Books that were important to you growing up.

[dawbs]

I see a few Jack London stories mentioned...

Just wondering--anyone else try re-reading his stuff w/ the 'adult' knowledge that he was incredibly racist. (Not just the "back in the old days, we were all kinda racist" sort--the actively aiming for apartheid and cheering on 'ethnic cleansing' sort)?

Because when I spent sleepless nights w/ my kid a few years ago (when she was a newborn and I was awake at all hours to nurse her, I read aloud all sorts of things. She has heard all of Genesis in the NJK version, "Where the Red Fern Grows", quite a bit of Kipling and a few other things. It seemed like a good idea at the time), I re read Call of the Wild and White Fang. I didn't realize how thinly veiled the racism was.

Actually, as a kid I saw some of it (in his descriptions of White Fang's initial owners and such). I just didn't realize how deeply it runs through things in the stories...I kinda quit reading them aloud.

(I should, now that I'm not a hormonal insomniac, re-read some of them again for a more balanced view :)

[mockingbird]

Babysitte'rs Club and the Little Sister spin-off - I was mostly and first interested in the Little Sister books, and the first one was the first chapter book I read, at 6 or 7. I remember my parents got it out of the library and basically forced me to read it. I was a smart kid, but also easily frustrated and a little anxious... so I guess they knew I could read chapter books and was just freaking myself out that I wouldn't be able to do it. And I loved it. Also when #81 came out about her splenectomy surgery (lol I love how I remember which # it is :lol: ) my dad took me to the bookstore to get it the day it came out because I'd had a lot of surgeries so I was really excited about that one. What was really cool to me at the time was it came out right before the new year, and the copyright date was for the next year... so I was holding a book that technically wasn't copyrighted yet. I used to have the whole set up to #105 or so, but I donated them all except #81 which is still in my childhood bedroom. I read the original series when I was a little older and I liked them too, but I never read as many of those as the "Karen books" as I called them.

I was/am also a huge Harry Potter fan (I'm rereading #5 now) and my best friend and I still argue over who convinced the other to read the series so we can claim "first fan" status :lol:

A Little Princess was huge for me, though my big love is the '95 movie. I know I had a copy of the book before that though so I'm sure my parents read it to me. Sara had a huge impact on who I am/my perspective in life. People still call me princess :lol: and the best compliment I have ever received, was one of my friends asked me if that was my favorite book because I acted like Sara. I also liked The Secret Garden and Heidi. But Sara is still my idol!

I didn't read Anne of Green Gables until high school for some reason (loved it) but I had the Canadian mini-series on VHS growing up and I watched those religiously.

One I don't think I have seen - Hilary McKay (author). More for the 10-12+ crowd. She has a great series about an artsy family, one of the books is Indigo Star, the most famous one is about Saffron (Saffron's Angel maybe? each book is about a different sibling). I'm not sure if the series has its own official name. I loved these books. They were really quirky and there was some weird shit going on that kind-of brings to mind Sparkling Lauren but even through all of that the family was just so NORMAL and relatable, and they felt very "real". One thing I appreciated is one of the girls' BFFs has leukemia or something like that but it's totally not a big deal, it's just like, "OK, well, can you still be my friend?" That was refreshing compared to the whole wise cancer/disabled child stereotype. She has a sequel to A Little Princess out now, which is cute. It's called Waiting on Forever I think.

Again toward the older range, I really liked the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books as a teen.

I also loved Roald Dahl. Edward Eager (Half Magic etc.). The Phantom Tollbooth. Ramona Quimby/other Beverly Cleary. I loved Louis Sachar too - forgot about him! I loved Lois Lowry especially The Giver and its sequels (though those came out more when I was a teen - and she's probably in the older preteen range anyway). I liked Number the Stars, and her Anastasia Krupnik series too. There was this really cute series called Monster of the Month Club that I was into for awhile about a girl who subscribes to a program that sends her a monster every month. lol Another one I liked was The Divide by Elizabeth Kay (my mom just found this in my room and sent me a picture, haha). It's about a boy who faints and ends up in a fantasy world. Really cute. I loved the hardback cover. It has two flaps (with a "divide" between them... yeah), instead of a normal book cover. I think this one came out when I was a young teen, but it's more of the preteen reading range probably.

Oooh and I almost forgot! Kate and M. Sarah Klise, an author/illustrater team who are sisters. The stories unfold through letters, newspaper articles, etc. They are just so imaginative and clever (lots of puns!). My parents actually had to ban me from checking them out from the library, because I wouldn't read anything else. LOL They have a series for younger readers now about a haunted house (difficulty is around that of the Magic Treehouse series). The big one though is Regarding the Fountain (has lots of sequels now), this one is probably toward the younger age range as well - not as simplistic as the new ones but I'd say maybe third or fourth grade reading level? The other two that came out when I was into them were Letters from Camp (a camp mystery) and Trial by Journal (this one is longer, it's about a girl who serves on a jury and because of media attention she's locked in a hotel with the other jurists for the duration of the trial). I still need to buy some of their books. Maybe I'll ask for them for Christmas. (ETA: Kate has some traditional-style novels she wrote without her sister, but I didn't really like the one I read.)

