Customer of the Day

So, today, I had one of those moms. You know, the somewhat overprotective ones. Here is the scenario:

Her daughter is 12. She is an avid reader and advanced (of course). She wants to get books that are more challenging for her so she wants to move out of the children's section (equivalent to MG) and into teens (YA territory). However, she doesn't want any books that have romance in them. No romance.

As of right now, this is harder than it looks. In my experience, if the parent doesn't want romance, she doesn't want very much else controversial either. In other words, nothing edgy. This mother also wanted to buy books that were going to be a little weighty. Her daughter loved Percy Jackson and had just read the Giver in school. So, she likes fantasy and adventure but also likes thought provoking books as well. Her mom didn't have a problem with books that made her think, but she did have a problem with novels with extra violence or that seemed "trashy".

So, what was the Bookseller Babe to do?

First I clarified her use of the word romance. Getting to the root of the matter, she wasn't opposed to romance per se, she was opposed to high school romance. She also didn't want anything just fun and frivolous, she wanted something meaty. What did I recommend?

She walked away with Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, Maximum Ride by James Patterson, Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson and Hatchet by Paulsen because she had been afraid to get it for her earlier and was now ready to get it for her.

Now, this mother also asked me my thoughts on Twilight. This is always a tough question because, IMO, Twilight is pretty harmless when it comes to what girls can be exposed to, however, tailoring it to this mom, I let her know it was, at its core, a romance. Interestingly, she said her daughter would have to get it from the library. This was interesting because ultimately, this mom was not opposed to letting her daughter read about romance, she was opposed to buying romance.

After thinking about it, this has become a trend lately. Many mom's, and usually it's the mom's, are trying to steer their daughters away from the typical romance novel that has become so popular amongst teens. Obviously they are still selling, the teens still want them, but the mom's are wanting a little bit more.

Thoughts? What would you have recommended to mom?