Family Friendly Books

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by primetime34

There was a mention of Christian novels, which I'm not opposed to reading per se. I'm Mormon so Christian novels might be of some interest.

In that case, you might want to download the free Kindle/Nook/Sony Reader Library apps if you haven't already, and stock up on the Christian Fiction freebies which are offered in quantity (pop up to the Deals, Freebies, and Resources forum; a bunch of YA ones showed up in the past couple of days, and the publishers generally give away half-dozen new ones per month).

As for alternative sexuality depictions, just how strict are your reading tastes regarding this? Would some secondary/background characters in a relationship/having issues which get mentioned from time to time, but not a major part of any sub/plot, be okay for you? Be nice to know how much of my personal bookshelf I could expect to filter out when checking for possible recs.

Speaking of which, two other great YA fantasy series are Diana Wynne Jones' "Chrestomanci" and "Moving Castle". The former is about a line of nine-lifed enchanters who are guardians of a parallel world set, and the rare eligible boys who are technically qualified for the position, but are reluctant and rebel against filling it. The latter was made into an anime movie by Hayao Miyazaki.

Like Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, these were written a couple of decades ago when YA titles were less inclined to use stronger language, and a quick flipthrough of my own copies revealed no H or D words which popped out strongly or often enough for me to notice, and it's not the sort of vocabulary most of their main characters would be using anyway.

Although if you're really set on not encountering them at all, you'll probably want to double-check by using Google Books' or Amazon's Search Inside feature on these and any other recommendations, and see if the undesired terms show up at all.

[primetime34]

I really appreciate your suggestions. I'm going to look at those fantasy series you've mentioned. I hadn't thought of using the "Search Inside" feature. What a great idea!

Secondary characters with issues being mentioned in the background but not a major talking point isn't that big of a deal.

[ATDrake]

Okay, then I'm pretty sure I can recommend to you Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall Trilogy (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums) for older teens, set in her popular Pern universe with the dragons; these particular novels follow musically-talented teens as they discover their gifts and get training.

There should be absolutely no H or D words in it, since the author is very adamant that the Pernese have no religion*, and the people in the books swear purely by made-up fantasy oaths like "Cracks!" and "Shards!"

I can only really recommend to you this YA set of novels, which have no sex, no real violence (a bit of bullying and some physical mistreatment, though), and no real swearing, either. There may be an occasional mention of dragon mating flights having a physical effect on their emotionally bonded riders, and blue and green (usually male) riders getting together because of it, but it's all background and never explicit.

The "adult" Pern novels are more problematic, especially as McCaffrey seems to have bought into that old-fashioned "Rape is Love" bad bodice-ripper romance meme. Not to mention the distressing quality deterioration over time.

However, I think that you might be able to safely read "Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern", which is one of her best-written novels from both a technical and storytelling perspective (and omits the above trope entirely), and its tie-in "Nerilka's Story", based on a minor character's view of the greater plot.

But I should warn you that the Pernese culture has different cultural mores, so there's going to be what would be considered premarital sex (glossed over and not described in love scenes or the like), open relationships (also, some just plain cheating), and out-of-wedlock childbearing (in the past backgrounds of the characters).

Also, one particular blue/green rider partnership does take on a little more prominence as one member of the pairing ends up with a couple of important tasks to do to advance the plot, but he stays a secondary character, and the nature of the partnership is not a major talking point, beyond the caring and concern expressed by the characters for each other in a few brief scenes.

If the above may be too much for you, then Nerilka's Story should still be okay, as it omits that particular relationship entirely since the viewpoint character doesn't even know those other characters exist, although her father does keep a mistress who is disapproved of in the story.

* Myself, I'd argue that the defacto near-worship of the dragons by the Pernese replaces anything official.

Edit: I should mention that while these are technically science fiction (the Pernese are the descendents of space colonists and the dragons are genetically engineered), the setting of these particular books in the series has a very medieval-ish low-tech fantasy flavour.

[primetime34]

ATDrake...thank you so much. Sounds like some good reading. Definitely going to put that on the list of things to check out. Maybe I'll see if I can check them out from the library on the Nook. Thanks again and I really appreciate all the suggestions and hope more come.

