Thursday, September 1, 2011

Ten Day You Challenge--Four Books



Four Books

Really? I'm supposed to narrow this down to four??? Anyone who knows me realizes that is an INSANE concept...therefore, in an effort to be diplomatic, I've decided to take a different approach. I'm going to list four books (or series) that I remember distinctly from my childhood and that had a major impact on my life. My mother never told me "no" when I asked for a book, and as a result, I became a voracious reader (thanks Mom:)

1. The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I started this series when I was in the fourth grade, and I can honestly say that they changed my life. They are the first books I remember not being able to put down. My mother bought me a boxed set, and I literally read them over and over. The Ingalls family became my own, and I grew to love Ma, Pa, Mary, Laura, and Carrie. Garth Williams' illustrations added the perfect touch to the stories. I reread these books every year, even as a teenager. I was so proud to pass that same dog-eared boxed set down to Stephanie, and I love that she savored the stories like I did. I can't wait until Sophie starts reading them next year!



2. The Black Stallion series by Walter Farley

As a child, I loved horses and would devour anything associated with them. While some kids adorned their walls with pictures of their teen crushes, I plastered mine with photos of all breeds of horse. The perfect books to satisfy this love was Walter Farley's Black Stallion series. I read them all and would dream that I was riding along side of Alec and the Black. When the movie came out I remember crying with excitement. Horses were my first love, and this series will always be near and dear to my heart.




3. The Flowers in the Attic series by VC Andrews

In the seventh grade I discovered VC Andrews (just saying that gives me chills because I was way too young to be reading her!). Naturally, my hormone-filled self LOVED the series and I devoured every one of them. They were a scandalous series, and I distinctly remember all of my classmates passing the books around behind our teachers' backs. Years later I shared them with my mother, and (believe it or not) she loved them, too! She read all of my ratty old copies! We also read a few of Andrews' other series, but we lost interest after she died and her estate hired a ghost writer. Stephanie loved all of these as well, but I made sure that she didn't read them until well past seventh grade!



4. Forever by Judy Bloom

It's risque, I know. In fact, this book was one of the most controversial novels of its time. Of course, I read all of Bloom's other books (Are You There God? It's Me Margaret was one of my favorites), but Forever was in a completely different category. Gone were the novels about dealing with the awkward pre-teen years. There was actually S-E-X in this story, and I remember reading it with my head under the covers at night because I was afraid that I would get caught! I think that this book is almost a right-of-passage for all teenage girls--I know that it was for me, and I will never forget it.



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