I wasn't allowed to read Goosebumps, haha. I was not censored in any other way (my mom even gave me some adult book she was reading when I was maybe 11 because she was bored with it but I read fast and she wanted to see if it was worth reading... um no... I actually tracked it down a year or so ago just to see, and it was still terrible!), but my mom really hates/is afraid of horror movies/books. So Goosebumps were not allowed in the house (neither is The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock, for that matter! haha). I think I read one in school once out of curiosity, but that's it.

A really good children's book that recently came out (a few years ago) is The Mysterious Benedict Society. It reminded me of Harry Potter a little bit, really clever. It's pretty dense/long so I'd say 10+.

[mcsnark]

Oh my gosh, so many fond memories brought back by everyone's replies.

I'll second Harry Potter, All-of-a-Kind Family (I only read the first one, though), Little House On The Prairie, Swallows and Amazons, The Giver, Dear America, Roald Dahl, Little Women, Boxcar Children, and especially everything by Noel Streatfield.

One that hasn't been mentioned is Cheaper By The Dozen, an oldie but goodie that was definitely the very beginning of the train of events that led to me finding this board-- the huge family enthralled me as a kid, and from then on I loved any stories with big and weird families. So while it wasn't a super-pivotal book to me when I read it, it was evidently rather important to my later life.

Finally, I'll add Betsy-Tacy, a semi-autobiographical series of 10ish books by Maud Hart Lovelace, following "Betsy's" life from age five until her mid-twenties. Man, I loved those books so much. I'd get a new one every year for Christmas until that one sad year when I finished the series. Even now, going back and comparing Betsy's experiences (born in the early 1890's) to my own experiences growing up is just incredible.

Wow, we read so many of the same books. Such good memories!

[mcsnark]

If you loved "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and haven't read her other books, you must.

I will always have a soft spot for "Tree", but definitely in my top books of all time is one of her other books, "Joy Comes in the Morning".

I loved both of these (and still reread them), but haven't read her others. Thanks for the recommendation. Did you think "Joy in the Morning" felt like a continuation of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" in some ways?

[tenth muse]

The Emily Series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, as well as the Anne books

What Katy Did - this scared me into obedience

[Syd+Marky]

"Are you there God, it's me Margaret"

"To Kill a Mockingbird"

The "Little House on the Prairie"books

All of Judy Blume

The Baby Sitters Club

The Diary of Anne Frank

"Where the Red Fern Grows"..and many more, I'm sure...

[Nastyasty]

- the Marlow books by Antonia Forest

- all of the Swallows and Amazons series

- Just So Stories

- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler

-The Catcher in the Rye

and lots of the others mentioned above.

[momof1]

I loved all of the Little House books

[gingerjo]

I loved Bloomability by Sharon Creech

[previously]

"Starring Sally J. Freeman as Herself" by Judy Blume. It's a really weird book (kid in post WW2 Florida thinks she sees Nazis everywhere, but I loved it. I must have read it 20 times.

I also loved "Matilda" so much I named my kid Matilda. No sign of any supernatural powers yet, sadly.

[nerdymama1]

Loved Witch of Blackbird Pond, Mandie books, Janette Oke books (groan), Number the Stars, and adventure-in-the-woods type books like Hatchet, Island of the Blue Dolpins, and The Boxcar Kids.

But my all time favorite had to be Ramona Quimby books.

And sorry for my lazy grammar. :)

[Crazytripletmommy]

Oh my gosh, so many fond memories brought back by everyone's replies.

I'll second Harry Potter, All-of-a-Kind Family (I only read the first one, though), Little House On The Prairie, Swallows and Amazons, The Giver, Dear America, Roald Dahl, Little Women, Boxcar Children, and especially everything by Noel Streatfield.

One that hasn't been mentioned is Cheaper By The Dozen, an oldie but goodie that was definitely the very beginning of the train of events that led to me finding this board-- the huge family enthralled me as a kid, and from then on I loved any stories with big and weird families. So while it wasn't a super-pivotal book to me when I read it, it was evidently rather important to my later life.

Finally, I'll add Betsy-Tacy, a semi-autobiographical series of 10ish books by Maud Hart Lovelace, following "Betsy's" life from age five until her mid-twenties. Man, I loved those books so much. I'd get a new one every year for Christmas until that one sad year when I finished the series. Even now, going back and comparing Betsy's experiences (born in the early 1890's) to my own experiences growing up is just incredible.

I am now going to have to go find the rest of the Betsy books. I had Betsy goes to school and loved it- never knew there were more!!!!

[Crazytripletmommy]

Growing up I read a ton of books which I realize now were horribly racist- The Bobbsey Twins and Honeybunch and Norman. I was a voracious reader and my mom owned most of those series from her childhood.

One of my other favorite books that I haven't seen mentioned was The Family Under The Bridge. I should dig that out and re-read it through adult eyes. I would recommend it to my niece as long as it is still appropriate.

[tenth muse]

Also: Grimm's fairy tales.

[nerdymama1]

Growing up I read a ton of books which I realize now were horribly racist- The Bobbsey Twins and Honeybunch and Norman. I was a voracious reader and my mom owned most of those series from her childhood.

