Comments on: Five YA Novels that Influenced Me When I was a Teen

By: girldetective

girldetective — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 17:26:52 +0000

Traci, we book geeks can rarely limit ourselves. Notice how I added Summer of Fear to Down a Dark Hall? Should’ve probably just said: the collected oeuvre of Lois Duncan.

By: Traci

Traci — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 15:58:20 +0000

1) Nancy Drew (early reading)
2) Forever J. Bloom
3) I know What you did last summer
4) various VC Andrews
5) various S. King

If I may add a 6th, The Hobbit trilogy

By: girldetective

girldetective — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 21:05:17 +0000

Carolyn, I have a post coming up on the current ridiculousness of classification in the children’s sections. When I am queen, it will all change.

By: girldetective

girldetective — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 21:00:31 +0000

Carolyn, i’m off to look up victoria and Sarah and Katie–how is it my friends fave books I haven’t even heard of? CRAZY.

By: carolyn

carolyn — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 20:59:29 +0000

All my Trixie Belden / Nancy Drew / Hardy Boys reading was earlier on. Also I read all my mom’s Bobbsey Twin books / Cherry Ames (Oh I still love Cherry Ames; I bought my own copies from ebay a few years ago b/c my mom hates letting hers out of the house!) and Elsie Dinsmore. Those are all from the 50s I believe!

By: carolyn

carolyn — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 20:58:24 +0000

These are the books I was most pleased to find when clearing out stuff from my parents’ new house–I remembered very specific things from each of them–but I think they were all pre-YA for me, more K-6…
A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry
Victoria by Barbara Brooks Wallace
The Trouble with Thirteen by Betty Miles
Forever by Judy Bloom
Sarah and Katie by Dori White

And of course I was very happy to bring home all my L’Engle, Narnia, and Finn Family Moomintroll books!

My mom and I had to buy new copies of all the Pern books when I moved away so we could each have our own copies, I still love those to pieces (just reread the first six in the past few weeks!). I agree that Lessa isn’t a great role model, but that’s not what I read those for!

Elizabeth A. Lynn’s Chronicles of Tornor is my all-time favorite sci fi trilogy and I read those in high school although when I read them now they are definitely adult books!

Another HS favorite was The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin. All my LeGuin books are very well-creased even though I haven’t read them in years.

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:53:19 +0000

You know, Rebecca Skloot (of HeLa book fame) just asked this question on twitter. She’s writing a children’s version of Henrietta Lacks and needed to put together a list of comparable reading level books.

My problem with this question is that my reading level was always so screwy. I can never remember what I read when. A Wrinkle in Time, though, remains at the very top of the list.

By: girldetective

girldetective — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:12:14 +0000

Miss T, I was also a fan of the Girl Detectives, especially Trixie Belden. Hence the name of the blog. I’m not familiar with Susan, and I didn’t read Phantom Tollbooth till I was an adult (then felt sad I’d missed it till then.) I’m off to look up Susan by Smucker.

By: Miss T

Miss T — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 18:02:13 +0000

1. Harriet the Spy

2. Anything Nancy Drew

3. Susan, by Barbara C. Smucker

4. The Phantom Tollbooth

5. Any horror collection or novel I could get my hands on