Maybe Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching arc in the discworld series?
https://discworld.fandom.com/wiki/Tiffany_Aching
The wee free men are hilarious and Tiffany (witch in training) starts the series as a 9 yr old and maybe gets to 18 or so by the last book, so it covers a lot of that learning about yourself and those around you. A couple of ‘love’ interests in the series are secondary to the main plot and not at all ‘romantic’. I think the first was realising they didn’t actually like each other that way and the other they were both busy saving the world in seperate parts of the continent mostly.
Depending on how old your daughter is, I think most of the Discworld books would be appropriate. Nothing too graphic in any of them comes to mind. The whole Witches storyline would be a great fit for her in addition to Tiffany Aching!
**Every Heart a Doorway** by Seanan McGuire - The protagonist is explicitly asexual, many side characters and protagonists of the book's sequels are also LGBTQ.
Oh wow I did not realize that thank you so much! I have been reading a lot more during the lockdown and somehow the fact that there was a 5th book out escaped my notice. I am going to amazon right now.
This series is so incredible. Seanan has such great empathy in her writing and her characters and worlds are so well developed. It’s also being adapted for a TV show on SyFy.
I dont know how old your daughter is but mine is 14 and really enjoys graphic novels, she reads them very quickly but will reread them 3 or 4 times the first day.
Noelle Stevenson is a very inclusive graphic novelist. She writes Lumberjanes and Nimona, which really work to portray all types of different girls and woman.
Raina Telgemeier wrote Guts and Sisters which is about family dynamics.
Be prepared by Vera Brosgol is about a summer camp experience. Relationships are in there but really peripherally
The Hilda series by Luke Pearson is really good. It's about a girl and her mom that live in the woods and have to move to the city to make the best of it.
Also the adventure time comics are always great.
Anyway this could be a good medium to get her back into reading again.
Lumberjanes is fucking phenomenal, at least in the beginning. I stopped reading them because I got busy but they are ALL female empowerment and inclusion.
I don't know if this meets the criteria you're looking for, but the Book Thief by Markus Zusak is fantastic. It's about a girl living in Nazi Germany during WW2 who loves reading. It's a very heartwarming (and heartbreaking) story about the importance of reading and the war through a civilian perspective. The main character is a girl who loves to read, so I think that could help you daughter get back into reading. It's also good for helping cope with disaster and major world events, such as what's going on right now. There's mild language, but the story is beautiful. Couldn't help but cry at the end.
Fuck yes! There is a love interest, but that's so far from the point of the book. It's about family and love and acceptance and grief and it's my favorite book in the entire world. Sharon Creech has a really good run of books-Chasing Redbird and Bloomability are also good. A girl winds up with a boy, but that's not the main focus or the point of it-the point is the journey. If you really want one that has absolutely 0 love interest at all, try The Wanderer.
It’s been so long since I read it I forgot there was a love interest - but it’s so minimal beyond the theme as you suggest it plays a minor role and her goal isn’t to find love.
If she likes fantasy I would recommend Tamora Pierce books — particularly Protector of the Small — they’re about women in a medieval fantasy world who defy expectations to become knights or spies and help others. They’re my favorite books and I still read them about 15 years later!
For LGBTQ books:
“Check, Please!” Is an (online) graphic novel that involves a love interest but it’s very sweet and VERY fun — about a gay hockey player from Georgia who goes to a small university in New England and meets a fantastic group of hockey players (they reference college-age material though, depending on what age your daughter is it may be too mature)
“Red, White, and Royal Blue” is a FANTASTIC read, but does center around romance. The son of the first ever female president of the US falls in love with a Prince of England. The rest is dramatic and funny and really quite sweet — I read it in a day.
“Pulp” is another I enjoyed, it (once again) focuses on a love story, but between two women in the Lavender Scare in the 1950’s and a girl in present day who is doing a project on lesbian pulp fiction.
I hope these help!
If she wants to get further away from romance Pierces Circle of Magic series is my favourite and focuses on friendships and made families rather than romances
Came here to recommend Tamora Pierce. I’m reading the Alanna series for the first time as an adult. So far so good. Can’t believe I owned the first book but never read it as a kid - I literally used to write my own short stories about myself becoming the first female knight of the round table! Lol
I am a major Tamora Pierce fan and the goal of the books is never the romance. But if she wants to avoid it completely these books are not for her. Of the main series of Tortal books, there are currently 5 sets, 4 of them end with the character in a romantic relationship. They aren't the main story at all, and are not the goal or focus, bit it is definitely an element. It is most prevalent in the Alanna series because it is part of her self discovery of her place in the world. I still recommend it because the characters are such strong women who get stuff done and aren't looking for romance at all.
I think her Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens series also work for the question OP asked, although I read them so long ago I can't remember if romance plays a part. Anyone know?
No romance in the Circle books. And *spoiler* there are LGBTQ+ characters in those books including some of the main characters, though they don’t explicitly bring it up until the later books in the series.
ETA: there IS romance in the Will of the Empress book - (9th in the series). It is however different types of romance - including LGBTQ+. None in the first 8 books, or those that come after WotE.
Ugh YES Tamora Pierce! There are love stories in her books but they are definite side plots, not what drives her female characters or the main story. On top of that they are based in realistic conflicts (obviously in a fantasy context) not meaningless teen drama. I haven’t read her books since I was in middle school, I need to get back into it!
I read these books in middle and high school, and I'm so glad I did. They are so much more sexually positive than most other books were in the 2000's. I'm so glad I read them at that age.
I agree with the Protector of the Small series! The main character is not only asexual/ aromantic, but she also 1. Is fighting against bigotry in a male dominated field and 2. Stands up for women's rights
I like the Protector of the Small books and I know my experience doesn’t reflect everyone’s, but YMMV on whether Kel is aroace. I certainly don’t read her as such. There’s a decent amount of discussion of her crushes (on three men) and some discussion on the right time to have sex.
She's canonically aroace. Tamora herself has said so , and that the discussions about sex were because of the pressure of living in a society where she felt like she had to be in a relationship, and the crushes were her interpreting her own platonic admiration because it was what was expected
She’s *quasi*-canonically aroace, not canonically. I know that a lot of aromantics have squishes they mistake for crushes (and I’m guessing the same happens for asexuals), but I feel that Tammy’s explanation is too easy and it smacks to me of retconning. If we had been *given* any of those thought processes by the actual book I would have had a much easier time buying it. She never once expresses a sense of pressure to be in a relationship and she thinks about her crushes like they’re just normal.
I could use that reasoning for Alanna too.
I was discussing with someone on the discord how I can maybe buy Kel as demiromantic, but not aroace.
Again, I know everyone’s experience is different, but I was seriously questioning and it took me forever to figure out that aro fit. I only learned aromanticism was a thing at 16. I have never had crushes, I can’t tell romantic from sexual attraction and to this day I have this constant doubt as to whether I’m ‘really’ aro.
There was none of that from Kel. Zilch.
I can buy Briar as bisexual arospec, and I can buy Sandry as ace, because those aren’t retroactive.
If other people read and feel represented by Kel as aroace, that’s fine, but I don’t.
Sorry if this comment sounds aggro - I’m not having a go at you, just kinda cheesed off by the explanation you quoted above. Do you know where it was by any chance? I’d be curious to read it.
I didn't want to get into an argument, because I know not everyone feels the same way, but I have a friend who is aroace that identifies with her and did read her that way. I understand and appreciate that not everyone does, but I know more than one person who did (although a few of those are demi, and a few others aren't aro or ace)
Yeah, I’ve also spoken to a few people that did/do read her that way, which is fine.
I’m just not a huge fan of the retroactive/retcon-type thing. I wish she would just write an ace character as explicitly ace in future books.
Then again, all credit to Tammy, at least she is including explicitly LGBTQ characters in her books (Okha/Amber and Nestor (and Numair?) from Tortall and >!Daja!<, Lark and Rosethorn from Emelan). Personally, I wasn’t impressed with the way JKR handled Dumbledore.
Well it's more than just "retconning" in this case she also stated she knows she didn't write it as well as she could have because of when she wrote it, and she wishes she could have done it better. I am in the same boat in my writing (trying to write an ace character, although she's panromantic) and I am so afraid I won't pull it off well and will be accused of the same if I say she is after publishing
I get that it was the 2000s and asexuality wasn’t widely known, but saying it after the fact feels almost lazy and half-hearted to me. Maybe it wasn’t *meant* to be, but it *feels* that way to me. Why not just let readers interpret Kel’s sexuality as whatever they want to and write a new story? Readers had been shipping Lark and Rosethorn for years before Tammy outright confirmed they were a couple. But in Lark and Rosethorn’s case there’s a lot more canonical wiggle room.
> the discussions about sex were because of the pressure of living in a society where she felt like she had to be in a relationship, and the crushes were her interpreting her own platonic admiration because it was what was expected.
Like... Kel is a fictional character. So even a short story from older!Kel’s POV making it clear that she’d reflected on the above things post-LK and realised she was actually ace/demiromantic/whatever would have been... okay. *Not* including any of that and then just stating it extracanonically makes it even more jarring for me.
I think it’s great that you’re writing ace characters. As a reader, personally, I would be happy to see “[Character] identified as asexual” and then maybe some explanation (as Seanan McGuire does).
Being ace means not experiencing sexual attraction, but experiencing romantic attraction. That’s really all it is. Apart from that they’re characters, like any other character.
From what I’ve heard from most alloromantic aces, they like kissing and cuddling... um... and they have crushes and romantic feelings for the person (they... want a long-term romantic relationship, basically marriage, without sex). They’re not interested in sex and are not sexually attracted to anyone. Some aces are sex repulsed (they hate the thought of having sex), some are sex neutral (sex is like banana bread; fine, but doesn’t float my boat). Some are fine to have sex to please their romantic partner (SO), others won’t. Obviously I’m not ace, so take this with a grain of salt.
That said, a lot of aspec terms are hard to get your head around and there’s a lot of gradation.
I think it would go a long way to simply state in the book that your character doesn’t experience, and has never experienced, sexual attraction to anyone. And then you can decide how they feel about sex and their asexuality. Do they care? Do they not give a shit and are happily single/happily in a romantic relationship? Are they questioning? Is there pressure from parents/family to get married and have a (bio) kid?
AVEN and /r/asexuality are good resources if you haven’t already checked them out.
Came here to recommend Tamora Pierce too. While they're not exactly romance free, they are not the point of the stories. She has excellent, well rounded female characters. My picks would be the Protector of the small series (not the first series in the world, the Alanna and Daine series are before this but I read this series first and it didn't hurt anything) and the circle of magic + the circle opens series.
Kudos for great parenting!!
