Reddit reviews Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One
We found 15 Reddit comments about Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Some of these were listed on my blog, but here's a list of Fantasy/Romance with Strong Female Protagonists:
And of course, as mentioned by everybody else:
All of these are fabulous!
I would also add Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles. It begins with Dealing with Dragons, wherein Princess Cimorene decides that she's terribly bored with all this royal business and runs away to live with a dragon (sort of as an apprentice). I remember it being a lot of fun!
Instead of just getting rid of them, I think we should supplement them with stories like Dealing with Dragons, Ella Enchanted, and other books with positive messages.
OH GOD, JEREMY THATCHER DRAGON HATCHER
Further exploits in the life of a young nerd: Bruce Coville's Unicorn Chronicles, Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest series, Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Chronicles, Susan Fletcher's Dragon Chronicles...
Excuse me, I have to go to the library.
YA lit is my favourite genre, and i remember being that age and being bored with what the school had us read.
Ideas for you: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Dealing with Dragons series by Patricia C. Wrede (anything by her, actually, but that's where I'd start)
I'll second the Redwall books, there are a BUNCH!
On a slightly different topic, 9 was the age I started reading Dorothy Gilman (specifically, Caravan and Incident at Badamya)and Elizabeth Peters's Amelia Peabody books. If she is a sophistocated reader, they are pretty awesome mystery/exotic books with light romance but nothing narsty.
I myself have just spent my summer re-reading Tamora Pierce's Tortall books for the heck of it, and those are super awesome, if she hasn't read them already. Why don't you have her look over our suggestions, haha?
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede. It's technically a young adult book, but I've loved it all my life and still do. The characters are AMAZING and you will laugh out loud reading it.
I have a 9-year-old daughter, too. For Roald Dahl, don't miss Danny the Champion of the World, and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (the latter is for older kids, so I'm not sure about the six more, but Henry Sugar is indeed wonderful).
Redwall is a bit on the graphic side. Best skim one first. A substitute for the time being is the Warriors series. My wife and daughter read them independently in unison (my wife reading after her bedtime) and discussed them.
Harry Potter is conspicuously missing from your list. Intentional? I hope you haven't pegged this one as having cruelty as its main theme. It's jam-packed with great themes of friendship, loyalty (within reason), trust, love of parents and family, standing up for what's right, and a whole bunch more. It's one of those book series you want a notebook for, to jot down quotes because there are so many gems.
Dear America is a fictional diary series of girls living in various periods in history.
The Mary Poppins series shouldn't be overlooked. It's quite different from the movie.
I'm putting my money on The Enchanted Forest Chronicles series, first book: Dealing with Dragons. The head-strong princess has no interest in the idiot prince she's supposed to marry, is quite comfortable once she's in the company of a dragon, and no thank you, she has no need for being rescued.
Also, The Mysterious Benedict Society series. It all starts with a newspaper ad seeking "gifted children looking for special opportunities."
I take it from Harry Potter and Divergent he likes strong, morally-white protagonists on journeys to save the world. I don't know his exact reading level or interests, so I will make the following suggestions by category. I ranked books in each category by difficulty.
 
Teen Fantasy:
 
Dealing with Dragons: Funny, easy to read, dragons, magic, and sarcasm.
The Lioness Series, Immortal Series, or The Magic Circle Series: Strong female leads and interesting to read with great stories (Think Mulan). My brother loved them.
Artemis Fowl: Strong, morally ambiguous but ultimately altruistic, sarcastic, and smart protagonist against the world.
User Unfriendly: Dudes get sucked into a video/rpg and try to get out without dying. Like Tron, but less sci-fi and more fantasy.
Halo: One of my brothers who HATES reading -- or at least is incredibly picky actually stayed up all night to finish four of Halo books. He also really likes the games. I don't know which one is the first or the best but this one had the best reviews. I dunno if it is dark either -- I haven't read it :'(.
The Dark Elf Trilogy: Darker than anything else I have on here (or can be) hero vs world type fantasy. Drizzit = my brothers' hero growing up. Kinda WOW-esque? Having played both, I understand how much of WOW is inspired by DnD. I personally didn't like this.
Redwall: Harder to read, talking animals save the world from other talking animals. I personally hated this series, but my brothers read every single book in the series at the time.
 
