The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Oh, The Hobbit. Such fond memories. We had a great collection of the Lord of the Rings books while I was growing up. They were paperback and all fit in this tidy little box together. In fifth grade, we had to choose a book to do a book report on [...]
After doing my flashback on Forever Angels last week, it got me thinking about how I really did have a thing for sad, twisty books when I was middle school aged. I’m not really sure why. I had a pretty normal family life, didn’t know a ton of people who had died, [...]
Forever Angels Series, by Suzanne Weyn
So, in fifth and sixth grade, my friend Tiffany and I went through an angel phase. It was actually a little bit bizarre. We read all these books about angels that were way beyond our grasp, we wore angel jewelry, she redecorated her room entirely in [...]
The Wayside School Series, by Louis Sachar
I LOVED these books! I had forgotten all about them, then I was clicking through Goodreads and saw one of the covers and was taken back to elementary school in a flash.
I remember all the funny little things about the school: One classroom on each story, no 13th story, [...]
Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene
Writing about The Savior a couple of days ago got me thinking about some of my first exposures to the Holocaust. I read this when I was probably a little bit too young. I know that some high school teachers assign this book, but I’m pretty sure I [...]
Homecoming, by Cynthia Voight
Before I tell you about this book, let me say that finding the cover that I remember it having (the pinkish one that I posted up there) was a giant pain. I even re-bought this book recently at the goodwill and it had this cover, but the one that I found every [...]
Winnie-The-Pooh, by A.A. Milne
In my book, you kinda can’t go wrong with Winnie-The-Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit and ol’ Christopher Robin. I remember reading this when I was younger and thinking, even then, that it was maybe the cutest thing ever written. When Winnie-The-Pooh dressed up as a rain cloud, I’m pretty sure a collective “aww!” spread [...]
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
After reading and being absolutely obsessed with Matilda in elementary school, I made quick work of Roald Dahl’s other books. I am fairly certain that I read all of them and can’t think of one that disappointed. His kind of dark humor and belief that kids are smarter [...]
Oh, The Places You’ll Go, by Dr. Seuss
I kind of have a thing for Dr. Seuss. I love his whimsical character and fun rhymes and all the stuff that everyone in America loves about him. This was never really one of my favorite books- I just thought it was kind of cheesy.
Let me tell you [...]
The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
So, I loved this book when I was growing up. I read it when I was pretty young and saw the movie and thought that it was all pretty great. Then, in maybe 6th or 7th grade (I really have no idea) we read it as a class and I learned [...]