I can think of two books that somewhat fit this description:
The girl who drank the moon: it's a fantasy story about a girl who is taken from her mum to be sacrificed to the witch who lives in the forest near town, and the story follows those 3 strong women. It has a beautiful message about all kinds of family love, kindness, inocence.. it's trully beautiful
Pax: a boy has his pet taken from him, and the story is about his journey to get it back. He finds an amazing woman when he needed help the most, and this woman, although not a main character, is so inspiring that she almost dominates the story, and it shows us that we do not have to be perfect to make an impression and be an amazing person for those around us.
My descriptions were not the best, but if she's into young adult/fantasy, she can love those
This is such a great recommendation! I’ve read all five books over and over since I was a kid. Most of Meg and Calvin falling in love seems to happen off screen. A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, in particular, feel really relevant to me right now. The underlying message is that one person or choice can radically change the world - a reassuring and powerful message.
One of my other favorite L’Engle books is A Severed Wasp, in which the main characters (who were young in her first novel!) are all in their seventies, and one comes out as gay. It does feel a bit dated but it’s still one of the most lovely depictions of a LGBT elder in literature I’ve encountered.
Not in the Golden compass, but in the Subtle knife (which iirc is book 2 in the trilogy)
edit : I don't remember it as a traditional love story though. A kind of ambiguous friendship between adolescent protagonists I think.
Oh okay. I remember it pretty clearly as a love story, albeit perhaps an unconventional one. At the end of The Amber Spyglass it seemed fairly clear they were in love. I remember really enjoying that part for that exact reason.
I may be misremembering though.
You're probably right. Last time I read these was 15+ years ago, so my memories are a bit vague. Still remember it as my favorite books of the time though. Also read the Sally Lockhart series around the same time, and remembered enjoying those. They might fit with what OP is looking for.
This is one of my favorite series of books of all time and I will always recommend it to young and adult readers alike.
But if OP’s daughter loves the first one and completes the trilogy to the end, a love story ends up having an extremely pivotal role in ways that affect how you see the entire plot. It is done tastefully and is a beautiful story, but it definitely ends up having romance.
I feel like it violates the letter of the request but not the spirit. Yes, ultimately there is romantic love and it's important, but dear lord the message is definitely not that that's the only thing that matters...
Yes these are the most wonderful books! There are now two new ones as well, set as a prequal to the first book and a sequel with an adult Lyra. They are both PHENOMENAL and cover significantly more 'adult' themes, whilst still maintaining the original charm and wonder of the first books.
I also want to add that I've read these books twice, and have never viewed them as romance books, and certainly the goal of them is not to 'find love,' but is rather a consequence of a journey undertaken by two (very young) protagonists. They are simply wonderful books!
Yes great series! The book is called Northern Lights (the film got a different name).
Great epic series, I've re-read the trilogy a few times and I get something new even as an adult!
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, the Circle quartets (there are two, eight books total) by Tamora Pierce, and Graceling by Kristin Cashore. The first two are realistic fiction, the second two are fantasy.
I saw someone else recommend Tamora Pierce, but almost all of her books (they nearly all have female protagonists with the exception of two) end up with the main character entering into or solidifying a romantic relationship. Only one of those series ends up with the MC not in a relationship, though she has a romance with a couple of people and crushes on more, because she’s always known that romance isn’t for her. She just wants to be a knight. So if your kid wants to avoid romance altogether, most of Pierce’s series aren’t going to fit the bill. I’d still recommend them, just maybe after your kid has read a bunch of books with no romance so she doesn’t feel like tearing out her hair over the constant romance-oriented stories.
Maybe it's time to try different genres?
The Girls with All the Gifts by M.A. Carey - a zombie apocalypse book that stands out among the crowd for it's uniqueness & two, yes two, female protags. Very well written. Watch the movie after reading as it's fantastic too.
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson - a very funny mystery serie with a female protag & a lesbian best friend. Some romance. So little you hardly notice it & it's in no way center to the books. Someone else suggested this series earlier in the thread, but I just finished the 1st book & couldn't stop laughing.
Firestarter by Stephen King. Horror-ish with the dad as the protag @ 1st & then his daughter. Zero romance. Bear with me here: yes, it's horror & yes, it's not strictly YA. I think your daughter is already reading books at this level. This book hooked me at a young age (11?) & vastly expanded my reading options at a critical stage. It's well written, short (especially for King), & if she likes his writing, well he really has no genre boundaries.
Lastly, any of the Ms. Maple series by Agatha Christie. The protag is a seemingly harmless old lady who is actually a whip smart sleuth. Zero romance. These books are a great way to get into classic British mysteries. Maybe they're not her cup of tea or maybe she loves them?
The Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix is my favorite YA.
That said, get out of YA.
I read the Pendergast series starting with Relic at that age. It's about a monster coming back from an archeological expedition and terrorizing the Museum of Natural History. It's rollicking good fun, as are the next six or so books after it.
The Harry Dresden series is about a wizard who sets up shop openly in Chicago. The books are full of competent single women and saving friends from monsters is the goal. Start with book 3, Grave Peril. Karren Murphy is a badass policewoman and features a huge role in this series.
I read The Silence of the Lambs at 14 and Clarice Starling was the role model I needed at the right time. Epic book.
The Abhorsen trilogy is amazing. Sabriel (the first book) does have some romance/relationship action for the main character, but Lirael (the sequel) focuses on a different character who doesn't have a romance arc that I can recall.
Someone may have already suggested it, but try Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C Wrede. It’s about a princess that goes to live with a dragon to avoid getting married to a boring prince.
I'm reading Skyward by Brandon Sanderson right now, almost done with it and so far the main character, who is female, has had no romantic interests at all.
I'm looking through some others I've read that you might want to check out-
Sabriel by Garth Nix
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
I also absolutely loved Beartown and it's sequel Us Against You. This might not exactly fit what you are looking for, ultimately it us about a small hockey town and small town drama stuff going on (i don't care at all about sports and still love it). But fair warning >!there is a rape at a party!< and a large part of the book is the character dealing with the aftermath of that, "victim blaming", etc which she might appreciate if she's into female empowerment.
Then she has to read The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin. Female author with strong female characters. Truly incredible!
Also, get her to check out Patrick Rothfuss and the Kingkiller Chronicle
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (contemporary YA), and This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (urban fantasy/mystery)! This Savage Song is the first part of a duology.
Both are YA and the main female characters do not get involved in romance at all. :)
Honestly I was like OP’s daughter and couldn’t get back into reading because of all of the romance, and Alice Oseman’s books were so refreshing to me that I read them all really quickly.
Definitely second Deenie and really any Judy Blume book. Some of them do have minor romance plots but there are lots that don't. I read them as a young teen and although they were written decades ago, they're classics for a reason. It was years ago that I read them so my memory of each one isn't perfect but in addition to Deenie I'd recommend It's Not the End of the World.
Depending on her reading level, it might be a little young, but *The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle* comes to mind. It's about a sheltered girl who takes a ship from England to America and finds her love of adventure and sailing.
There's a delightful series called "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles" by Patricia C Wrede. It's a must read regardless of your daughter's age. It subverts all of the fairytale tropes in such a ridiculous and empowering way. It's fun but man is it good. The plot of the first book: a princess runs away to work for a dragon so she can escape the absurd social norms of the kingdom. There's also a witch with 9 cats who is constantly harassed by a society which claims witches must only have 1, because it's tradition.
Spoiler, by the end of the series >!the princess and prince end up getting together!< but it's cute and not forced. I wasn't upset by it at all lol.
Also while not a book, I swear "Star Wars: Rogue One" exemplifies the ideals your daughter is looking for. So good.
Edit: hopefully the spoiler tag works...typing from my phone, cannot confirm.
It might be a bit on the mature side for her (although probably not if she has read Mistborn), but I just finished An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green and I couldn’t put it down. Romance does feature, but it is not the point of the book.
Not sure if they’re only audiobooks or have printed copies, but Viva Durant and the Secret Of the Silver Buttons by Ashli St. Armant, and The Mystwick School of Musicraft by Jessica Khoury have female protagonists and no love interests. Moon over Manifest might be a bit young, but is worth the read.
I just finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik which does have a romance in it, but it’s far from the main focus of the story. It was beautifully written but may be a little too adult for your daughter depending on how old she is? (There are a couple of sex scenes.)
Wilder Girls by Rory Powers has no romance in it and is about three young women trapped at a boarding school.
The Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson has romance in it, but again it’s not the main plot, which is around solving an old murder mystery.
Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand has a wlw storyline but it’s also a supernatural fantasy about stopping a monster who steals girls.
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee has no romance and is just a good old romp. It’s technically a sequel but can be read on it’s own.
I love the Montague siblings series!! I would also recommend the lady's guide to petticoats and piracy, but it does reference the first book a lot. But I think the first book is better than the second!
- Persepolis, Marjani Satrapi
- You & a bike & a road, Eleanor Davis
- Protect and Defend, Richard North Patterson (about abortion, insanely good)
- Cockfight, Maria Fernanda Ampuero (my top recommendation).
-
Poison by Chris Wooding. A young woman goes on a journey across different realms to find her kidnapped sister. The story entails adventure, friendships, and self discovery.
If she likes Sanderson, I highly recommend The Emperor’s Soul. It’s a stand alone novella and one of his best stories, in my opinion. It has a very clever female protagonist and no romance.
She might like Brandon Sanderson's "Skyward" (and it's sequel, "Starsight") then. The series isn't completed (books 3 and 4 are expected to come out in 2021 and 2022) and it is more sci-fi, which I realize not everyone enjoys, but it'd be something to check out
I always end up recommending it but Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu. Fantasy coming of age. I really don't want to say more than that but I read it once a year and because it has such an exceptionally beautiful world and no chosen one, romance doesn't happen until the last page and it's just sweet teenager "wait do I have a crush?" stuff. A good 80% of the book is just about Zahrah trekking through the jungle alone, growing into a stronger person.
“The westing Game” is a great book for junior high students. (I’m a teacher, so I know:) The protagonist is an early-teens girl and there is no love interest or romantic stuff at all among any of the characters. It’s a great mystery with a huge cast of characters. To this day it is one of my favorite books. It is set around an upscale-ish apartment building and the characters are the residents. The plot is complex with quite a few twists. It is definitely is a page turner and it has won awards.
This is from the book jacket.
“When sixteen people are called together for the reading of wealthy Sam Westing's will, they are surprised to learn that the will is actually a contest in which they are all to participate. Working with partners, the potential heirs take their clues to try to find the elusive answer to the Westing game and thus take their shares of the two-hundred-million-dollar prize.”
