... or what Dana said. Or Tamora Pierce, perhaps? Protector of the Small isn't too romancy.
There's also Nnedi Okorafor's fantasies: Akata Witch, Windspeaker, and I memfault the other one. Or Delia Sherman's The Freedom Maze, also written for younger readers.
Madeline L'Engle : very formative for me when I was her age and a bit younger.
Tamora Pierce? Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books (
The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith
and
I Shall Wear Midnight
)?
Seraphina
is wonderful.
Thank you all! I will pass it on-- I also have some old trek tie in novels at my mom's house.
Unfortunately, I think she bailed on A Wrinkle in Time!
Oh, maybe Diane Duane's Young Wizards series? Speaking of Trek tie-in novels...because she wrote some...
She might like James Dashner's
Maze Runner
series, or Robison Wells's
Variant
and
Feedback.
I like Amy's recs and second both. I also like Starters by Lissa Pierce.
The Graveyard Book, as well as the other Gaiman books mentioned above. The Series of Unfortunate Events.
Definitely all the Tamora PIerce, but yeah, my first thought was "has she tried the Star Trek/Star Wars books?"
Skulduggery Pleasant, if she digs Harry Potter.