Adult Fantasy:
 
Magician: Magic, totally badass protagonist, BORING first couple chapters, but ultimately the most OP hero I have ever read. Amazing, truly amazing. I think it is two-three books in the first series.
Harper Hall: Dragons, music, strong, but lost protagonist. Deals with sexism and gender biased. The other books in the cycle range from sci-fi to political fantasy.
Dragonbone Chair: Strong, badass hero vs a dragon. What happens? He becomes more badass. It is a lighter verison of LOTR/Sword of Shanara (which is probably too much politics/genetics/enviromental commentary -- generally boring-- for him right now) --
An even lighter alternative, more teen book is Eragon. That being said, I absolutely DETESTED these books. I don't care if he was 16, he didn't coming up with any of his own material. But -- a lot of people really like it, so your brother might!
 
Sci-fi:
 
Ender's game: Amazing ending, especially if he likes videogames. I haven't seen the movie, but my Dad said it was "loosely inspired" from the book. All I know is the book was world-changing. It has some legitimately dark points (like gouging out a giants eye or drowning puppies).
Johnny Maxwell Trilogy: This dude is cool. I didn't know until I linked it that it is hard to get a copy >.<.
Dune: This, like LOTR, is VERY political and can be very easily boring. It might also be too adult or hard for him. There is mental illness and just crazy people in the later books.
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Mature Humor:
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He should be ready for some British humor, which is a little more mature than American humor (sorry) and much more sarcastic. You also have to be in the mood for it, especially if you aren't expecting it.
Sourcery: Really, really funny.
Hitchhiker's Guide: Also funny.
Magic Kingdom for Sale -- Sold: American. Funny take on fantasy books.
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I kept away from darker books where the protagonist is morally grey (Artemis fowl and Drizzit being exceptions -- though they are both still definitely heros), sex, questionable themes, or general mental derangement.
I also stayed away from more modern books, which I have read a lot of if you would like recommendations for those instead. I read a lot in general, so if you have a questions about a book in particular, I can try to help.
Edit: Links
I've read and loved almost all of the recommendations already here (TAMORA PIERCE). But to add some that haven't been mentioned (and trying really hard to not overload you with 20 books at once), I read and reread Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown and its prequel so. many. TIMES. Maybe even more than I reread Tamora Pierce. Patricia McKillip, Maria Snyder, Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing with Dragons quartet), Althea Kontis, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray and Susan Fletcher (Dragon Chronicles) are similar authors to check out for awesome female-driven fantasy, with varying degrees of lightheartedness. Wrede, Fletcher, Snyder and Kontis all wrote books that lean a little less epic/serious, Block writes a lot in prose that's also a very quick (but more intense) read, McKillip tends to be more wordy but beautifully so, and Bray can kind of go either way depending on the series.
For more contemporary fiction, RACHEL COHN (of "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"). Her Gingerbread series has content a good deal more mature than Angus, Thongs, etc., but her style is similarly irreverent and witty and really fun. Seriously, check her out. Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons is like a much younger version of Cohn, still zingy and sweet. For a quieter modern-day read, Garret Freymann-Weyr writes realistic (more mature) young adult relationships, and introduced me to the idea of bisexuality in a sort of roundabout way.
Julia Alvarez relates stories about the Latina-American experience incredibly well, although I think the first book I read by her takes place solely in the Dominican Republic. According to my reading list, I guess young me got sick of reading about other white people, so I'll add Marjane Satrapi's hilarious graphic novel Persepolis and the more sedate Shabanu series by Suzanne Fisher Staples.
I'd also strongly second comments for Gail Carson Levine, E.L. Konigsberg, and did I mention Tamora Pierce?
