on July 3

I second Sophie's World. I first read it when I was about 10 and I grasped some things - obviously I would understand more of it now. But that's the beauty of it; everytime you read it you learn something new.
posted by divabat at 3:04 PM on July 3

Just because so many are recommending Sophie's World, I wanted to share that I read it when I was about 14 and it really pissed me off. I felt like the book was condescending and talked down to me. For what it's worth, I would recommend against that book.
posted by prefpara at 3:24 PM on July 3

It's hard to recommend for a 14-year-old. I know that that age, I read both adult books and childrens books, depending on how I felt. Now in my late 40s, I still do. But I digress...

How about the works of C.S. Lewis? They aren't explicitly political, but they certainly do illustrate some conservative (and of course, Christian) values. Maybe That Hideous Strength would be suitable, since might be too old for Narnia (or already read them). It's got some interesting anti-totalitarian themes, as well as the sci-fi vibe.
posted by Robert Angelo at 4:35 PM on July 3

I remember That Hideous Strength / Out of the Silent Planet / Perelandra as definitely having a strong 'women are the weaker sex' component. I may be misremembering, but if so, it might stick in her craw a bit. Still good books though, and there were some conservative messages that came through including a little bit of a Christian environmental stewardship theme.
posted by BrotherCaine at 7:38 PM on July 3

First, a big "thank you" for all the suggestions.

Second, please don't worry about the political aspect my relationship with her parents. It's out in the open and something we joke about
posted by quidividi at 9:47 PM on July 3

What Civil Disobedient said. I came in to suggest "Anthem".

I'm a liberal. I am not over-the-top anti-Ayn Rand. In fact, I respect her thoughts and enjoyed her stories. Anthem is perfect for that age.

When she gets older (17 or so) then buy her "Friday", by Heinlein. The protagonist is female, of the very intelligent, strong variety you'd expect from Heinlein. I think the content may be too adult for her, currently. (It is one of his last books, and quite adult).
posted by Goofyy at 6:21 AM on July 4

Ayn Rand is not only a hack writer, but also a not-incredibly-successful propagandist (how many Rand readers are politically-active libertarians? How many are capitalist supermen? How many are disgusted?) and something of a misogynist. Besides all that, the sheer number of times her name has come up in this thread should make it pretty clear that she doesn't qualify as 'something [the girl] might not encounter otherwise.' And besides that, the poster specifically called out Atlas Shrugged as too over-the-top. Bearing all of this is mind, it seems to me that the Rand suggestions are not necessarily very good ones.
posted by box at 6:58 AM on July 4 [1 favorite]

Dude. "Gone with the Wind".
posted by headspace at 8:00 AM on July 4 [1 favorite]

Previously, and somewhat related, though aimed at a 16-year-old.
posted by librarina at 12:11 PM on July 4 [1 favorite]

A Wizard of Earthsea
posted by elle.jeezy at 4:26 PM on July 5