Stephen King for DD10

[Colleen27]

Nightmares and Dreamscapes and Eye of the Dragon are the tamest of his works that I remember, but depending on the child's personality you might not have anything to worry about. I went through a Stephen King phase when I was 10/11/12 (5th & 6th grade) and the only one of his books that really scared/upset me was The Stand. My mom never limited what I read and I stumbled across a garage sale the summer before 5th grade that had pretty much every SK paperback in existence for a quarter a piece. Those kept me busy for a good long time, and really started my interest in horror/supernatural fiction.

 

[clarabelle]

I am listening to IT right now -no way would I let a 10 y.o. read it.

My DD 11 likes an author named Mary Downing Hahn


She writes ghost -type stories that would be age appropriate

 

[nhrenee]

I've been a huge SK fan for years. The only book I'd recommend for someone that young would be Eye of the Dragon. He wrote it for his daughter because she complained all his books were too scary for her to read, lol.

 

[agnes!]

Was "Hearts in Atlantis" that bad/scary? I think it was the last Stephen King I read and I mostly remember it being a mystery-type of book.

agnes!

 

[Scurvy]

I've been a huge SK fan for years. The only book I'd recommend for someone that young would be Eye of the Dragon. He wrote it for his daughter because she complained all his books were too scary for her to read, lol.

I was about to say that I've always thought of "Eyes of the Dragon" as almost being a Stephen King kids' book. I guess this explains why! I never knew that before, but it certainly explains why it's so different than all his other books.

OP, that's the only one I would recommend for a 10 year old. Of the others, most of them have sex scenes (including some very graphic, abusive ones in "It") or very disturbing parts. I know you said you were willing to pre-read them, and I think that's a good idea. It's so subjective as to what is objectionable for a child that age, so I wouldn't rely too much on what any of us say about them being okay for kids. Things I might object to you might not, and vice versa. I don't remember anything specifically horrible in Misery except for the ankle thing, but I actually find it to be one of his most disturbing books - maybe because it's so much more realistic than the others.

 

[Planogirl]

I was trying to remember if there was anything that bad in Desperation. What about The Shining? I remember reading Salem's Lot so many years ago and how much that one scared me at the time. I still love it though.

 

[kimblebee]

Just thought of another one although I have to say it's been a few years since I read it. I don't remember there being any sex/violence in it. It's called Insomnia.

 

[phragmipedium]

I was reading his books from my dad's bookshelf at that age. Off the top of my head, some of the less "surreal" or disturbing ones that are also pretty easy reading would be Dolores Claiborne, Misery, and Needful Things (this one is long but good and I don't think there's anything in there that would blow a 5th grader's mind). Green Mile and Girl Who Loves Tom Gordon would also be good ones. She could probably handle Thinner too. A lot of it just depends on her maturity level and what you tihnk she can handle - age is so relative when it comes to books. I'd maybe just read some book reviews on any you consider so you can get an idea of whether it's too much for her.

Of my favorites one I can really think I might wait on is maybe Rose Madder, which is excellent but probably too heavy or upsetting at that age. Desperation and The Regulators (one of these is under King's pseudonym Richard Bachman) were so odd I had a hard time getting into them and they are very long also; I would probably wait on those. Cujo is also an easy read but could be traumatizing depending on her current feelings towards dogs anyway. I'd skip It also for now, and many of his longest books - aside from Needful Things which is really captivating, I think it might be hard for her to get through them. I haven't read much of his earliest or his latest works - I did read Duma Key, which was alright, but it was long, fairly surreal and disturbing, and probably not the first one I'd recommend she read.

 

[Sparx]

Honestly, she may not like King. I loved Harry Potter and devoured JKR's writing. However, King's delivery leaves much wanting for me. He's very very detail oriented and I end up feeling like, "IS ANYTHING EVER GOING TO HAPPEN?!!" I don't think JKR can be compared to King really well with writing style.

The only ones I've read are:
The Stand
Salem's Lot
Pet Semetary.

I mostly read those because I was a pretty big fan of the movies. I remember sex in The Stand, but I'm not really sure about the others?

 

[Carl Fredricksen]

As already mentioned, Four Seasons, The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon, Misery, The Green Mile, and The Talisman would probably be good starting points.

FWIW I read Salem's Lot for the first time at that age, and although creepy, it didn't freak me out too bad. My DD who did Harry Potter and the Twilight saga really liked reading it when she was 12. Very good early King page turner IMO.

 

[ICF]

I've not read them all by any means, but based on the 10-12 I've read I dont think there is any I would want my 10 year old reading.

The Green mile and Misery are both way to heavy for a 10 year old, IMO. I havent read the Tom Gordon one, but given the main character is 9 that might by the best choice if you really thinks she needs to be reading King.

 

[bicker]

The Talisman.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Just chiming in to say my first thought was Eyes of the Dragon. Second thought was Different Seasons.

First SK book I read was IT because my mom told me it was great, but I couldn't read it yet. I was 12. Yes, there's some sexual scenes in it, but I certainly wasn't scarred for life. Rather, I had everyone else at school who wasn't allowed to read it, but wasn't brave enough to sneak it, asking me what happened.

 

[SDFgirl]

I'd second (third, fourth, fifth) those that say The Eyes of the Dragon. It was my first SK book and still my favorite. It's got some PG-13 sex in it, but nothing too graphic.

Also The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is pretty tame.

 

[lovepurple]

I have the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon pop-up book. It is pretty cool.

 

[Magpie]

Okay, I just asked my 14 daughter what she thinks, since she read a lot of these books when she was ten.

She says that she thinks the only Stephen King book that would be appropriate for a ten year old is "Eyes of the Dragon". That said, she really enjoyed "Carrie", "The Shining" and "Firestarter" when she was ten. I know, I'm a bad parent.

My daughter also recommends "The Belgariad" and "The Mallorean", by David Eddings, if your daughter is a fantasy fan. Also, the Feist stuff - Magician Apprentice, Magician Master, Silverthorne and Darkness at Sethanon - are very good, and not inappropriate for a young girl.

She really loved Anne McCaffrey's books, and she assures me that the gay sex stuff will go right over your daughter's head. I will say, though, that my daughter was reading a collection of short stories by McCaffrey, when she looked up and asked me, "Mom, what's an orgasm?"

As far as books written specifically for teens, in the sci-fi fantasy genres, my daughter recommends, "The Hunger Games" and its sequel "Catching Fire", and also the "Uglies" series, (Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras), and the "Maximum Ride" series (she didn't like the most recent book, but says the first 3 are pretty good).

I hope this helps!

 

[Magpie]

I think the main reason people object to children reading "It" is because part way through the story a 12yo girl's father tries to rape her. Then near the end of the book the 12yo boys all have to have intercourse with this girl, one after the other, in order to escape from It.

It's pretty bizarre, and I suspect it couldn't have been published today. That said, I read it when I was 11, and somehow I managed not to notice that there was any sex in it at all.

 

[Disney-Kim]

I read the Shining at 12

and was hooked. The Stand was a great book, Dead Zone, The book with the four short stories including "stand by me" was great, Misery.....those were the ones I enjoyed when I was younger.

 

[yoopermom]

I'm a young adult librarian, and, while I read and loved all his books at that age, I try to remind my young readers that SK writes "stories that you can picture yourself in, for good or bad". If she likes fantasy, try any of the ones mentioned above, and the Uglies series is absolutely fab, no matter what her taste.

Terri

 

[JessicaR]

Thinner - by Stephen King, published under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. Wonderful book!