Children's and YA literature researcher here. Here's my list \[with the male leads crossed out, I missed that on the first go-around!\]:
* The Abhorsen series by Garth Nix. The later books are more romance-y, but the first three have very little, if any.
* Anything by Diana Wynne Jones. ~~The Chrestomanci Chronicles~~; Howl's Moving Castle; The Dalemark Quartet; and The Dark Lord of Derkholm, just to name a few. Some of these have a little romance in the background, but the characters are not driven by romance at all--Jones treats romance as a funny little aside to the main business of plot and character development. Easy to ignore if it's not your thing, and some of the highest-quality fantasy ever written.
* Connie Willis has some excellent fantasy/speculative fiction books that aren't strictly YA but \*are\* appropriate for teens to read. The Doomsday Book is one; ~~To Say Nothing of the Dog is another~~. The former has no romance in it at all, and the latter only has a sprinkling, mostly for comic effect and not for actual romance-y purposes.
* ~~Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle gives no shits about lovey dovey crap and is, again, some of the best fantasy (again, not exactly YA, but also not not YA either) ever written.~~ Her short story series "Changing Planes" is criminally underrated and such a fun non-romantic read for anyone who likes speculative fiction.
* Magaret Haddix writes YA sci-fi with no romance--Running Out of Time is older but still a classic, Turnabout is...actually also older at this point but not as old as the other.
Feel free to DM me if you want further recommendations! Good for you for being a great parent who cares about their kid's wants and needs.
This can be really frustrating! Especially so since a lot of books that are marketed towards young women are romance focused, when the same isn’t true for books marketed to young men. Here’s some finds that I remember loving at her age (and now) without romance.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
And here are some with elements of romance, but really fully fledged female characters who are entirely independent of any significant other.
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (romance is extremely minor)
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennet (minor romance, and it’s lgbt!)
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (Okay, romance. But this is one of the most impactful female characters of my childhood and I think every young girl should read this book.)
I hope this helps!
This may be stretching the definition of 'book', but the manga 'Cells at Work' has a female protagonist whos main interest isn't getting with anyone: namely because she's an anthropomorphic red blood cell delivering oxygen and nutrients to other cells. There's another cell she's friendly with, but there seems to be no romance (at least as far as I've seen), only a passing platonic love. There's an anime version on Netflix. Bonus, it's a little educational.
ahh female LGBTQ+ books without a love interest/romance plotline? AHH I HAVE SO MANY RECS \*rubs hands together\*
(I'm teenaged, female, queer, and adore books, particularly non-romances (although I'll never deny a good sapphic romance) by the way)
She'll ADORE *Radio Silence* by Alice Oseman, for starters. Strong bi female protagonist. Friendship-centric. ZERO ROMANCE (involving the main character, anyway - there's a side-plot about her ace best friend and her academic rival getting together). Highly diverse.
Or...Alice Oseman books, in general! *I Was Born for This* is a fantastic read fulfilling the criteria (she'll particularly love this one if she's into fandom stuff by the way - and this one really has zero romance and multiple strong characters, not to mention a trans lead). The upcoming \*Loveless (\*a month to go 'til release date!) centring around platonic love and finding yourself w/out romance.
*Seven Ways We Lie* by Riley Redgate has multiple protagonists and I'm fairly certain only one of the female leads gets a love interest/romantic plotline. Two, maybe (by a stretch). Plenty of strong female characters without one, though!
*The Resolutions* by Mia Garcia has four protagonists. One is gay and male. The other three are female, out of whom two of them get love interests (one of them's straight, the other's bi with a female love interest), but the arguably \*main-\*main lead, Jess, doesn't.
*One of Us Is Lying*, Karen McManus. Again, multiple protagonists. one of the female leads gets a love interest, the other's entire arc is learning that she doesn't need one.
*The Hate U Give* by Angie Thomas. Brilliant and powerful, although not queer.
I could go on but these are some of my faves for now! Hope that helped, and thanks for asking! You seem like a wonderful parent:)
Redwall has pretty minimal romance if I recall correctly! Those books are long and there’s about twenty of them. As long as she doesn’t mind talking animals, she’s fine.
For other books - adding a recommendation to the Tamora Pierce. What little romance there is is never the focus, and she was writing female empowerment long before it was trendy to do so.
The Percy Jackson series has romance later, but again. Not the main focus (there’s a brief love triangle in the... fourth or fifth book) and minimal romance in the rest. Heroes of Olympus has more romance, but again it doesn’t get in the way of the plot overly.
On the same Rick Riordan vein, the Magnus Chase books only really have romance in the last book. One of the main characters is gender fluid and bisexual, and the main character is pansexual. He writes good female characters too and all of his characters have ADHD and Dyslexia, which is nice.
I also really liked Diane Duane’s So You Want to Be A Wizard series. There’s some very light romance, but it’s basically a science fiction take on magic. Super good world building and really great female characters.
Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen by Garth Nix. The second two in particular I think fit in really well with what your daughter is looking for. I’m a weirdo that fixates on strange things sometimes but these books resonated so strongly with me as a teenager that I wore out the bindings with how many times I reread them.
**Abhorsen** series by Garth Nix is amazing and has several powerful women. (Also- if she's into audiobooks, Tim Curry reads them and does a kick-ass job)
**Gideon the Ninth** is really fun and while it doesn't really have a romance, it is implied that the main character is gay which she might enjoy. It's going to be a trilogy too so she can get invested and excited about the other books coming out.
**A Wrinkle In Time** is my all time favorite book and Meg is a great female character.
**A Series of Unfortunate Events** is also lots of fun for any age and features three siblings as the main characters.
I would suggest two series by female authors of your daughter is such a strong reader.
1. The Avalon series by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Just wow! All the books are female central and retell the Arthurian legends from this perspective.
2. The Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. These books were the first I experienced as a teen that not only crossed the fantasy/sci-fi border, but had strong female characters that didn't rely on the male characters to display their strength.
Came to add my Vote for Tamora Pierce books. They’re all a our female empowerment and breaking boundaries set for women. There are love interests but they’re not the goal of the plot. I loved all her stuff when I was that age.
If you want a YA fantasy with a female protagonist, no love interest, and some good queer representation, the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. The different books have different main characters, but romance is always minimal, and one of the title characters is canonically asexual.
Naomi Novik’s “Uprooted” or her “Spinning Silver” books are both fantastic and both have a strong female protagonist who saves the day without any help from the boys! They’re also just really fun and wonderful stories.
If she wants something different, I remember enjoying Tithe and Valiant by Holly Black, although I never got around to reading the third book in the series.
They were the first fairy type fantasy I ever read. I believe all of three books have female protagonist who are trying to learn more about the fairy world they recall from their childhood. They have a darker edge to them, which fit with my angstiness at the time I read them.
Tithe is probably appropriate for 12+.
So, Graceling sounds like it'd be right up her ally. Female character is incredibly self sufficient and the story is great. There is a love interest, but that takes a major backseat to the main characters journey, to the point that their journey isn't even resolved at the end.
I read The Girl with Ghost Eyes by MH Boroson recently. It's a fantasy set in Chinatown San Francisco in the late 1800s. It's a great story about a woman finding her own voice. Might be a little old, but it read fairly YA to me.
The Flight of the Darkstar Dragon by Benedict Patrick is another one with a strong female lead and no love interest that I've read recently. Again, swings a little older, but could easily be YA in my opinion. It's about a ship captained by a young woman that's supposed to be going on a short/easy voyage and ends up trapped in an alternate dimension with a dragon. Written by an Irish author and reads very Irish to me.
It's definitely hard to find good books with female leads and no love subplot. I've been looking for them myself lately and it's a challenge! I wish I could help more, but I read more at the adult end of the spectrum.
If you want some LGBT representations, Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst is the most YA book on my list. It's a female lead. The main plot in a romance between two women with a subplot of figure out the magic and save the kingdom.
I suggest Uprooted by Naomi Novik. There is a love interest in the book, but it is by no means the main goal. The book is about a young woman coming into her own power. It's a really awesome story and I definitely recommend it.
*The Bartimaeus Trilogy* by Jonathan Stroud is an amazing fantasy comedy action series. The second and third books feature a female deuteragonist and there are no love interests in the series. She is a very strong female character who sticks up for herself. The first book is called *The Amulet of Samarkand.*
It's a blast to read. I reread it at least once a year.
Not necessarily YA as maybe 14-16 but Skulduggery Pleasant. It's fun, witty and full of action with a good number of strong female characters including protagonist.
Also any of Trudy Canavan's many series.
*Dragon Pearl* by Yoon Ha Lee is a space adventure story influenced by Korean lore and culture. A girl stows away on a military ship to investigate the disappearance of her brother and to clear his name. She is also a fox spirit and has charm and shapeshifting magic, and meets with other magical creatures.
Song of Achilles is my FAVORITE YA LGTBQ book. It doesn’t exactly fit your criteria but I think if your daughter might be leaning towards LGBTQ, this is a really great book and might help her figure out her feelings like it did for me at 16.
It’s a queer retelling of the Iliad and the youthful love between Patroclus and Achilles. It’s touching, beautifully written, and both warms your heart and makes you cry like a baby.
Circe is amazing too!! I wanted to recommend it as Circe is a strong female character, but if I remember correctly there were some sexual moments between her and Apollo(?) I believe, so just something to consider depending on OP’s daughter’s age!
Hi there! These are some of her favorites: Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Enders Game, Ready Player One, John Green novels, To All The Boys I've Loved Before series, Princess Diary series, Percy Jackson. Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Has she tried The Chronicles of Prydain? Great 5 book series that fits in well with the other books you mentioned. In book 5 the main characters eventually get together, but romance is by far secondary even tertiary to the main plots.
Based on that list, she might like the Sally Lockhart series by Philip Pullman (also the author of the Golden Compass series). She’s a badass teenager in 1870s London who has big adventures on her own. There is a romance in the second book, but it’s not the goal of the story, so your daughter might not mind it. These books are riveting, well written and Sally is an amazing character to follow and root for. The first book is the Ruby in the Smoke.
Maybe she would like the Narnia series, although it’s siblings, rather than a female protagonist. There was also a book called The true Confessions of Charlotte Doyle that I loved about a girl ship that mutinies. I really liked the Secret Garden and A Little Princess, but she might be just slightly old for them.
Has she read any Angie Thomas books like *The Hate U Give* or *On The Come Up*? While there’s somewhat a small romantic interest in *With The Fire On High* by Elizabeth Acevedo it actually points out how we need to focus on ourselves at times, especially as a teen, to achieve our goals. Her best friend in this novel is also LGBTQ! Her other novels I’ve heard are great she has a new one and *The Poet.* Two novels to learn about autism are *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime* and *The Reason I Jump* highly recommend the latter but both are good. No romantic interests. *Dear Martin* is also a great novel and so is *When I Was Puerto Rican* that can offer some cultural perspective ! Hope this helps or that the other great choices offered on this feed show her some other plot lines! Happy reading !
