# Anybody else out there enjoy childrens and/or young adult books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 7, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998 "2004-07-07T20:14:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anngela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@Anngela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anngela)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/21 "2004-07-08T03:57:39Z")
Where do I apply for membership? Already mentioned favs: Heinlein’s juvenile science fiction Narnia Chronicles Chronicles of Prydain Harry Potter Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder Anne of Green Gables Velveteen Rabbit Wind in the Willows Winnie the Pooh A Wrinkle In Time – by Madeleine L’Engle Not yet mentioned favs: The Shoe books by Noel Streatfeild (Dancing Shoes, Theatre Shoes, Ballet Shoes, and so on) Amelia Bedelia Encyclopedia Brown Stuart Little The Secret Garden Charlie and the Chocolate Factory The Besty-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace Matilda Judy Bloom books Charlottes Web The Boxcar Children books The Hatchet Holes Tuck Everlasting Maniac Magee From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler I could go on and on… but I should hush. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/22 "2004-07-08T05:06:25Z")
Looking at some of these I keep thinking… man I should dig out some of my old pals again. I’ve been reading new stuff I found in the children’s section (Inkheart, The Amulet of Samarkand) **FriarTed** The Velveteen Rabbit is my _favourite_ tale. I use quotes from it in my sig at various places I visit. I also read a lot of fairy tales (old versions and rewritten. Politically Correct ones are so much fun!) and even now I sit and read to my son some of these. He’s only 6 months old but it’s never too early to start! He already has about 7 or 8 books that are his, mainly really simple ones but a couple of really nice ones that I admit I picked up because _I_ wanted to read them too. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/23 "2004-07-08T10:40:46Z")
> [@Flutterby](#): > > **Lsura** have you been to Tamora Pierce’s website? She’s got stuff planned to keep us reading to 2009! Right now I’m impatient for Trickster’s Queen… I know - I’m just hoping I’ve got a job by then so I can buy it! Otherwise, it’s the library for me to get it and read it. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/24 "2004-07-08T12:30:19Z")
Has anyone read the Pendragon books by MacHale? They are so good! I bought the first one because I heard that they are better than Harry Potter. I wouldn’t say they’re better. They’re very good, and they’re very different. I stayed up until 2 this morning finishing the fourth book, and lulled myself to sleep by mentally composing a letter to the author urging him in the strongest possible terms to get writing! And I’ll echo some of the others; I love the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace, anything by E.L. Konigsburg, E. Nesbitt, etc. I also enjoy the Walter Dean Myers (anyone read _Monster_?) books, Gary Paulsen, and Karen Hesse. Okay, I just love books. But still! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/25 "2004-07-08T12:31:13Z")
Someone on this board who I am eternally grateful to although I don’t remember his/her name sent me to [http://loganberrybooks.com/stump.html](http://loganberrybooks.com/stump.html) . This site put me back in touch with a kid’s book I had read long ago that had kind of haunted me ever since, only I didn’t know the name! It was A Candle In Her Room, by Ruth M. Arthur. You should get a lot of good recommendations there. Another book I stumbled across on my own was Twin Spell, by Janet Lunn Swoboda. There’s nothing like coming to the slow realization that you are reading something you once read twenty-five years ago…it’s eerie, to say the least, to see what you remember, what sort of things stuck in your child’s mind. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/26 "2004-07-08T12:44:54Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Tom Swift Jr. > > [http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/tomswift/ts2.htm](http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/tomswift/ts2.htm) I have all 33 of these books, although some of them are pretty torn up. I also really like the Rick Brant series, I wouldn’t mind completing that one some day, I have about 2/3 of the books. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/27 "2004-07-08T13:00:24Z")
I guess I’m not too original, since pretty much everything I’m into has been mentioned. I read all 8 of the _Anne_ books every year, in sequence, usually in the fall or around Christmas. I also love Lloyd Alexander’s _Chronicles Of Prydain_ and _The Arcadians_. Ever since I read HDM, I’ve been reading Pullman’s other stuff. _Count Karlstein_ is a goodie. > [@Tengu](#): > > I’m fond of the novelizations of BtVS, which are mostly aimed at a teen audience (at least that’s where I need to go to find them). OMG, you too? :eek: ::runs off to start new thread:: ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/28 "2004-07-08T13:01:31Z")
I still enjoy my Beverly Cleary books, especially my favorite: _The Mouse and the Motorcycle_. Some others: \*_No Flying in the House_ by Betty Brock. It’s about a little girl who is actually a fairy, but doesn’t know it until a cat tells her that she’s a “half fairy”. The most charming part of the book is she has a guardian named Gloria, a little white dog with attitude about three inches tall and three inches long. \*_Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher_ by Bruce Coville. He wrote a lot of those “My Teacher is an Alien” books. This book is part of a short series where these children find their way into a mysterious magic shop (the other one is _Jennifer Murdley’s Toad_). Basically a kid buys a dragon egg and cares for her when she hatches. He names her Tiamat. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/29 "2004-07-08T13:13:15Z")
Bruce Coville! Good one, **Rabid Child**! And I can’t believe I forgot Lemony Snicket. The kids and I have listened to them all on audio tapes. The ones read by Tim Curry are incredible. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/30 "2004-07-08T13:24:03Z")
I love the Lemony Snicket books. I like Harry Potter, I’ve read the first of the Artemis Fowl books and I plan to read the rest. Of course Roald Dahl and Shel Silverstein are Gods. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/31 "2004-07-08T13:49:33Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > Someone on this board who I am eternally grateful to although I don’t remember his/her name sent me to [http://loganberrybooks.com/stump.html](http://loganberrybooks.com/stump.html) . This site put me back in touch with a kid’s book I had read long ago that had kind of haunted me ever since, only I didn’t know the name! I use the booksleuth forums at [Abebooks.com](http://www.abebooks.com) - I’ve checked out Loganberry books, but I like being about to post in a forum environment - both to try to find the books I’m looking for and to see if I can help other people find theirs. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/32 "2004-07-09T03:42:58Z")
