I really can’t remember how I moved from looking at the shelves of children’s books in the library to those of adults. I certainly didn’t get any help or advice; not that I asked for it of course.
Walking the bookshops (not the library you note. There is a change in culture and economic wealth) with my granddaughter who is a fluent and avid reader, she ventured that maybe she could look at the young adult section. Well, at 11 maybe she could not be considered a young adult but I understood what she was thinking. She has read the Harry Potter books several times and Narnia and indeed the Hobbit. What could come next? We scanned the shelves and both agreed that the offerings were ghastly, mainly horror, lots of blood and vampires. No, definitely not. She loves Greek and Roman mythology and homed in on a book by Madeline Miller which I vetoed on the grounds that I hadn’t read that one and it was probably full of rape and pillage. Not necessary at 11.
After drinks and pastries and much consideration we retreated to the classics, safe ground but still excellent reading. We bought PL Travers Mary Poppins and Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz. Maybe soon we’ll put Little Women into the mix and Ballet Shoes. PG Wodehouse might just work and the nearest we need go towards horror could be Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials.
Tricky times … but interesting.