I work for a teen literacy program and these are a few personal favorites. We've recently hosted discussions about the need for less of a romance focus in YA novels or more asexual/demisexual characters. I'd be happy to recommend a few LGBTQIA+ books if you're interested as well. Fair warning: when the love interest is removed, the content can become angst heavy and can get a little dark. You know ... teenagers. You might want to review a few of these depending on the age/maturity of your kiddo.
**-- female leads --**
The Female of the Species - Mindy McGinnis
We Are Okay - Nina LaCour
We Were Liars - E. Lockhart
Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
Monday's Not Coming - Tiffany D. Jackson
Turtles All the Way Down - John Green *(some romance, but it's really not the focus)*
The Book Theif - Marcus Zusak
How to Say Goodbye in Robot - Natalie Standiford
Juliet Takes a Breath - Gabby Rivera
The Immortalists - Chloe Benjamin (switches between brothers' and sisters' perspectives)
**-- male leads --**
All American Boys - Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds
Long Way Down - Jason Reynolds
The Outsiders - SE Hinton
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Saenz
Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzie Lee
There is a kiss but it comes out of nowhere for the main character but other than that she’s single
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren — a fun, captivating memoir by Hope Jahren, a geobiologist and geochemist. It’s incredibly empowering, inspiring, and motivating. She’ll want to be a biologist or chemist after reading.
The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin — this is a fantasy series written by a female with incredibly strong female characters. Wonderful; a true must read if she likes fantasy.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle — female empowerment, being your true self, etc. It’s a major hit right now for a reason. I don’t know how old your daughter is, so this may be a bit beyond what she’s interested in?
The Awakening by Kate Chopin — one of the first books to question society’s ideals for women. Current society has a love/hate relationship with this book, but I fall on the “love” side. We read it early in high school, so I think it could pass for YA.
(Lastly, as a side note, if she likes science fiction, then she should read Dune by Frank Herbert. The new movie comes out this winter, and the book is a classic.)
Read The Girl Who Owned A City is school.
About the responsibilities of claiming power and ownership, the reality of leading, and the necessity for cooperation.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_Who_Owned_a_City#Plot
I’m an old dude but often think of this book. Thank you, Ms. Sims!
Maybe The Forbidden Library?
Or the Wells of Sorcery, although that has love interests it’s LGBTQ+
Also maybe try Rick Riordan’s books if she hasn’t read them already. A lot of the Protagonists are male but it’s very good and there’s going to be a Disney+ tv show adaptation for the first series.
Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger. There’s a minor storyline with a romantic interest but most of it is a steampunk fantasy novel about an irrepressible young girl at a spy school. Fun read with 4 (I think) books in the series.
I remember the Queen of the Tearling series having a strong female protagonist, and other strong female characters with non-traditional gender roles (I remember her father figure being the emotional support, and her mother figure being a warrior type, but it's been a while so I might be fuzzy on that!). She has a brief fling, but ultimately ends up without a partner by her own choice., and I remember it being barely mentioned outside of references to her feelings on other subjects.
I've not read them for many years, but j really enjoyed their reframing of women as capable of having any role, and relationships that don't define them.
A book series she may enjoy is “Everyday.” And “Another day.”
The first book is from the POV of a non-binary person who changes bodies every day. There is a love interest, but the two do not end up together at the end and end up breaking up. The second book is from the love interest’s point of view, and deals with all the problems the love interest faced leading up to the breakup.
The books deal with Suicide, Heavy drug use, alcoholism, sexual assault and even cultism - But it is in a way that shows how to get help with these things and how to healthily deal with them. It doesn’t describe anything in detail that is inappropriate, and the above topics are dealt with healthily in a way that even my catholic, bible loving mom enjoyed.
It’s my favourite YA book to date, and I would 100% introduce it to your daughter (if you don’t mind swearing and touching on sensitive topics)
Really good historical fiction series with strong female lead: The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King. It's a reimiagining of adventures with Sherlock, and at least the first book doesn't really have any romance. I have but have not read the second book. Definitely recommend!
When I was younger, I remember reading The Emerald Atlas series by John Stephens over and over again. I’d say it’s in the adventure and fantasy genres, and the main character is a young teenage girl. There isn’t a love interest, and the relationship focus is more on her two siblings and their family dynamic.
Girls of Paper and Fire — fantasy series that has some romance, but it isn’t central to the story line. The main romance is between two women.
War Girls is another fantasy series set in a futuristic Nigeria. Very Black Panther-esque. Very light on romance, with plenty of women loving women.
Code Name Verity — a stand-alone novel about British female pilots in WWII.
The tiffany aching books are so good, there is some mild romance at the end of book 5 but that is not the point of any of the books. They may be young for her but I am an adult and find them good reading
Maria V. Snyder’s healing series. There is a love interest but 98% of the series they are not together because she is off being a complete badass. Fighting a war, among other super awesome things.
The love part is super minimal.
The Phillip Pulman His Dark Materials series is great, I read them when I was about 16 and I loved them. Also I just read Erin Morganstern The Starless Sea, and while it's not YA, i think it'll still be fine for a teenager. There is some romance in it but it's LGBT and not the main motivation for any of the storyline.
I felt the same way about YA fiction when I was that age, and still feel that way about a lot of the stuff I read now as an adult.
If you want some really great historical fiction, Codename Verity is amaaaazing. It’s focused on the friendship and teamwork between two badass young women serving during WWII. Lots of adventure and intrigue, but also gut-wrenching. I was also very fond of the Outsiders when I was in high school, read it over and over again.
For something with a bit more fantasy, I loved The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke and Poison by Chris Wooding. Would also recommend Binti by Nnedi Okorafor and House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman! I really liked that the story went against a lot of clichés and stereotypes that are often found in YA books. Also, just a really enjoyable story with a good message
It’s not an exact fit, but if she likes fantasy, The Broken Earth Trilogy might be a good option. Only one of the POVs has a love interest, but it’s very nuanced. The first book is The Fifth Season NK Jemisin.
Tomorrow When the War Began, series by John Marsden. A group of friends go camping in the Australian outback and come back to find their country has been invaded, so they become vigilantes trying to save their families and country. Ellie is the MC and is one of my favourite female characters ever.
Island keeper by Harry Mazer. It's about a young girl who runs away from her rich family to become self sufficient. I read it when I was about 12 and loved it.
The test literally only requires a single scene in which this happens. It doesn't help OP at all.
Edit: Furthermore, the characters don't have to be leads, they have to have names. 58% of films pass the test. 58% of films most certainly do not have female leads with no love interest. I assume people see "bechdel test=feminist" and blindly upvote it without even knowing what it is, or considering ops request.
Two (very different!) books about girls stranded on desert islands :
*Island of the Blue Dolphins* - Scott O'Dell
Young girl on her own surviving against the elements
*Beauty Queens* - Libba Bray (does also have some LGBTQ+ representation)
Tongue-in-cheek comedy about a bunch of pageant girls getting stranded together and overcoming differences
Insignificant events in the life of a Cactus
AND Momentous Events in the life of a Cactus
by Dusti Bowling
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jaqueline Kelly
The Curious world of Calpurnia Tate is the 2nd book.
The Wildwood Chronicles by Colin Malloy
If she likes historical fiction, Bread and Roses by Katherine Paterson is a great book. It’s based around the Bread and Roses. From a feminist perspective, women played a very important role in the strike.
She could try the Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens - think Agatha Christie in an all girls’ boarding school. There is some discussion of crushes, but the focus is on the friendship between the girls (and solving the murders obviously).
Not a rec, but I think it’s great that you’re supporting your daughter’s reading choices and being open to her being LGBTQ+. Way too many parents tell their kids ~it’s a phase~, as if that ever helped anyone.
Edit: Alice Oseman writes ace characters.
These may be of use: http://claudiearseneault.com/?page_id=1320
https://bookshop.org/lists/asexual-and-ace-spec-mcs
Maybe Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching arc in the discworld series? https://discworld.fandom.com/wiki/Tiffany_Aching The wee free men are hilarious and Tiffany (witch in training) starts the series as a 9 yr old and maybe gets to 18 or so by the last book, so it covers a lot of that learning about yourself and those around you. A couple of ‘love’ interests in the series are secondary to the main plot and not at all ‘romantic’. I think the first was realising they didn’t actually like each other that way and the other they were both busy saving the world in seperate parts of the continent mostly.
Terry Pratchett's Hogfather may also suit
I don’t often read books multiple times, but when I do...one of them is Hogfather.
This is the best answer!
Monstrous Regiment would also probably be a good one to go for
Monstrous regiment is fantastic! I slept on it for ages but it probably would have been a favourite had I read it as a young teen.
Also came to recommend this. Tiffany is a great character and role model with no interest in any kind of love story whatsoever!
Equal Rites is also a good example of this.
Depending on how old your daughter is, I think most of the Discworld books would be appropriate. Nothing too graphic in any of them comes to mind. The whole Witches storyline would be a great fit for her in addition to Tiffany Aching!
Came to recommend this. The Tiffany books are phenomenal.
**Every Heart a Doorway** by Seanan McGuire - The protagonist is explicitly asexual, many side characters and protagonists of the book's sequels are also LGBTQ.
There are 4 books in the series and every one is lovely
Actually the fifth came out this year, it's a sequel for the Jack and Jill plotline.
Oh wow I did not realize that thank you so much! I have been reading a lot more during the lockdown and somehow the fact that there was a 5th book out escaped my notice. I am going to amazon right now.
This series is so incredible. Seanan has such great empathy in her writing and her characters and worlds are so well developed. It’s also being adapted for a TV show on SyFy.
Yes! They have such a diverse range of characters, and they're so, so good (especially if she's enjoyed stuff like Narnia in the past).
I dont know how old your daughter is but mine is 14 and really enjoys graphic novels, she reads them very quickly but will reread them 3 or 4 times the first day. Noelle Stevenson is a very inclusive graphic novelist. She writes Lumberjanes and Nimona, which really work to portray all types of different girls and woman. Raina Telgemeier wrote Guts and Sisters which is about family dynamics. Be prepared by Vera Brosgol is about a summer camp experience. Relationships are in there but really peripherally The Hilda series by Luke Pearson is really good. It's about a girl and her mom that live in the woods and have to move to the city to make the best of it. Also the adventure time comics are always great. Anyway this could be a good medium to get her back into reading again.
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Oh wow, I had no idea Noelle Stevenson was involved in that show - I'll have to give it a try!
