For Madison, http://www.sciplus.com/ American Science Surplus is a beauty and joy forever. -- check out the Adult & Kids Toys, Arts & Crafts, and Kits & Models sections. When I was 9, magnets were my kryptonite. As was basically anything from Klutz Press (http://www.klutz.com/). K'Nex or Erector set will probably entertain her longer than LEGO, and Hexbugs could be good if she's got an interest in robotics.
For Maria, I would turn to Monstrous Regiment for starter Pratchett, and I think that Meredith Anne Pierce's Darkangel Trilogy will both feed her id now and grows with her going forward. Likewise the Abhorsen trilogy: Sabriel might hit the romance buttons, Lirael and Abhorsen the I-am-so-alone-no-one-loves-me-despite-evidence-to-the-contrary-I-will-never-fit-in and found family buttons. She might also like Anne McCaffrey, although a lot of her stuff has some of the same wacky gender roles you find in Twilight, except more up-front and center. Of the Den of Shadows series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, I've only read the first book, but its heroine is a world more empowered and self-sufficient than Bella is.
Also, I can't speak for the content, but Stephenie Meyer's Host is actually supposed to be a world better than the Twilight series and might be worth investigating.
from /friendsfriends
For Maria, I would turn to Monstrous Regiment for starter Pratchett, and I think that Meredith Anne Pierce's Darkangel Trilogy will both feed her id now and grows with her going forward. Likewise the Abhorsen trilogy: Sabriel might hit the romance buttons, Lirael and Abhorsen the I-am-so-alone-no-one-loves-me-despite-evidence-to-the-contrary-I-will-never-fit-in and found family buttons. She might also like Anne McCaffrey, although a lot of her stuff has some of the same wacky gender roles you find in Twilight, except more up-front and center. Of the Den of Shadows series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, I've only read the first book, but its heroine is a world more empowered and self-sufficient than Bella is.
Also, I can't speak for the content, but Stephenie Meyer's Host is actually supposed to be a world better than the Twilight series and might be worth investigating.