(I tried to link a lot of authors to my faves from their work, but I won't be mad if you never look at any of them. Is your reading list long enough now? Also, I know you didn't ask for a ton of fantasy/historical fiction recs, but I think a lot of us defined our teenagerhood by and identified more strongly with one of those series or another.)
tl;dr my top three recs that haven't been mentioned yet are Rachel Cohn, Julia Alvarez, and that one duo by Robin McKinley.
Dealing With Dragons?
http://www.amazon.com/Dealing-Dragons-Enchanted-Forest-Chronicles/dp/015204566X
$6.29!
The problem is that she probably hasn't found the right genre yet that interests her. Schools are absolutely horrible at this sort of thing, so she probably thinks all books are like the ones they make her read at school.
So go back to basics. Introduce her to Nancy Drew (mystery), Babysitter's Club (random social life), Alanna: The First Adventure (Girl power fantasy), Dealing with Dragons (more sort of straight up fantasy that's not to long), etc.
That and there are some amazing comics out there. Take her to a comic shop and have her look around.
I second the Tamora Pierce suggestion. Also definitely Gregor the Overlander! Suzanne Collin's lesser known series (she wrote Hunger Games). I recently finished reading (it's a 5-book series) and it was FANTASTIC. Just amazing. It's a YA series. The House of the Scorpion is also great, might be for your stronger readers. Eragon series is fun, and Dealing with Dragons is still one of my all-time favorite dragon books/series. Bruce Coville is a great author, and his work might be a little young but it's good to have a mix. I absolutely loved everything of his I have read, but especially Aliens Ate My Homework and the rest of that series. Most of these will appeal to the young men, hopefully.
When I was a young lady, I read pretty much anything, but I know a lot of boys like books with a boy main character. I really was a bit horse crazy, so here's some you might look into for your young ladies. The Saddle Club is a very long series about 3 girls and their horse-y adventures. It was really fun and it's great to find longer series because, if they like the first one, there's a lot to enjoy. (Oh a thought - you could always get the first one in a series, then just tell them to get the rest from the library or something, if there's budget concerns) I also liked the Thoroughbred Series and the wonderful Marguerite Henry horse books, especially the famous Misty of Chincoteague but really any of her books is a good read. My all time favorite horse series was and still is The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. Oh, how I loved that book.
There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom was fantastic the first time I read it, and I also like the "Wayside School" books which are both by Louis Sachar. Judy Blume is fun as is Beverly Cleary. Redwall gets a lot of kids into reading, you also might consider some high-level comics/graphic novels to reach a different audience. The Hobbit Graphic Novel has great illustration and I loved reading it so much when I found it one day in a store.
I found history pretty boring so avoided those books but I did enjoy The King's Swift Rider about Robert the Bruce and Scotland, might be the only vaguely historical book I remember reading around those ages. I tried to avoid mystery books more or less, but I loved Encyclopedia Brown (even though according to Amazon it's for younger ages). I enjoyed Harriet the Spy she was a pretty cool girl role-model at the time. My Side of the Mountain was absolutely fantastic and such a great adventure, though I enjoy everything Jean Craigshead George writes. I feel like Julie of the Wolves is pretty standard reading material, maybe not anymore, but what a great story. Oh my gosh, I just about forgot The Indian in the Cupboard, that was such a good story. Anything Roald Dahl is wonderful as is Jane Yolen, I especially recommend the Pit Dragon trilogy. The Golden Compass, So You Want to be A Wizard, Animorphs, Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Kiki Strike, Dinotopia, Song of the Gargoyle and The City of Ember.
I am sure that is way more than you need, but my mind started racing. It was hard to stop once I started -- thank you for that enjoyable tour through my past. Lots of great memories of time spent reading. Hope you find some of this helpful, at least.
Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One
Try the Forest Chronicles, starting with Dealing with Dragons. The princess runs away and does housework for the dragon instead of being rescued. Other issues relating to fantasy shows up. It's fun and the main character is witty.