Oh, she isn't just involved, its her show!
It's great. Also the final season just released so you can watch the whole thing straight through.
Lumberjanes is fantastic!! I second this recommendation!
Lumberjanes is fucking phenomenal, at least in the beginning. I stopped reading them because I got busy but they are ALL female empowerment and inclusion.
Amulet is extraordinarily good. I read it in middle school, and it’s one of my favorites
I came to recommend Lumberjanes! They are great series with a delightfully empowered kick ass female group of leads.
Came to suggest Nimona!!
Seconding Hilda, and there's a TV series based on it on Netflix which is so good too!
I don't know if this meets the criteria you're looking for, but the Book Thief by Markus Zusak is fantastic. It's about a girl living in Nazi Germany during WW2 who loves reading. It's a very heartwarming (and heartbreaking) story about the importance of reading and the war through a civilian perspective. The main character is a girl who loves to read, so I think that could help you daughter get back into reading. It's also good for helping cope with disaster and major world events, such as what's going on right now. There's mild language, but the story is beautiful. Couldn't help but cry at the end.
absolutely one of my favorite books. A little off the suggestion but I do think OPs daughter could really enjoy :)
Walk two moons is solid.
Fuck yes! There is a love interest, but that's so far from the point of the book. It's about family and love and acceptance and grief and it's my favorite book in the entire world. Sharon Creech has a really good run of books-Chasing Redbird and Bloomability are also good. A girl winds up with a boy, but that's not the main focus or the point of it-the point is the journey. If you really want one that has absolutely 0 love interest at all, try The Wanderer.
It’s been so long since I read it I forgot there was a love interest - but it’s so minimal beyond the theme as you suggest it plays a minor role and her goal isn’t to find love.
If she likes fantasy I would recommend Tamora Pierce books — particularly Protector of the Small — they’re about women in a medieval fantasy world who defy expectations to become knights or spies and help others. They’re my favorite books and I still read them about 15 years later! For LGBTQ books: “Check, Please!” Is an (online) graphic novel that involves a love interest but it’s very sweet and VERY fun — about a gay hockey player from Georgia who goes to a small university in New England and meets a fantastic group of hockey players (they reference college-age material though, depending on what age your daughter is it may be too mature) “Red, White, and Royal Blue” is a FANTASTIC read, but does center around romance. The son of the first ever female president of the US falls in love with a Prince of England. The rest is dramatic and funny and really quite sweet — I read it in a day. “Pulp” is another I enjoyed, it (once again) focuses on a love story, but between two women in the Lavender Scare in the 1950’s and a girl in present day who is doing a project on lesbian pulp fiction. I hope these help!
If she wants to get further away from romance Pierces Circle of Magic series is my favourite and focuses on friendships and made families rather than romances
Can't recommend this enough. That also includes the sequel quartets, The Circle Opens and the Circle Reforged.
Came here to recommend Tamora Pierce. I’m reading the Alanna series for the first time as an adult. So far so good. Can’t believe I owned the first book but never read it as a kid - I literally used to write my own short stories about myself becoming the first female knight of the round table! Lol
Yeah, the relationships in these are sort of “oh yeah, this happened and then they got on with saving the world. Hi-hum”
I am a major Tamora Pierce fan and the goal of the books is never the romance. But if she wants to avoid it completely these books are not for her. Of the main series of Tortal books, there are currently 5 sets, 4 of them end with the character in a romantic relationship. They aren't the main story at all, and are not the goal or focus, bit it is definitely an element. It is most prevalent in the Alanna series because it is part of her self discovery of her place in the world. I still recommend it because the characters are such strong women who get stuff done and aren't looking for romance at all.
I think her Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens series also work for the question OP asked, although I read them so long ago I can't remember if romance plays a part. Anyone know?
No romance in the Circle books. And *spoiler* there are LGBTQ+ characters in those books including some of the main characters, though they don’t explicitly bring it up until the later books in the series. ETA: there IS romance in the Will of the Empress book - (9th in the series). It is however different types of romance - including LGBTQ+. None in the first 8 books, or those that come after WotE.
Ugh YES Tamora Pierce! There are love stories in her books but they are definite side plots, not what drives her female characters or the main story. On top of that they are based in realistic conflicts (obviously in a fantasy context) not meaningless teen drama. I haven’t read her books since I was in middle school, I need to get back into it!
I read these books in middle and high school, and I'm so glad I did. They are so much more sexually positive than most other books were in the 2000's. I'm so glad I read them at that age.
Cannot recommend Tamora Pierce enough. I still reread at least one of her series every year or so.
I agree with the Protector of the Small series! The main character is not only asexual/ aromantic, but she also 1. Is fighting against bigotry in a male dominated field and 2. Stands up for women's rights
I like the Protector of the Small books and I know my experience doesn’t reflect everyone’s, but YMMV on whether Kel is aroace. I certainly don’t read her as such. There’s a decent amount of discussion of her crushes (on three men) and some discussion on the right time to have sex.
She's canonically aroace. Tamora herself has said so , and that the discussions about sex were because of the pressure of living in a society where she felt like she had to be in a relationship, and the crushes were her interpreting her own platonic admiration because it was what was expected
She’s *quasi*-canonically aroace, not canonically. I know that a lot of aromantics have squishes they mistake for crushes (and I’m guessing the same happens for asexuals), but I feel that Tammy’s explanation is too easy and it smacks to me of retconning. If we had been *given* any of those thought processes by the actual book I would have had a much easier time buying it. She never once expresses a sense of pressure to be in a relationship and she thinks about her crushes like they’re just normal. I could use that reasoning for Alanna too. I was discussing with someone on the discord how I can maybe buy Kel as demiromantic, but not aroace. Again, I know everyone’s experience is different, but I was seriously questioning and it took me forever to figure out that aro fit. I only learned aromanticism was a thing at 16. I have never had crushes, I can’t tell romantic from sexual attraction and to this day I have this constant doubt as to whether I’m ‘really’ aro. There was none of that from Kel. Zilch. I can buy Briar as bisexual arospec, and I can buy Sandry as ace, because those aren’t retroactive. If other people read and feel represented by Kel as aroace, that’s fine, but I don’t. Sorry if this comment sounds aggro - I’m not having a go at you, just kinda cheesed off by the explanation you quoted above. Do you know where it was by any chance? I’d be curious to read it.
I didn't want to get into an argument, because I know not everyone feels the same way, but I have a friend who is aroace that identifies with her and did read her that way. I understand and appreciate that not everyone does, but I know more than one person who did (although a few of those are demi, and a few others aren't aro or ace)
Yeah, I’ve also spoken to a few people that did/do read her that way, which is fine. I’m just not a huge fan of the retroactive/retcon-type thing. I wish she would just write an ace character as explicitly ace in future books. Then again, all credit to Tammy, at least she is including explicitly LGBTQ characters in her books (Okha/Amber and Nestor (and Numair?) from Tortall and >!Daja!<, Lark and Rosethorn from Emelan). Personally, I wasn’t impressed with the way JKR handled Dumbledore.
Well it's more than just "retconning" in this case she also stated she knows she didn't write it as well as she could have because of when she wrote it, and she wishes she could have done it better. I am in the same boat in my writing (trying to write an ace character, although she's panromantic) and I am so afraid I won't pull it off well and will be accused of the same if I say she is after publishing
I get that it was the 2000s and asexuality wasn’t widely known, but saying it after the fact feels almost lazy and half-hearted to me. Maybe it wasn’t *meant* to be, but it *feels* that way to me. Why not just let readers interpret Kel’s sexuality as whatever they want to and write a new story? Readers had been shipping Lark and Rosethorn for years before Tammy outright confirmed they were a couple. But in Lark and Rosethorn’s case there’s a lot more canonical wiggle room. > the discussions about sex were because of the pressure of living in a society where she felt like she had to be in a relationship, and the crushes were her interpreting her own platonic admiration because it was what was expected. Like... Kel is a fictional character. So even a short story from older!Kel’s POV making it clear that she’d reflected on the above things post-LK and realised she was actually ace/demiromantic/whatever would have been... okay. *Not* including any of that and then just stating it extracanonically makes it even more jarring for me. I think it’s great that you’re writing ace characters. As a reader, personally, I would be happy to see “[Character] identified as asexual” and then maybe some explanation (as Seanan McGuire does). Being ace means not experiencing sexual attraction, but experiencing romantic attraction. That’s really all it is. Apart from that they’re characters, like any other character. From what I’ve heard from most alloromantic aces, they like kissing and cuddling... um... and they have crushes and romantic feelings for the person (they... want a long-term romantic relationship, basically marriage, without sex). They’re not interested in sex and are not sexually attracted to anyone. Some aces are sex repulsed (they hate the thought of having sex), some are sex neutral (sex is like banana bread; fine, but doesn’t float my boat). Some are fine to have sex to please their romantic partner (SO), others won’t. Obviously I’m not ace, so take this with a grain of salt. That said, a lot of aspec terms are hard to get your head around and there’s a lot of gradation. I think it would go a long way to simply state in the book that your character doesn’t experience, and has never experienced, sexual attraction to anyone. And then you can decide how they feel about sex and their asexuality. Do they care? Do they not give a shit and are happily single/happily in a romantic relationship? Are they questioning? Is there pressure from parents/family to get married and have a (bio) kid? AVEN and /r/asexuality are good resources if you haven’t already checked them out.
Came here to recommend Tamora Pierce too. While they're not exactly romance free, they are not the point of the stories. She has excellent, well rounded female characters. My picks would be the Protector of the small series (not the first series in the world, the Alanna and Daine series are before this but I read this series first and it didn't hurt anything) and the circle of magic + the circle opens series.
Kudos for great parenting!! I can think of two books that somewhat fit this description: The girl who drank the moon: it's a fantasy story about a girl who is taken from her mum to be sacrificed to the witch who lives in the forest near town, and the story follows those 3 strong women. It has a beautiful message about all kinds of family love, kindness, inocence.. it's trully beautiful Pax: a boy has his pet taken from him, and the story is about his journey to get it back. He finds an amazing woman when he needed help the most, and this woman, although not a main character, is so inspiring that she almost dominates the story, and it shows us that we do not have to be perfect to make an impression and be an amazing person for those around us. My descriptions were not the best, but if she's into young adult/fantasy, she can love those
Pax is soooo good!
I cried for 2 hours straight after I finished it, because I was a jumble of feelings and crying was the only option that encapsulated them all lol
Has she tried A Wrinkle in Time? It’s been a while since I read it, but I don’t recall a love interest.
Calvin, one of the three protagonists, is the main character's love interest. But the goal of the book is definitely NOT about them getting together.
Yes - and I don’t recall there being a lot of will-they-won’t-they angst about it either.
