 | Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
Buy new: $5.99 / Used from: $0.01 What young girl doesn't love horses? Great book about 2 kids and their attempt to tame a wild horse on Chincoteague Island (Chesapeake Bay area). There are several sequels, but the first book was the best.
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 | Betsy-Tacy (Betsy-Tacy Books) by Maud Hart Lovelace
Buy new: $5.99 / Used from: $0.01 Great tale of the joys of finding your best friend. Betsy and Tacy become friends when Tacy moves into Betsy's neighborhood. The series continues to follow the two girls (plus several new pals) all the way through high school and first love. If your girl wants to continue reading the series into the teen years, don't worry -- they're quite tame.
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 | Anne of Green Gables (Unabridged Classics) by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Buy new: $9.95 / Used from: $3.23 Feisty orphan Anne is adopted by mistake by siblings wanting a boy to help them around the farm. In the end Anne finds a home and friends for the first time. This book was written over a century ago, so some of the prose is a bit flowery. Stick with it -- once you get used to the writing style, these characters leap off of the page.
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 | Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.63 Oh, Caddie and Anne of Green Gables would have been friends, I'm sure of it! A pioneer girl (in the spirit of Laura Ingalls) Caddie is a tomboy with a big, brave heart. Tons of adventure mixed with more serious moments (Example: Caddie's dawning understanding of racism against mixed-Native American children in her school.)
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 | The Trouble Begins: A Box of Unfortunate Events, Books 1-3 (The Bad Beginning; The Reptile Room; The Wide Window) by Lemony Snicket
Buy new: $25.73 / Used from: $4.44 Terrible events do plague the Baudelaire orphans, but they're funny enough that even the most sensitive child won't be upset. These books contain advanced vocabulary words but with explanation, so that the meaning is clear without becoming pedantic (and, by that dear Reader, I mean too much like a boring, dull lecture.)
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 | The Secret of the Mansion (Trixie Belden #1) by Julie Campbell
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $0.01 Like Nancy Drew, Trixie is a teen who solves mysteries, but the similarities end there. Trixie is neither beautiful nor wealthy. She makes mistakes, gets embarrassed, and her friends love to tease her (although they're the first to jump to her defense if someone else tries to give her a hard time.) Trixie is perfect for girls who find Nancy prissy or too perfect to be relatable.
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 | Little house on the Prarie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Buy used from: $4.75 Not much to be said, other than, if you get this for your daughter, prepare to play "we're pioneer girls living in a cabin in the wilderness!" You'll be playing that *often* after she reads this.
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 | Bed-Knob And Broomstick by Mary Norton
Buy new: $12.73 / Used from: $7.94 Adorable, fantastical story of 3 kids who go to stay with a relative and find out that the neighbor is a witch. Magical adventures follow, of course. Your kids will be charmed (pun not intended).
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 | Half Magic by Edward Eager
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $0.01 Similar to Bed-Knob and Broomstick, Half Magic is a story of adventures and magic that never quite works out the way you expect it to. Resourceful siblings find a coin that grants half a wish, which turns out to be exactly as difficult to manage as it sounds. The sequel, Magic by the Lake, is great too.
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