[GntlmnBndt]

Hello all!

This may be long winded, but some of these requests seem so broad they might as well ask for a book with words in it. So...

I have a problem, and any help would be appreciated. I am completely out of my depth. I have a 15 year old niece that is about to have surgery that will leave her with limited mobility for two to four months. She will be recuperating at her grandmother's house, not the middle of nowhere but can be seen from there, which means limited access to web surfing and no cell coverage. I expect she will go through withdrawals similar to a heroine addict's.

I have already arranged a netflix subscription for her, and thought I might get her an ebook reader and pre-load some books for her (she will be able to do some downloading over a slow modem, so she can add more later). Her sister tells me she is into Robin McKinley, David Eddings, a few comic books, and something her sister called "Nice Guy Romances." When I asked what that meant, she said they were kind of like coming of age stories with romance mixed in, often (but not always) with a male POV (which I thought odd for a romance), and suggested an author named Downey, but she could not remember the first name. From the giggling, I gathered that these tend to be rather racy, but neither of my nieces would come out and say so. Amazon only shows one Romance by a Gregory Downey, titled The Curse of Raven's Rose Keep, which does not sound like what she described.

Can anyone offer some suggestions? I have already picked up some "Birds of Prey" graphic novels and several manga (whatever happened to the X-Men?). Based on the other books and formats available, I will decide which reader to get. Neither McKinley nor Eddings has lots of ebooks available, from what I can tell, and I don't want to get her a bunch of stuff she already read, but I am looking for similar styles/stories. My sister (the girl's mother) suggested the thing she likes about McKinley is the way she retells fairy tales, so I am on the lookout. My girlfriend suggested Cameron Dokey for that type of story, but the only ebooks I have found by her are Buffy the Vampire Slayer books (which may be on target for a 15 year old, come to think of it). Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Something similar to Eddings, for instance? Any clue on Nice Guy Romances? Any clues to the mind of a 15 year old girl?

Thank you!
The Bandit