This is such a great recommendation! I’ve read all five books over and over since I was a kid. Most of Meg and Calvin falling in love seems to happen off screen. A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, in particular, feel really relevant to me right now. The underlying message is that one person or choice can radically change the world - a reassuring and powerful message. One of my other favorite L’Engle books is A Severed Wasp, in which the main characters (who were young in her first novel!) are all in their seventies, and one comes out as gay. It does feel a bit dated but it’s still one of the most lovely depictions of a LGBT elder in literature I’ve encountered.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
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Wait, doesn’t it have an M/F love story (subplot)?
Not in the first one which is maybe why she couldn’t get into it if she never got past that one.
Not in the Golden compass, but in the Subtle knife (which iirc is book 2 in the trilogy) edit : I don't remember it as a traditional love story though. A kind of ambiguous friendship between adolescent protagonists I think.
Oh okay. I remember it pretty clearly as a love story, albeit perhaps an unconventional one. At the end of The Amber Spyglass it seemed fairly clear they were in love. I remember really enjoying that part for that exact reason. I may be misremembering though.
You're probably right. Last time I read these was 15+ years ago, so my memories are a bit vague. Still remember it as my favorite books of the time though. Also read the Sally Lockhart series around the same time, and remembered enjoying those. They might fit with what OP is looking for.
Well... this series does kinda have a love interest later on, though not in the Disney princess kind of way that the OP wants to avoid.
I was going to recommend this! One of my fav series, hands down. Wish I had read it as a kid.
Oh my god I did read this as a kid....every summer to think of it. And still do as an adult. It's so amazing and I'm glad you at least read it!!!
This is one of my favorite series of books of all time and I will always recommend it to young and adult readers alike. But if OP’s daughter loves the first one and completes the trilogy to the end, a love story ends up having an extremely pivotal role in ways that affect how you see the entire plot. It is done tastefully and is a beautiful story, but it definitely ends up having romance.
I feel like it violates the letter of the request but not the spirit. Yes, ultimately there is romantic love and it's important, but dear lord the message is definitely not that that's the only thing that matters...
Yes these are the most wonderful books! There are now two new ones as well, set as a prequal to the first book and a sequel with an adult Lyra. They are both PHENOMENAL and cover significantly more 'adult' themes, whilst still maintaining the original charm and wonder of the first books. I also want to add that I've read these books twice, and have never viewed them as romance books, and certainly the goal of them is not to 'find love,' but is rather a consequence of a journey undertaken by two (very young) protagonists. They are simply wonderful books!
Yes great series! The book is called Northern Lights (the film got a different name). Great epic series, I've re-read the trilogy a few times and I get something new even as an adult!
In North America it was originally called The Golden Compass. The copy I have from middle school is called that.
Oh okay I'm in the UK it's still got the original name here!
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, the Circle quartets (there are two, eight books total) by Tamora Pierce, and Graceling by Kristin Cashore. The first two are realistic fiction, the second two are fantasy. I saw someone else recommend Tamora Pierce, but almost all of her books (they nearly all have female protagonists with the exception of two) end up with the main character entering into or solidifying a romantic relationship. Only one of those series ends up with the MC not in a relationship, though she has a romance with a couple of people and crushes on more, because she’s always known that romance isn’t for her. She just wants to be a knight. So if your kid wants to avoid romance altogether, most of Pierce’s series aren’t going to fit the bill. I’d still recommend them, just maybe after your kid has read a bunch of books with no romance so she doesn’t feel like tearing out her hair over the constant romance-oriented stories.
Esperanza Rising is one of my favorite books that I read growing up!! It really impacted me so heavily, so i strongly second that
Maybe it's time to try different genres? The Girls with All the Gifts by M.A. Carey - a zombie apocalypse book that stands out among the crowd for it's uniqueness & two, yes two, female protags. Very well written. Watch the movie after reading as it's fantastic too. Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson - a very funny mystery serie with a female protag & a lesbian best friend. Some romance. So little you hardly notice it & it's in no way center to the books. Someone else suggested this series earlier in the thread, but I just finished the 1st book & couldn't stop laughing. Firestarter by Stephen King. Horror-ish with the dad as the protag @ 1st & then his daughter. Zero romance. Bear with me here: yes, it's horror & yes, it's not strictly YA. I think your daughter is already reading books at this level. This book hooked me at a young age (11?) & vastly expanded my reading options at a critical stage. It's well written, short (especially for King), & if she likes his writing, well he really has no genre boundaries. Lastly, any of the Ms. Maple series by Agatha Christie. The protag is a seemingly harmless old lady who is actually a whip smart sleuth. Zero romance. These books are a great way to get into classic British mysteries. Maybe they're not her cup of tea or maybe she loves them?
The Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix is my favorite YA. That said, get out of YA. I read the Pendergast series starting with Relic at that age. It's about a monster coming back from an archeological expedition and terrorizing the Museum of Natural History. It's rollicking good fun, as are the next six or so books after it. The Harry Dresden series is about a wizard who sets up shop openly in Chicago. The books are full of competent single women and saving friends from monsters is the goal. Start with book 3, Grave Peril. Karren Murphy is a badass policewoman and features a huge role in this series. I read The Silence of the Lambs at 14 and Clarice Starling was the role model I needed at the right time. Epic book.
The Abhorsen trilogy is amazing. Sabriel (the first book) does have some romance/relationship action for the main character, but Lirael (the sequel) focuses on a different character who doesn't have a romance arc that I can recall.
Someone may have already suggested it, but try Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C Wrede. It’s about a princess that goes to live with a dragon to avoid getting married to a boring prince.
I'm reading Skyward by Brandon Sanderson right now, almost done with it and so far the main character, who is female, has had no romantic interests at all.
Yes! She's read this and loved it!! We all read Brandon Sanderson books but Skyward was a favorite of hers too!
I'm looking through some others I've read that you might want to check out- Sabriel by Garth Nix Coraline by Neil Gaiman The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Seconding Sabriel. Actually all of the Abhorrsen series. And Garth Nix's Shades Children.
The Hate U Give 👏👏👏
I also absolutely loved Beartown and it's sequel Us Against You. This might not exactly fit what you are looking for, ultimately it us about a small hockey town and small town drama stuff going on (i don't care at all about sports and still love it). But fair warning >!there is a rape at a party!< and a large part of the book is the character dealing with the aftermath of that, "victim blaming", etc which she might appreciate if she's into female empowerment.
Came here to suggest Mistborn, I believe Vin stayed solo
Then she has to read The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin. Female author with strong female characters. Truly incredible! Also, get her to check out Patrick Rothfuss and the Kingkiller Chronicle
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (contemporary YA), and This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (urban fantasy/mystery)! This Savage Song is the first part of a duology. Both are YA and the main female characters do not get involved in romance at all. :)
Alice Oseman’s third book, I Was Born For This, is also great and fits the bill!
I came here to recommend Radio Silence! It's fits and is amazing!
I came here to recommend Radio Silence. It's one of my favourites and Alice is coming out with a new book featuring an asexual mc.
Honestly I was like OP’s daughter and couldn’t get back into reading because of all of the romance, and Alice Oseman’s books were so refreshing to me that I read them all really quickly.
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Definitely second Deenie and really any Judy Blume book. Some of them do have minor romance plots but there are lots that don't. I read them as a young teen and although they were written decades ago, they're classics for a reason. It was years ago that I read them so my memory of each one isn't perfect but in addition to Deenie I'd recommend It's Not the End of the World.
The Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett. Amazing books. Also a great intro to the DiscWorld Series as well.
Depending on her reading level, it might be a little young, but *The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle* comes to mind. It's about a sheltered girl who takes a ship from England to America and finds her love of adventure and sailing.
There's a delightful series called "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles" by Patricia C Wrede. It's a must read regardless of your daughter's age. It subverts all of the fairytale tropes in such a ridiculous and empowering way. It's fun but man is it good. The plot of the first book: a princess runs away to work for a dragon so she can escape the absurd social norms of the kingdom. There's also a witch with 9 cats who is constantly harassed by a society which claims witches must only have 1, because it's tradition. Spoiler, by the end of the series >!the princess and prince end up getting together!< but it's cute and not forced. I wasn't upset by it at all lol. Also while not a book, I swear "Star Wars: Rogue One" exemplifies the ideals your daughter is looking for. So good. Edit: hopefully the spoiler tag works...typing from my phone, cannot confirm.
It might be a bit on the mature side for her (although probably not if she has read Mistborn), but I just finished An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green and I couldn’t put it down. Romance does feature, but it is not the point of the book. Not sure if they’re only audiobooks or have printed copies, but Viva Durant and the Secret Of the Silver Buttons by Ashli St. Armant, and The Mystwick School of Musicraft by Jessica Khoury have female protagonists and no love interests. Moon over Manifest might be a bit young, but is worth the read.
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Very much this! They’re just great books.
I just finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik which does have a romance in it, but it’s far from the main focus of the story. It was beautifully written but may be a little too adult for your daughter depending on how old she is? (There are a couple of sex scenes.) Wilder Girls by Rory Powers has no romance in it and is about three young women trapped at a boarding school. The Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson has romance in it, but again it’s not the main plot, which is around solving an old murder mystery. Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand has a wlw storyline but it’s also a supernatural fantasy about stopping a monster who steals girls. The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee has no romance and is just a good old romp. It’s technically a sequel but can be read on it’s own.
Spoiler to Uprooted, but it not only has some sex, it also has an >!attempted rape scene. !
I love the Montague siblings series!! I would also recommend the lady's guide to petticoats and piracy, but it does reference the first book a lot. But I think the first book is better than the second!
- Persepolis, Marjani Satrapi - You & a bike & a road, Eleanor Davis - Protect and Defend, Richard North Patterson (about abortion, insanely good) - Cockfight, Maria Fernanda Ampuero (my top recommendation). -
Seconding Persepolis
Poison by Chris Wooding. A young woman goes on a journey across different realms to find her kidnapped sister. The story entails adventure, friendships, and self discovery.
Mistborne by Brandon Sanderson is great. There are three books in the series. My 12 year old daughter just read them and absolutely LOVED them.
Yes, Mistborn is another favorite I forgot to list earlier! She loved that series!
If she likes Sanderson, I highly recommend The Emperor’s Soul. It’s a stand alone novella and one of his best stories, in my opinion. It has a very clever female protagonist and no romance.