I like the Anne of Green Gables books and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books (which is fun because I live in easy driving distances of most of the places she lived). I also like Robin McKinley (especially her Damar stuff) and Meredith Ann Pierce. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/33 "2004-07-09T03:53:37Z")
I like the Anne of Green Gables books and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books (which is fun because I live in easy driving distances of most of the places she lived). I also like Robin McKinley (especially her Damar stuff) and Meredith Ann Pierce. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/34 "2004-07-09T04:11:08Z")
Another Heinlein juvenile and PTerry’s “Children’s books” reader here. And I have severa; autographed books by Shel Silverstein. Prized possessions, those. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bytheway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bytheway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bytheway)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/35 "2004-07-09T04:45:30Z")
Some YA books I enjoy which haven’t been mentioned yet: The Mad Scientists’ Club - Bertrand Brinley Henry Reed Inc., Henry Reed’s Babysitting Service, etc. - Keith Robertson Homer Price - Robert McCloskey The Twenty-One Balloons - William Pene du Bois Mr. Revere and I, Ben & Me - Robert Lawson ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/36 "2004-07-09T13:02:28Z")
> [@Rabid Child](#): > > I still enjoy my Beverly Cleary books, especially my favorite: _The Mouse and the Motorcycle_. God, I loved those as a kid. Vrooom! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/37 "2004-07-13T08:09:57Z")
The Three E’s for me! Elizabeth Enright (the Melendy family series, _Gone-Away Lake_ and _Return to Gone-Away_), Edward Eager (_Half Magic_ and others) and Eleanor Estes (the Moffats, _Ginger Pye_ and _Pinky Pye_, and _The Witch Family_). There’s also a series that I wonder if anyone besides me remembers. Judy Bolton. **Not** to be confused with Nancy Drew. Judy solved mysteries, but there was a lot of personal drama and moral dilemmas woven in, though not enough drama to be soapy and not enough morality to be preachy. Also unlike Miss Drew, Judy didn’t always make the right decisions, and she had a temper. Not that she was surrounded by saints, either: some of the conflicts between her and her friends/classmates/acquaintances could get downright “Mean Girls”-esque! And the illustrations were dope. Furthermore, the series was not stuck in time. Judy started out at age 15 or 16. She continued on through high school and eventually graduated. She got engaged. He turned out not to be the right guy. Her childhood friend became a lawyer and hired her as his secretary. He was the right guy, and they got engaged, then married. He went to work for the FBI and she became a private investigator. They also solved the “when are you going to have children?” dilemma by taking in a smart and smart-mouthed orphan girl. Can you tell I read these books to death? Unfortunately, a lot of them “went in the auction”. My mom convinced me that I didn’t need to hang on to “those kid books” when their value on the common market was so great. I have managed to snag a few copies at used-book stores, and there was a half-hearted attempt in the '90s to reissue them. For some reason, though, the publishers stopped after three volumes. Probably because I’m the only person who was interested! ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/38 "2004-07-13T11:40:06Z")
Lately I’ve been working on tracking down the old “Danny Dunn” series by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin. (Found 5 so far.) Some of them were fairly forgettable – and some of them I still enjoy today, 20 years after I last read them … ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/39 "2004-07-13T12:22:03Z")
Winnie the Pooh = happy childhood memories for me. The Hobbit = especially great for reading aloud to kids. Terry Pratchett = a master at work. Here’s an fascinating one. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which is published in both an adult and a children’s version, is the sixth novel to win the Whitbread Book of the Year since 1985. It has already won numerous children’s and teenage fiction awards and was initially entered for the Children’s Book Award as well, but was withdrawn by the publishers in preference to the Novel Award. (Whitbread Book Awards rules stipulate that books may only be entered in one category.)” [http://www.whitbread-bookawards.co.uk/press.cfm?page=68&id=27](http://www.whitbread-bookawards.co.uk/press.cfm?page=68&id=27) As the title suggests, it refers to detective work inspired by that of Sherlock Holmes. But the storyteller is an autistic teenager. This must have been a tremendously difficult book to write, but it is a great achievement. I had never read a book like this before. “Haddon makes an intelligent stab at how it feels to, for example, not know how to read the faces of the people around you, to be perpetually spooked by certain colours and certain levels of noise, to hate being touched to the point of violent reaction. Life is difficult for the difficult and prickly Christopher in ways that he only partly understands; this avoids most of the obvious pitfalls of novels about disability because it demands that we respect–perhaps admire–him rather than pity him. --Roz Kaveney” > **[The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-time : Haddon, Mark: Amazon.co.uk:...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-time/dp/1849921598)** > > The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-time : Haddon, Mark: Amazon.co.uk: Books ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998/40 "2004-07-13T14:01:20Z")
I still enjoy the books that I loved as a child, though I must admit that I don’t know what I ever saw in Judy Blume. Oh, and some of the things in Enid Blyton’s books are so decidedly un-PC that they actually shock me at time, such as all the books containing dogs named Nigger, or the Famous Five’s obsession with sending the boys off to defeat the evil, lazy and criminally-inclined Gypsies while the girls cooked their dinner for them. Seems ridiculous that Noddy books were persecuted for some small details while many of EB’s other books were so chock-full of words and concepts that have fallen out of favour that finding stuff to censor would be like shooting fish in a barrel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-out-there-enjoy-childrens-and-or-young-adult-books/253998.md?page=3)