Books

So, continuing from my previous post, here's more books that influenced me as a child.

My Side of the Mountain
by Jean Craighead George
This book introduced me to what I like to call the survival genre. You know, those books like The Cay or the Swiss Family Robinson. I think I secretly always wanted to do something similar to what Sam does in this book, but I don't know nearly enough about living in the wild.

Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott
I just had to include this one. I read it for the first time in about the 4th grade. I still love it.

101 Dalmations
by Dodie Smith
I think I first read this book after my sister did a video book report on it. The book is so much cooler than any of the movie adaptations. I think I read it every year when I was in middle school. I really should go back and read it again and see if it's as good as I remember.

The Indian in the Cupboard
by Lynne Reid Banks
My third grade teacher, Ms. Bevel, read this to our class. I really like the rest of the series, too. Definitely one I want to read to my own kids.

The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodges Burnett
Another one read to me by a school teacher, this time Ms. Mitchell in the second grade. I remember getting a copy of this at the book fair, I think. Then when I turned 8, I got a nice hardback edition from my Uncle Scott and Aunt Diane. I'm pretty sure this was one of my first experiences with accents/dialects. All those characters with Yorkshire dialects.

A Little Princess
by Frances Hodges Burnett
My Grandma Howell gave me this book around age 8, I think. I think I like this book better than The Secret Garden, actually. I really wanted to be like Sara and I desperately wanted a doll like Emily. Maybe that's why I really like that name, too.

Anne of Green Gables
by L. M. Montgomery
And pretty much anything else she wrote.
I read her books in middle school. My friend Abby had like, all of them, and I would borrow them from her. All the Anne books and all the Emily books. And a few others. Anne and Gil and Emily and Teddy forever!

Matilda
by Roald Dahl
My sister had this book, and I'd steal pretty much any reading material she had, so that's how I read this one. Amazing book. My favorite one of his. I want mental powers like Matilda.

Harriet the Spy
by Louise Fitzhugh
Now I actually only read this book once, so it's not as beloved as some of the others. It did, however, make a big impression on me. I love Harriet's style of writing; she was so observant of the way people did things.

Johnny Tremain
by Esther Forbes
Probably my most favorite Revolutionary War book. Like I have a lot of those. No really, it's a great book and I do like historical fiction. And I just have these mental pictures of what it's like to be scalded and maimed by boiling silver. Very unpleasant.

Watership Down
by Richard Adams
We read this in the 8th grade for my English class. I had read it before, because my sister had it from when she had to read it for her 8th grade English class. Again, stealing books from Becca. That's ok, cause she steals books from me now. Well, in any case, I fell in love with the book. Who knew bunnies could be so fascinating?

Misty of Chincoteague
by Marguerite Henry
And all her other horse books, too.
My elementary school librarian introduced these sometime around the third or fourth grade, I think. Like many young girls, I did go through a horse-loving stage. These books certainly didn't help me get out of that, but I do remember liking them a lot.

The Little House on the Prairie series
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Wow, I don't even remember the first time I read these. Maybe second grade. I think Ms. Mitchell read The Long Winter to us. Well, my favorite is Farmer Boy, though I do really like By the Shores of Silver Lake, too. I learned many things from these books, like how people used to play with pig's bladders and that malaria/yellow fever is a crappy disease to have. I don't think any traditional American family library is complete without them.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E. L. Konigsburg
Yet another one I stole from my sister to read. Oh my goodness, I want to live in a museum. It'd be almost as cool as playing hide-and-go-seek in the library in the dark.

A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle
Possibly my most favorite science fiction book ever. Every time I read this book or any of her books, I get lost in that world. It's so great. So thought-provoking.

The Giver
by Lois Lowry
Another phenomenal science fiction book. There's reasons why many of these books have won awards. They're just good. Like this one. Read it in middle school, probably when I was going through the Newbery Medal books. I read a bunch of those.

Ella Enchanted
by Gail Carson Levine
I read this very shortly after it was actually published. I was quite enchanted with it, in fact. I'm a sucker for fairytales and I still adore reading adaptations of them. And the book is worlds better than that dumb movie.

The Hero and the Crown
by Robin McKinley
I read The Blue Sword first, which this book is the prequel to. I don't remember being all that impressed by The Blue Sword, but this one I love! Aerin is so cool! I love that she fights dragons and stuff. And it was this book that brought me and my friends the euphemism of "dropping the spoon." I'll let you guys read the book to find out what that means.

Sabriel
by Garth Nix
I've just realized that a great deal of these books have female protagonists. That's probably telling something about me. This book does follow that trend. A great fantasy adventure that eventually led me to the sequel, Lirael. And that book really impacted my life. Can we say librarians, people?

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
by Robert C. O'Brien
I do like those books about animals that act like humans. I really like the plot of this one. It's most intriguing. Read it.

Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
Another book in the survivor genre. I loved this one. All these great adventure and action scenes and yet, it's deceptively educational, too.

Tom's Midnight Garden
by Philippa Pearce
This book captured me with the time travelling and stuff about the Victorian period. I only read it once, but that story just stays with me. I really ought to go read it again.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School
by Louis Sachar
I like his books. They're quirky and funny. I first read this one after my friend, Kristin, introduced it to me. I like that all the Wayside School books end like this: Everybody booed, Everybody mooed, Everybody ooohed.

Holes
by Louis Sachar
Another one by Mr. Sachar. Really good storyteller, that man. I remember reading this one in middle school and not being able to put it down. I just had to know what happened next, as cliche as that sounds.

The Cricket in Times Square
by George Selden
This book helped me fall in love with New York City. It's another one of those animals acting like people books, but in the subways of NYC. How could you go wrong with a book like that?

Where the Sidewalk Ends
by Shel Silverstein
Granted, this isn't a novel, but a book of poetry, so I'm not sure if I can put it in this list. However, it's my list and I can do whatever I darn well please with it. My favorite poem of his is that one that begins: "I cannot go to school today..." So fun.

The Egypt Game
by Zipha Keatley Snyder
Another of my sister's books. I completely loved it, though. The mystery and intrigue and Egyptology and stuffed octopi. Good stuff.

Mary Poppins
by P. L. Travers
Yes, that movie is in fact adapted from a book. The book is much more elaborate, with at least 3 more children in the Banks family. I first learned the word "perambulator" reading this. And Mary Poppins really is an amazing character.

The Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Being a Lord of the Rings buff, I simply had to put this one on the list. How do you think I got into Lord of the Rings in the first place?

Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
I'm pretty sure I saw the cartoon movie long before I read the book, but I do like the book better. It's just so classic.

The Trumpet of the Swan
by E. B. White
Can I tell you how much I adore this book? We read it in the second grade (I'm beginning to realize that I really should thank my elementary school teachers for exposing me to such great children's literature) and I fell in love. Louis's adventures are just so fun to read about.

Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell
Definitely a children's classic. I first read it during my horse-loving stage. And I'm firmly against using those awful bits with horses. (I don't think people really use them anymore anyways)

White Fang
by Jack London
This falls into both the animals as people and the survival story genre. I have very distinct memories of the first part of this book, where the men are trying to escape the pack of wolves. I only vaguely remember much of the rest of it. Another one I should go back and reread.

Well, that's the end of my list. There are probably quite a few that I've missed, but it's time for my dinner group and I'm hungry. So goodnight.