Oz ,'First Date'
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Seconding or thirding the Prydain rec -- those books were among my very favorites as a kid.
If she has a taste for scary stories, she might like Mary Downing Hahn, who's written a bunch of ghost stories for younger readers. Some titles:
Wait Till Helen Comes
The Old Willis Place
Time For Andrew
I read several of hers around that age, I think, and loved them.
I loved the Witch of Blackbird Pond, the Boxcar Children and A Wrinkle in Time!
Me three.
What about Carry On, Mr. Bowditch? It is about being successful through math.
May I second the pimp of the Series of Unfortunate Events, for a melodramatic girl that age, who would benefit from a non-traditional main female character (she's an inventor!). They don't quite resolve in a way that may be totally satisfying, but I think the tone is very much what you were talking about.
She's almost 7, reading at about 7/8/9ish age in vocab, a little older in concept.
I refuse to believe she's almost 7. That makes my head hurt.
Books Kara Might Like:
The Araminta Spook series: [link]
The Terry Pratchett kid books: The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, Wee Free Men, A Hat Full Of Sky, and Wintersmith.
The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper.
Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (when it comes out. But trust me, it's FANTASTIC.)
Piratica, by Tanith Lee
... that's what I can come up with off the top of my head. I'll take a look around the bookshelves and see what else I've got there. I wonder if she's still a smidge too young for Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury ...
And speaking of smart, strong-willed girl leads, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos (The sequel will be out in November.)
Theo's eleven, the story is set in London in 1906, and with a heavy dose of Egyptology. It's sort of Young Indiana Jones meets The Mummy but with a precocious girl lead instead of a cocky man-child. *g* The author, Robin LaFevers is a good friend of mine and an incredibly talented writer.
Really late to the party, but Jane-Emily was and is one of my favorites. It's a ghost story about a little girl ghost, and it's just wonderful. Plus, Louisa, who narrates the book, is thoroughly charming, stubborn, and courageous. It might be a teeny bit old for Kara, but everyone else should read it anyway!
She loves ghosts! We own Piratica, I'd have thought the Susan Cooper a bit old for her, but I've added them to the list, and the Peter Pan, and all the rest. I love kids books. This is going to be so much fun.
Oh I love this conversation!
I bet she'd like Cornelia Funke's Inkheart. That was a new discovery for me from the CTY course I taught. It's a little dark and very complex, and normally I'd say wait a year, but for Kara? I'd try it.
I think it's a bit less spooky than the Dark is Rising series, which I adore as well.
Ooooh, that's a good one, too.
Oooh, oooh, oooh... I'm such a doofus-- one of my favorite books EVER (I'm on about my fifth copy and I reread it at least twice a year), The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.
Loved this one.
"Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William Mckinley and Me, Elizabeth"
This was also a particular favorite, along with The Mixed-up Files... There's also Harriet the Spy.