Just in time for the holiday, it's We Recommend, in which we attempt to match kids up with their perfect book. Got a kid in your life who needs a recommendation? Write us at thediamondinthewindow (at) gmail (dot) com with the age, reading tastes, favorite books, and any other relevant (or irrelevant) information, and we'll give it a shot. And really? All the good suggestions are in the comments, so be sure to look there!
First of all, did you ever realize how messed up the spelling of "Worshiped" is? What's with the only one p? That title really played havoc with my confidence.
But that's not what we're here to talk about! Oh no, as the winter solstice approaches (didn't you know that's what everyone's getting ready to celebrate?), it's time to think about wicca, and womyn power, and nice aunts. See here:
I have a 13 year old niece I would like to buy some books for. I am a feminist and follower of Buddhism and Goddess-worship and would like something that is inspired by any of these belief systems! I know she really likes Twilight and anything vampire related, book-wise, though her mom told me it's hard to find things appropriate for her age in this genre. Also, this past summer she took up sailing and she was completely re-born as a new young woman! Do you have anything to suggest with all of that in mind?
Wow. It's a lot to put together—the Christianity of Twilight, the sailing, the Buddhism. My head is spinning. Luckily I have the intrepid Diana to guide me. I was all over the Tamora Pierce oeuvre when she informed me, no, do the Night World series.
Why? Well, according to her, something like "the witches worship the Goddess and also various ancient gods and goddesses, plus one of the stories has reincarnation in it!" So there you go, the goddess AND Buddhism!
Caveat! I have not read it. BUT. Diana is fairly reliable, and is far more likely to know what this young lady will like than I will.
But how about the rest of you? Sailing? Goddess? Feminism? Buddhism? We'll see you in the comments…
marcialerner.com 
How about The Mists of Avalon? I read it for the first time when I was around 13 and loved it. There’s nary a vampire in it but there’s plenty of goddess worship and sailing (sort of).
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Terry Pratchett’s books about witch Tiffany Aching- “The Wee Free Men”, “A Hat Full of Sky”, “Wintersmith”, and “I Shall Wear Midnight”. I actually might try the last two first, and if the girl likes them, she can go back to the earlier ones.
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I can’t make the title come to mind, but there’s a neat memoir by a girl named Tania Aebi about sailing around the world solo, as a eighteen-to-twenty year old. No real talk of faith, but lots of sailing. I think I first read it at about 14 (so it’s kind of an old book and possibly har to find?)
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I also was going to say Mists of Avalon. I loved it at that age.
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A great sailing book, if the girl does not mind old fashioned writing/ time period, would be Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons. Great book- but you have to wade through the initial chapters until they get to the island. We usually did some judicious skipping of parts when we first got our daughter interested in the series, in order to get to the good stuff, as we were reading aloud. Still use one of the lines in the book as a parenting mantra: Better drowned than duffers. If not duffers, won’t drown.
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