Shawl for a Child/Teenager

[Jayashiangel]

I  want to make a small  rectangle style shawl for my niece for Xmas she is 12 years old my question is what size Width and Length do you guys think would be about RIGHT? Thanks

[Granny Square]

I don't know about your niece, but I was as tall as I am now when I was 13, and only an inch or so away from that at 12.  Is she tremendously shorter now than her mom?  For me, to keep it on my shoulders, I like it to be no less than 6 feet wide (I'm 5'3"), unless you are planning on it needing a shawl pin.  For depth, I'd go for the same as an adult's. 

[Granny Square]

Here is one that I'd consider a little short (widthwise) for me (assuming my wingspan=my height, it's only 1" longer than my wingspan at each end, but the fringe adds a bit); it's 15x65" (you need to sign up for this site which has Annies Attic/DRG patterns for free, they don't send annoying mails).  Thank might give you an idea of size...I'm seeing others even shorter at 60" wide, but deeper, 18", so there's a range.  If you're not on Ravelry you should be able to search on the first link for more, I've noticed links to a filtered Ravelry search from here don't work  (gives you ALL patterns); I searched on 'stole' and selected free patterns; you can also filter by yarn weight.