[Georgiegirl2012]

Unless I missed it I don't think I have seen Alexander McCall Smith mentioned - He has written a couple of series of books, the more famous of which are "The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" set in Botswana. This has also been made into a TV series, which is what I would describe as a BBC 1 Sunday evening drama. They are very gentle and a great favourite of my mother's who doesn't like unnecessary anything in her books, whether it be violence, sex or swearing. There is also a series called Cordurouy Mansions, as well as one called 44 Scotland Street.

How literary do you like your reading material? From my reading experience, quite often, authors who have more literary writing style have less need of descriptive passages of sex, violence and swearing to tell a story.

Good luck with finding reading material to suit.

[Marcy]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

While I *guess* I understand your desires, you're cutting yourself off from a lot of books. A lot of the classics don't meet your criteria. Twain and Shakespeare as examples.

So? There's still a ton of books that do meet the OP's criteria. I don't understand why people feel the need to criticize someone else's lifestyle choices, and especially seem disposed to criticize if those choices are what would be considered "traditional."

If the OP had been looking for GLBT reading I'm sure they would have gotten a ton of recommendations, without being chastised for raising their children too sheltered or being told that by reading GLBT they are cutting themselves off from a lot of books.

You can remove any of the Mercedes Lackey books from the list. She is one of my favorite authors and Valdemar is one of my favorite worlds, but it has a lot of homosexual characters, non-graphic but brutal rape and other things the OP is not looking for.

-Marcy

[Marcy]

Originally Posted by Georgiegirl2012

Unless I missed it I don't think I have seen Alexander McCall Smith mentioned - He has written a couple of series of books, the more famous of which are "The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" set in Botswana. This has also been made into a TV series, which is what I would describe as a BBC 1 Sunday evening drama. They are very gentle and a great favourite of my mother's who doesn't like unnecessary anything in her books, whether it be violence, sex or swearing. There is also a series called Cordurouy Mansions, as well as one called 44 Scotland Street.

I second the rec for "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series. They are sweet and interesting stories, with great characters. They also give insight into Botswana and the African way, both the old traditional way and the newer Westernized world.

I enjoyed Kate Gallison's Mother Lavinia series of cozy mysteries. They're about a female Episcopalian priest with a bankrupt parish in New Jersey, and the murders she somehow keeps getting involved in.

-Marcy

[primetime34]

Originally Posted by Marcy

So? There's still a ton of books that do meet the OP's criteria. I don't understand why people feel the need to criticize someone else's lifestyle choices, and especially seem disposed to criticize if those choices are what would be considered "traditional."

If the OP had been looking for GLBT reading I'm sure they would have gotten a ton of recommendations, without being chastised for raising their children too sheltered or being told that by reading GLBT they are cutting themselves off from a lot of books.

You can remove any of the Mercedes Lackey books from the list. She is one of my favorite authors and Valdemar is one of my favorite worlds, but it has a lot of homosexual characters, non-graphic but brutal rape and other things the OP is not looking for.

-Marcy

Thank you for that comment...I really appreciate it. Also, thanks for the suggestions of books to avoid and your +1 vote as well.

[Mozaika]

Well, if you look for the books to read with kids, then here is one I have just read with our kids - Leon Chameleon P.I. and The Case of the Kidnapped Mouse by Janet Hurst-Nicholson. The age recommendation is 7-11 years old, but I personally enjoyed it nonetheless, even at my 30+ . It's a fun, adventurous, witty detective story about forest creatures. You can find this book for the Kindle as well as for Nook (the printed copy seems to be harder to find). There are other books in the Leon series, if you find yourself interested.

[SeaBookGuy]

You'd probably like the Dearest Dorothy series - I didn't realize it'd be categorized as Christian (inspirational) until after I was hooked on them; I doubt I would've tried them had I realized it first. The religious aspect is far-from-heavy-handed.

[GA Russell]

Not new, but Robert Hugh Benson's Lord of the World has been on my TBR list for years. Maybe this will be the year.

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