I'm curious today to find out which books most impacted your childhood/life. Was it If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or The Lord of the Rings, or both?
For me, it was Christopher Pike's See You Later...
Willo Davis Roberts' The Girl with the Silver Eyes...
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis...
and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.
These are not all strictly middle grade books, of course. But what kid reads only at her own "level"? I sure didn't. Whatever level these books were marketed for, I devoured them, and they remain a big part of my personal canon. If you look at the books I choose to read from today's market, you'll see some similarities, to say the least.
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White...
Shifting by Bethany Wiggins...
Across the Universe by Beth Revis...
Possession by Elana Johnson...
and The Maze Runner by James Dashner.
Heck, I even chose to work for a children's/YA publisher that specializes in speculative fiction: Month9Books. Here's some of their selection:
How have the books you loved as a child shaped you today? Are they still your favorites?
7 comments:
I LOVED Dr. Suess, anything with a supernatural element, and fairy tales as a kid and that pretty much sums me up as an adult. Dr. Suess had a huge impact on my sense of humor and imagination, the supernatural influences my reading and writing, and while I still love a good fairy tale, I've migrated into historical fiction.
Childhood covers a wide range, I guess... some of my favorites were:
The Monster at the End of This Book, Richard Scarry's Egg in the Hole Book, and a book with a duck on the cover (just saw it somewhere, but can't remember the name of it) that was about a boy finding an egg and raising a duck from birth on up (I thought that was so awesome). When I got older, Sweet Valley Twins, Shel Silverstein, and The Babysitter's Club were my choice reads. :) Haven't read some of those in a long, long time, but they planted that seed of loving to read in me, so yep I'd say they're still my favorites! ;)
I had a serious Christopher Pike addiction, haha. The books that impacted me most were probably A Wrinkle in Time, Narnia series, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and Little Women.
Definitely Matilda, by Roald Dahl (and pretty much anything else by him). And the Babysitters Club books first put the idea of writing into my head. As an adult, I seriously got into A Wrinkle in Time, Anne of Green Gables, and Ender's Game. And of course Harry Potter and Hunger Games.
I love strolling down memory lane! As a child there were so many books I loved! I was a voracious reader. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and A Wrinkle in Time were my grade school favs. In middle school I was on a Stephen King/Dean Koontz kick. Whispers by Dean Koontz changed my whole idea of what I liked to read. I also loved Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings. Swiped some Jude Deveraux romances from my mother which sparked an interest in romances. Oh, and Mary Higgins Clark. My mom was a huge fan and had all of her books. I read every one.
I read EVERY horse book I could get my hands on--good or bad--and loved fantasy and science fiction. One of my favorites was The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key. It really struck a chord with me: the communion with animals, how "different" people are treated, choices about where your moral line is. Heavy stuff for MG, but presented in such a way as to be accessible.
I read Walter Farley's The Black Stallion and The Red Stallion series. Where the Red Fern Grows. Laura Ingall Wilder series.
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