qerolt

I second the Sabriel series. I tend to think Garth Nix is a kind of Neil-Gaiman-starter author. Elements of gothic/horror stuff, but never really too scary for kids (or at least, not for me when I was that age, it tends to depend on the kid in question)

Tamora Pierce Recommendations:

For the adventurous tomboy: "Alanna: The First Adventure" and "First Test" are the first books in two different series.

In general a good series: Sandry's Book (Circle of Magic Series)

Some of them do have romances/crushes (Alanna series more than the other two), but they're all focused on adventurous girls doing cool stuff, and the importance of hard work, friends, learning new things, etc. etc. I loved them as a kid (and now).

Source: was an 8-14 year old girl