One of my other favorite books that I haven't seen mentioned was The Family Under The Bridge. I should dig that out and re-read it through adult eyes. I would recommend it to my niece as long as it is still appropriate.

Oh, Bobbsey Twins were (are?) free on the Kindle so I got a bunch of them for my daughter. Oops.

ETA: That's probably why my mom can't find any copies of Honeybunch and Norman, too. :shock:

[FiddleDD]

Boxcar Children, Babysitter's Club, those were the two series that made me love reading. I read everything add a kid, I once went from Sweet Valley High to Madame Bovary in the same week. I loved Lurlene McDaniel, she wrote books about teens with serious illnesses.

One book I still reread from time to time is Homecoming, by Cynthia Voight. It was amazing then and its amazing now.

[nerdymama1]

Lurlene McDaniel was all the rage at my high school. And "Detour for Emmy" went around all over because of the graphic descriptions of sex and pregnancy. Loved "Homecoming" too. There's a prequel to it, Jackaroo?, I think. It's not quite as good, but I still have a copy of both of them.

[roddma]

I read the Lurlene McDaniel books as a young adult. Little House topped my list, too. Nancy Drew was always a favorite of mine. I still am willing to sneak and read them.

[DaffyDill]

Little House topped my list, too. Nancy Drew was always a favorite of mine. I still am willing to sneak and read them.

Same here to the Little House books and Nancy Drew :D I also read some Trixie Belden ones - kind of like Nancy Drew, only not as good.

When I was younger, I read heaps of Enid Blyton too. The Magic Faraway Tree, Naughtiest Girl in the school etc, as well as the Famous Five etc.

[tenth muse]

Same here to the Little House books and Nancy Drew :D I also read some Trixie Belden ones - kind of like Nancy Drew, only not as good.

When I was younger, I read heaps of Enid Blyton too. The Magic Faraway Tree, Naughtiest Girl in the school etc, as well as the Famous Five etc.

Loved all of these. I read a Trixie Belden book once, that had a witch living in a house that had been set on fire or something like that. It terrified me for months afterwards :lol:

[crazyforkate]

I read the Lurlene McDaniel books as a young adult. Little House topped my list, too. Nancy Drew was always a favorite of mine. I still am willing to sneak and read them.

Ah, Lurlene, you and your world of melodramatic teenage death. Favorite of mine at the time too. Have you seen the blog "somewhere between y.a. lit and death"? It's a snarky review of several of the McDaniel books. Hilarious.

[FiddleDD]

Lurlene McDaniel was all the rage at my high school. And "Detour for Emmy" went around all over because of the graphic descriptions of sex and pregnancy. Loved "Homecoming" too. There's a prequel to it, Jackaroo?, I think. It's not quite as good, but I still have a copy of both of them.

There were several books in the Homecoming world. I recently went through them all again. I love books like that, where you get so much more out of them as an adult.

I'm totally looking up that blog about Lurlene McDaniels books right now. I think I had 50+ of her books by my late teens, which I sold as a lot on eBay.

[snusmumriken]

So many great books in this list! I'm taking note for fun summer reading. :)

I'd like to second the Mysterious Benedict Society series as a great recent addition to kid/YA lit. Along sort of the same lines (adventuresome smart kids and excellent vocabulary words) are A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place.

Others that I loved when I was younger and still do love are Sarah, Plain and Tall, Misty of Chincoteague, and Night of the Twisters (which still scares me if I read it during tornado season).

Some YA that sparked my interest in fundies are Armageddon Summer by Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville and My Name is Not Esther by Fleur Beale. And they're not fundie, but the alphabetically-named kids in Ann M. Martin of BSC fame's Ten Kids, No Pets and Eleven Kids, One Summer are fun to read about.

[Shirley MacLaine]

And they're not fundie, but the alphabetically-named kids in Ann M. Martin of BSC fame's Ten Kids, No Pets and Eleven Kids, One Summer are fun to read about.

Holy shit, I forgot about Ten Kids, No Pets! Wow. I loved those.

For me:

Watership Down, Hitchhiker's Guide (the first book I remember laughing out loud at - I think the first one in the series I read was Restaurant at the End of the Universe), Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Little House... oh god, all the Marguerite Henry books, especially King of the Wind and Brighty of the Grand Canyon. I used to pretend that I was a horse from King of the Wind with my best friend from elementary school (actually, we did basically the whole cast with ourselves in all the parts).

Hatchet, for sure. Alas, Babylon. I think the first book I ever cried at was an Ann M Martin about a girl whose father died?

I also would borrow a lot from my parents and a lot of my formative book experiences were kind of weird. Like, I remember being very disturbed by Stranger in a Strange Land and The Stranger (which also completely blew my mind). I was also obsessed with Bridget Jones's Diary, which I borrowed from my mother when I was maybe nine and thought was just the funniest shit ever.

[crazyforkate]

Shirley M, that reminds me of all the "dirty books" we passed around the classroom as kids. In my generation it was Clan of the Cave Bear and its sequels with their increasingly purple prose, and in my mom's generation it was Lolita. Surest way to get kids to read something? Ban it.