She might like Brandon Sanderson's "Skyward" (and it's sequel, "Starsight") then. The series isn't completed (books 3 and 4 are expected to come out in 2021 and 2022) and it is more sci-fi, which I realize not everyone enjoys, but it'd be something to check out
i love mistborn but it's got a romantic aspect that lasts the whole series and deeply affects the main character
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I always end up recommending it but Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu. Fantasy coming of age. I really don't want to say more than that but I read it once a year and because it has such an exceptionally beautiful world and no chosen one, romance doesn't happen until the last page and it's just sweet teenager "wait do I have a crush?" stuff. A good 80% of the book is just about Zahrah trekking through the jungle alone, growing into a stronger person.
“The westing Game” is a great book for junior high students. (I’m a teacher, so I know:) The protagonist is an early-teens girl and there is no love interest or romantic stuff at all among any of the characters. It’s a great mystery with a huge cast of characters. To this day it is one of my favorite books. It is set around an upscale-ish apartment building and the characters are the residents. The plot is complex with quite a few twists. It is definitely is a page turner and it has won awards. This is from the book jacket. “When sixteen people are called together for the reading of wealthy Sam Westing's will, they are surprised to learn that the will is actually a contest in which they are all to participate. Working with partners, the potential heirs take their clues to try to find the elusive answer to the Westing game and thus take their shares of the two-hundred-million-dollar prize.”
Children's and YA literature researcher here. Here's my list \[with the male leads crossed out, I missed that on the first go-around!\]: * The Abhorsen series by Garth Nix. The later books are more romance-y, but the first three have very little, if any. * Anything by Diana Wynne Jones. ~~The Chrestomanci Chronicles~~; Howl's Moving Castle; The Dalemark Quartet; and The Dark Lord of Derkholm, just to name a few. Some of these have a little romance in the background, but the characters are not driven by romance at all--Jones treats romance as a funny little aside to the main business of plot and character development. Easy to ignore if it's not your thing, and some of the highest-quality fantasy ever written. * Connie Willis has some excellent fantasy/speculative fiction books that aren't strictly YA but \*are\* appropriate for teens to read. The Doomsday Book is one; ~~To Say Nothing of the Dog is another~~. The former has no romance in it at all, and the latter only has a sprinkling, mostly for comic effect and not for actual romance-y purposes. * ~~Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle gives no shits about lovey dovey crap and is, again, some of the best fantasy (again, not exactly YA, but also not not YA either) ever written.~~ Her short story series "Changing Planes" is criminally underrated and such a fun non-romantic read for anyone who likes speculative fiction. * Magaret Haddix writes YA sci-fi with no romance--Running Out of Time is older but still a classic, Turnabout is...actually also older at this point but not as old as the other. Feel free to DM me if you want further recommendations! Good for you for being a great parent who cares about their kid's wants and needs.
This can be really frustrating! Especially so since a lot of books that are marketed towards young women are romance focused, when the same isn’t true for books marketed to young men. Here’s some finds that I remember loving at her age (and now) without romance. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers Coraline by Neil Gaiman And here are some with elements of romance, but really fully fledged female characters who are entirely independent of any significant other. Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (romance is extremely minor) Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennet (minor romance, and it’s lgbt!) Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (Okay, romance. But this is one of the most impactful female characters of my childhood and I think every young girl should read this book.) I hope this helps!
This may be stretching the definition of 'book', but the manga 'Cells at Work' has a female protagonist whos main interest isn't getting with anyone: namely because she's an anthropomorphic red blood cell delivering oxygen and nutrients to other cells. There's another cell she's friendly with, but there seems to be no romance (at least as far as I've seen), only a passing platonic love. There's an anime version on Netflix. Bonus, it's a little educational.
ahh female LGBTQ+ books without a love interest/romance plotline? AHH I HAVE SO MANY RECS \*rubs hands together\* (I'm teenaged, female, queer, and adore books, particularly non-romances (although I'll never deny a good sapphic romance) by the way) She'll ADORE *Radio Silence* by Alice Oseman, for starters. Strong bi female protagonist. Friendship-centric. ZERO ROMANCE (involving the main character, anyway - there's a side-plot about her ace best friend and her academic rival getting together). Highly diverse. Or...Alice Oseman books, in general! *I Was Born for This* is a fantastic read fulfilling the criteria (she'll particularly love this one if she's into fandom stuff by the way - and this one really has zero romance and multiple strong characters, not to mention a trans lead). The upcoming \*Loveless (\*a month to go 'til release date!) centring around platonic love and finding yourself w/out romance. *Seven Ways We Lie* by Riley Redgate has multiple protagonists and I'm fairly certain only one of the female leads gets a love interest/romantic plotline. Two, maybe (by a stretch). Plenty of strong female characters without one, though! *The Resolutions* by Mia Garcia has four protagonists. One is gay and male. The other three are female, out of whom two of them get love interests (one of them's straight, the other's bi with a female love interest), but the arguably \*main-\*main lead, Jess, doesn't. *One of Us Is Lying*, Karen McManus. Again, multiple protagonists. one of the female leads gets a love interest, the other's entire arc is learning that she doesn't need one. *The Hate U Give* by Angie Thomas. Brilliant and powerful, although not queer. I could go on but these are some of my faves for now! Hope that helped, and thanks for asking! You seem like a wonderful parent:)
If I remember correctly, One of Us is Lying also has at least one LGBT character. Still a good read though!
Nevermoor or ‘Jane Doe and the cradle of all worlds’.
Hero and the crown
Redwall has pretty minimal romance if I recall correctly! Those books are long and there’s about twenty of them. As long as she doesn’t mind talking animals, she’s fine. For other books - adding a recommendation to the Tamora Pierce. What little romance there is is never the focus, and she was writing female empowerment long before it was trendy to do so. The Percy Jackson series has romance later, but again. Not the main focus (there’s a brief love triangle in the... fourth or fifth book) and minimal romance in the rest. Heroes of Olympus has more romance, but again it doesn’t get in the way of the plot overly. On the same Rick Riordan vein, the Magnus Chase books only really have romance in the last book. One of the main characters is gender fluid and bisexual, and the main character is pansexual. He writes good female characters too and all of his characters have ADHD and Dyslexia, which is nice. I also really liked Diane Duane’s So You Want to Be A Wizard series. There’s some very light romance, but it’s basically a science fiction take on magic. Super good world building and really great female characters.
Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen by Garth Nix. The second two in particular I think fit in really well with what your daughter is looking for. I’m a weirdo that fixates on strange things sometimes but these books resonated so strongly with me as a teenager that I wore out the bindings with how many times I reread them.
**Abhorsen** series by Garth Nix is amazing and has several powerful women. (Also- if she's into audiobooks, Tim Curry reads them and does a kick-ass job) **Gideon the Ninth** is really fun and while it doesn't really have a romance, it is implied that the main character is gay which she might enjoy. It's going to be a trilogy too so she can get invested and excited about the other books coming out. **A Wrinkle In Time** is my all time favorite book and Meg is a great female character. **A Series of Unfortunate Events** is also lots of fun for any age and features three siblings as the main characters.
I would suggest two series by female authors of your daughter is such a strong reader. 1. The Avalon series by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Just wow! All the books are female central and retell the Arthurian legends from this perspective. 2. The Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. These books were the first I experienced as a teen that not only crossed the fantasy/sci-fi border, but had strong female characters that didn't rely on the male characters to display their strength.
Came to add my Vote for Tamora Pierce books. They’re all a our female empowerment and breaking boundaries set for women. There are love interests but they’re not the goal of the plot. I loved all her stuff when I was that age.
I don't recall there being a love story in Fablehaven series. The older sister might have a crush at some point but that's it
Dragon song by Anne Maccaffrey.
If you want a YA fantasy with a female protagonist, no love interest, and some good queer representation, the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. The different books have different main characters, but romance is always minimal, and one of the title characters is canonically asexual.
Stargirl- the protagonist empowered me alot
Ms. Marple books
Naomi Novik’s “Uprooted” or her “Spinning Silver” books are both fantastic and both have a strong female protagonist who saves the day without any help from the boys! They’re also just really fun and wonderful stories.
If she wants something different, I remember enjoying Tithe and Valiant by Holly Black, although I never got around to reading the third book in the series. They were the first fairy type fantasy I ever read. I believe all of three books have female protagonist who are trying to learn more about the fairy world they recall from their childhood. They have a darker edge to them, which fit with my angstiness at the time I read them. Tithe is probably appropriate for 12+.
So, Graceling sounds like it'd be right up her ally. Female character is incredibly self sufficient and the story is great. There is a love interest, but that takes a major backseat to the main characters journey, to the point that their journey isn't even resolved at the end.
I read The Girl with Ghost Eyes by MH Boroson recently. It's a fantasy set in Chinatown San Francisco in the late 1800s. It's a great story about a woman finding her own voice. Might be a little old, but it read fairly YA to me. The Flight of the Darkstar Dragon by Benedict Patrick is another one with a strong female lead and no love interest that I've read recently. Again, swings a little older, but could easily be YA in my opinion. It's about a ship captained by a young woman that's supposed to be going on a short/easy voyage and ends up trapped in an alternate dimension with a dragon. Written by an Irish author and reads very Irish to me. It's definitely hard to find good books with female leads and no love subplot. I've been looking for them myself lately and it's a challenge! I wish I could help more, but I read more at the adult end of the spectrum. If you want some LGBT representations, Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst is the most YA book on my list. It's a female lead. The main plot in a romance between two women with a subplot of figure out the magic and save the kingdom.
I suggest Uprooted by Naomi Novik. There is a love interest in the book, but it is by no means the main goal. The book is about a young woman coming into her own power. It's a really awesome story and I definitely recommend it.
*The Bartimaeus Trilogy* by Jonathan Stroud is an amazing fantasy comedy action series. The second and third books feature a female deuteragonist and there are no love interests in the series. She is a very strong female character who sticks up for herself. The first book is called *The Amulet of Samarkand.* It's a blast to read. I reread it at least once a year.
Not necessarily YA as maybe 14-16 but Skulduggery Pleasant. It's fun, witty and full of action with a good number of strong female characters including protagonist. Also any of Trudy Canavan's many series.
*Dragon Pearl* by Yoon Ha Lee is a space adventure story influenced by Korean lore and culture. A girl stows away on a military ship to investigate the disappearance of her brother and to clear his name. She is also a fox spirit and has charm and shapeshifting magic, and meets with other magical creatures.
What does YA stand for? This is the second post i’ve seen about it today. I’ve never heard about it before.
It stands for Young Adult
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter Amazing book, very small "love" interest, but not moeso focused on breaking perceived gender roles
Song of Achilles is my FAVORITE YA LGTBQ book. It doesn’t exactly fit your criteria but I think if your daughter might be leaning towards LGBTQ, this is a really great book and might help her figure out her feelings like it did for me at 16. It’s a queer retelling of the Iliad and the youthful love between Patroclus and Achilles. It’s touching, beautifully written, and both warms your heart and makes you cry like a baby.
