I taught myself to read at age 3. My mom insists that one day she just realized that I actually knew what the words on the pages meant. Even at preschool, I would grab my favorite book and read it every morning. Of course, I still love reading, but don't have as much time for it as I used to.
So, because I’m feeling nostalgic, I’ve decided to list some of my favorites.
#5: My Side of the Mountain: This story about Sam Gribley and his desire to run away from home and live off the land in the mountains was so different from the books that I usually read as a child. I remember being impressed by Sam’s ingenuity and of course, I wondered if I could be just like him. Now, the fact that I can’t stand bugs, camping, or hunting would probably keep me from making my own clothes out of deerskin and living in a tree in the wilderness, but a girl can dream, right?
#4:Sweet Valley High: Oh, how I envied Jessica and Elizabeth! The most popular girls in school, beautiful, talented, smart. And Elizabeth nearly always had a boyfriend (dreamy Todd, wasn’t it?) I kept reading these novels long after it was really socially acceptable, and even remember getting my little sister to check them out at the library for me when I was 15. Hey, in my defense, the plotlines really did get more mature, especially the University ones.
#3: Sleepover Friends: This series epitomized my desire to have a group of friends that had traditions together. The girls had a Sleepover Club and would spend their weekends eating junk food, gossiping, and having “adventures.” Oh man, I would have loved my own sleepover club as a teenager!
#2: The Gymnasts: I’ve always been enamored with gymnastics. My favorite Olympic sport is Women’s Gymnastics (did anyone else cry when Kerri Strug won the gold for USA?) These novels weren’t as universally popular as my #1 selection below, but oh how I loved them! I probably read each one 10 times, and still have several of them in a box in the basement.
#1: Baby-sitters Club: Yes, I loved the Baby-sitters Club books- who didn’t? (As an aside, shouldn’t it be “The Baby-sitters’ Club”? I really think there should be an apostrophe somewhere). I probably owned 30 of these books, including a few Super Specials, and I constantly checked out volumes from the library. I had the board game, saw the movie, and knew every trivia question. I even wrote Ann M. Martin a fan letter and received a form personal letter from her in response.
On a whim, last year, I actually went on eBay and bought a set of the BSC books 1-50. My rationale was that I would want to share them with my daughters someday, but who knows if I’ll even end up with daughters, much less ones that feel as passionately as I do about reading. They’re still in a box in the basement. I tried reading one for old time’s sake, but as an adult they’re kinda horrible. (Check out the archives of Claudia’s Room to see what I mean).
So there are my top five (with some honorable mentions listed below, because I just couldn’t leave them out and this post was getting long).
Oh - in case there was ever any doubt – yes, I am a dork.
Honorable Mentions:
There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom
Remember Me (and other Christopher Pike masterpieces)