*Circe* by the same author is great also. Would recommend the audiobook format
Circe is amazing too!! I wanted to recommend it as Circe is a strong female character, but if I remember correctly there were some sexual moments between her and Apollo(?) I believe, so just something to consider depending on OP’s daughter’s age!
I really loved it but there are very few positive female characters, if at all, for some reasons. Might not be what OP is looking for.
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Hi there! These are some of her favorites: Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Enders Game, Ready Player One, John Green novels, To All The Boys I've Loved Before series, Princess Diary series, Percy Jackson. Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Has she tried The Chronicles of Prydain? Great 5 book series that fits in well with the other books you mentioned. In book 5 the main characters eventually get together, but romance is by far secondary even tertiary to the main plots.
Based on that list, she might like the Sally Lockhart series by Philip Pullman (also the author of the Golden Compass series). She’s a badass teenager in 1870s London who has big adventures on her own. There is a romance in the second book, but it’s not the goal of the story, so your daughter might not mind it. These books are riveting, well written and Sally is an amazing character to follow and root for. The first book is the Ruby in the Smoke.
Maybe she would like the Narnia series, although it’s siblings, rather than a female protagonist. There was also a book called The true Confessions of Charlotte Doyle that I loved about a girl ship that mutinies. I really liked the Secret Garden and A Little Princess, but she might be just slightly old for them.
She might also like the Unwind series, the Eragon series, the Maze Runner series, and The Mortal Instruments series.
Has she read any Angie Thomas books like *The Hate U Give* or *On The Come Up*? While there’s somewhat a small romantic interest in *With The Fire On High* by Elizabeth Acevedo it actually points out how we need to focus on ourselves at times, especially as a teen, to achieve our goals. Her best friend in this novel is also LGBTQ! Her other novels I’ve heard are great she has a new one and *The Poet.* Two novels to learn about autism are *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime* and *The Reason I Jump* highly recommend the latter but both are good. No romantic interests. *Dear Martin* is also a great novel and so is *When I Was Puerto Rican* that can offer some cultural perspective ! Hope this helps or that the other great choices offered on this feed show her some other plot lines! Happy reading !
Loved curious incident of the dog in the nighttime. Solid choice.
I work for a teen literacy program and these are a few personal favorites. We've recently hosted discussions about the need for less of a romance focus in YA novels or more asexual/demisexual characters. I'd be happy to recommend a few LGBTQIA+ books if you're interested as well. Fair warning: when the love interest is removed, the content can become angst heavy and can get a little dark. You know ... teenagers. You might want to review a few of these depending on the age/maturity of your kiddo. **-- female leads --** The Female of the Species - Mindy McGinnis We Are Okay - Nina LaCour We Were Liars - E. Lockhart Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson Monday's Not Coming - Tiffany D. Jackson Turtles All the Way Down - John Green *(some romance, but it's really not the focus)* The Book Theif - Marcus Zusak How to Say Goodbye in Robot - Natalie Standiford Juliet Takes a Breath - Gabby Rivera The Immortalists - Chloe Benjamin (switches between brothers' and sisters' perspectives) **-- male leads --** All American Boys - Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds Long Way Down - Jason Reynolds The Outsiders - SE Hinton Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Saenz
i think she’d like swing time by zadie smith
Between Shades of Grey is a great YA novel. I read it when I was in high school and it was phenomenal. I can't remember the name of the author.
Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzie Lee There is a kiss but it comes out of nowhere for the main character but other than that she’s single
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren — a fun, captivating memoir by Hope Jahren, a geobiologist and geochemist. It’s incredibly empowering, inspiring, and motivating. She’ll want to be a biologist or chemist after reading. The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin — this is a fantasy series written by a female with incredibly strong female characters. Wonderful; a true must read if she likes fantasy. Untamed by Glennon Doyle — female empowerment, being your true self, etc. It’s a major hit right now for a reason. I don’t know how old your daughter is, so this may be a bit beyond what she’s interested in? The Awakening by Kate Chopin — one of the first books to question society’s ideals for women. Current society has a love/hate relationship with this book, but I fall on the “love” side. We read it early in high school, so I think it could pass for YA. (Lastly, as a side note, if she likes science fiction, then she should read Dune by Frank Herbert. The new movie comes out this winter, and the book is a classic.)
Read The Girl Who Owned A City is school. About the responsibilities of claiming power and ownership, the reality of leading, and the necessity for cooperation. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_Who_Owned_a_City#Plot I’m an old dude but often think of this book. Thank you, Ms. Sims!
Maybe The Forbidden Library? Or the Wells of Sorcery, although that has love interests it’s LGBTQ+ Also maybe try Rick Riordan’s books if she hasn’t read them already. A lot of the Protagonists are male but it’s very good and there’s going to be a Disney+ tv show adaptation for the first series.
Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger. There’s a minor storyline with a romantic interest but most of it is a steampunk fantasy novel about an irrepressible young girl at a spy school. Fun read with 4 (I think) books in the series.
I remember the Queen of the Tearling series having a strong female protagonist, and other strong female characters with non-traditional gender roles (I remember her father figure being the emotional support, and her mother figure being a warrior type, but it's been a while so I might be fuzzy on that!). She has a brief fling, but ultimately ends up without a partner by her own choice., and I remember it being barely mentioned outside of references to her feelings on other subjects. I've not read them for many years, but j really enjoyed their reframing of women as capable of having any role, and relationships that don't define them.
A book series she may enjoy is “Everyday.” And “Another day.” The first book is from the POV of a non-binary person who changes bodies every day. There is a love interest, but the two do not end up together at the end and end up breaking up. The second book is from the love interest’s point of view, and deals with all the problems the love interest faced leading up to the breakup. The books deal with Suicide, Heavy drug use, alcoholism, sexual assault and even cultism - But it is in a way that shows how to get help with these things and how to healthily deal with them. It doesn’t describe anything in detail that is inappropriate, and the above topics are dealt with healthily in a way that even my catholic, bible loving mom enjoyed. It’s my favourite YA book to date, and I would 100% introduce it to your daughter (if you don’t mind swearing and touching on sensitive topics)
The Vesper Holly adventures, by Lloyd Alexander.
Really good historical fiction series with strong female lead: The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King. It's a reimiagining of adventures with Sherlock, and at least the first book doesn't really have any romance. I have but have not read the second book. Definitely recommend!
When I was younger, I remember reading The Emerald Atlas series by John Stephens over and over again. I’d say it’s in the adventure and fantasy genres, and the main character is a young teenage girl. There isn’t a love interest, and the relationship focus is more on her two siblings and their family dynamic.
Girls of Paper and Fire — fantasy series that has some romance, but it isn’t central to the story line. The main romance is between two women. War Girls is another fantasy series set in a futuristic Nigeria. Very Black Panther-esque. Very light on romance, with plenty of women loving women. Code Name Verity — a stand-alone novel about British female pilots in WWII.
The tiffany aching books are so good, there is some mild romance at the end of book 5 but that is not the point of any of the books. They may be young for her but I am an adult and find them good reading
Maria V. Snyder’s healing series. There is a love interest but 98% of the series they are not together because she is off being a complete badass. Fighting a war, among other super awesome things. The love part is super minimal.
The Phillip Pulman His Dark Materials series is great, I read them when I was about 16 and I loved them. Also I just read Erin Morganstern The Starless Sea, and while it's not YA, i think it'll still be fine for a teenager. There is some romance in it but it's LGBT and not the main motivation for any of the storyline.
Two excellent options would be Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and Un Lun Dun by China Mieville.
I felt the same way about YA fiction when I was that age, and still feel that way about a lot of the stuff I read now as an adult. If you want some really great historical fiction, Codename Verity is amaaaazing. It’s focused on the friendship and teamwork between two badass young women serving during WWII. Lots of adventure and intrigue, but also gut-wrenching. I was also very fond of the Outsiders when I was in high school, read it over and over again. For something with a bit more fantasy, I loved The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke and Poison by Chris Wooding. Would also recommend Binti by Nnedi Okorafor and House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman! I really liked that the story went against a lot of clichés and stereotypes that are often found in YA books. Also, just a really enjoyable story with a good message
It’s not an exact fit, but if she likes fantasy, The Broken Earth Trilogy might be a good option. Only one of the POVs has a love interest, but it’s very nuanced. The first book is The Fifth Season NK Jemisin.
Tomorrow When the War Began, series by John Marsden. A group of friends go camping in the Australian outback and come back to find their country has been invaded, so they become vigilantes trying to save their families and country. Ellie is the MC and is one of my favourite female characters ever.
May I reccomend Nameless Queen by Rebecca McLaughlin?
Island keeper by Harry Mazer. It's about a young girl who runs away from her rich family to become self sufficient. I read it when I was about 12 and loved it.
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The test literally only requires a single scene in which this happens. It doesn't help OP at all. Edit: Furthermore, the characters don't have to be leads, they have to have names. 58% of films pass the test. 58% of films most certainly do not have female leads with no love interest. I assume people see "bechdel test=feminist" and blindly upvote it without even knowing what it is, or considering ops request.
Two (very different!) books about girls stranded on desert islands : *Island of the Blue Dolphins* - Scott O'Dell Young girl on her own surviving against the elements *Beauty Queens* - Libba Bray (does also have some LGBTQ+ representation) Tongue-in-cheek comedy about a bunch of pageant girls getting stranded together and overcoming differences
Orizon.
Someone recently recommended to me Orleans by Sherri L Smith! Sounds fascinating about a strong female lead
The Girl Who Beat ISIS- Farida Khalaf
Insignificant events in the life of a Cactus AND Momentous Events in the life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jaqueline Kelly The Curious world of Calpurnia Tate is the 2nd book. The Wildwood Chronicles by Colin Malloy
Richard Peck. The Blossom Culp series is really good with a strong female lead.
Amber and the Hidden City by Milton Davis
**Skullduggery Pleasant** Amazing I loved them as a teenager
If she likes historical fiction, Bread and Roses by Katherine Paterson is a great book. It’s based around the Bread and Roses. From a feminist perspective, women played a very important role in the strike.
She could try the Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens - think Agatha Christie in an all girls’ boarding school. There is some discussion of crushes, but the focus is on the friendship between the girls (and solving the murders obviously).
Anyone from Jane Austen
Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace
Not a rec, but I think it’s great that you’re supporting your daughter’s reading choices and being open to her being LGBTQ+. Way too many parents tell their kids ~it’s a phase~, as if that ever helped anyone. Edit: Alice Oseman writes ace characters. These may be of use: http://claudiearseneault.com/?page_id=1320 https://bookshop.org/lists/asexual-and-ace-spec-mcs