Top Ten Tuesday, as always, is hosted at my other blog — The Broke & the Bookish
This week’s topic: Top Ten Books From My Childhood/Teen Years I Want To Revisit
I love re-reading in theory but I kind of fail at it. I would LOVE to revisit some old childhood/teen favorites but I also get scared to taint the childhood MAGIC and the FEELS I have surrounding these books if they don’t hold up. Anyone else feel like that?
1. ALL JUDY BLUME BOOKS: I loved her Fudge books and Freckle Juice as a kid and then as a pre-teen I LOVED books like Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, Blubber, Tiger Eyes, Deenie, etc. JUDY BLUME WAS/IS MY QUEEN.
2. ALL BEVERLY CLEARY BOOKS: Oh my god my childhood was alllll about Ramona, Henry Huggins and Ralph S. Mouse! Also loved Muggie Maggie.
3. All RL STINE: I wouldn’t want to go back and read ALL of them (I did as a kid) but there are a few favorite Goosebumps books I want to reread. BUT what I want to revisit most is the Fear Street Saga!
4. Sweet Valley High Books: OH MAN. I would love to see what I think about Elizabeth and Jessica as an adult. As a kid, I was an Elizabeth but wanted to be a Jessica.
5. Little House on the Prairie series: This series is the one, aside from the Boxcar Children, that REALLY made me the reader I am today. I actually think I AM going to reread this series.
6. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: I was just so enchanted by this book as a kid.
7. Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassidy: OMG DID ANYONE ELSE READ THIS BOOK?? It was one of my all time favorite books but I feel like NOBODY has heard about it. I don’t remember a thing about it but it was my FAVORITE. That one and Mud Blossom. Two I don’t hear much about!
8. 1984 by George Orwell: I read this in either middle school or high school and I remember LOVING it. I wonder what I’d get out of it as an adult.
9. To Kill A Mockingbird: I LOVED this when I read it in school and I think it’s definitely one that demands to be reread. AND AHHH THE HARPER LEE NEWS DELIGHTS ME.
10. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: I read this in high school and I distinctly remember wishing I didn’t have to analyze it and do big projects with it for school because I loved it and I just wanted to READ it. I think this reread WILL happen.
So tell me…did you read any of these as a kid/teen?? What books would YOU want to revisit from that time?
Anjeline says
Great list! To Kill a Mockingbird made my list! It’s one of my favorites and I’m so happy about the news as well! Freckle Juice was also on my list. I’ve never read an RL Stine book or a Beverly Cleary book before — can you believe that haha. My TTT.
Jamie says
AH I can’t believe you’ve never read either of them! RL Stine definitely hooked me when I was little and then I grew into his more teen horror. If you ever feel like reading him, do the Fear Street Saga!! And Beverly Cleary <3333 I would consider having kids for the sole purpose of being able to read these books with them haha
Alysia says
Sweet Valley High was such an obsession for me! IN both my childhood and part of my teen years. And I know what you mean about tainting that magic. I feel more inclined to read some of my favorites as an older teen than any of the things I read before then, because of that reason!
Jamie says
YES I read the Sweet Valley Twins ones AND the SVH ones though I preferred SVH for sure. And I’m so with you…I think I’m okay reading the stuff I read late in high school as opposed to the stuff that I read earlier on. NO NEED TO DESTROY THAT MAGIC. haha
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story says
YES. I am SO SCARED to re-read some of my favorites and not love them the same way! Especially ELLA ENCHANTED!!! I read eight of these and lvoed them as well!!! Great choices!
Jamie says
Oh man! How did I forget Ella Enchanted!!!!
Literary Feline says
Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary were reading staples when I was a child too. 🙂 I never read the Sweet Valley High books, surprisingly. I was more into the Girls of Canby Hall by Emily Chase. I think it was my first act of bookish rebellion–deciding not to read the “popular books” just because everyone else was. LOL
To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings–all books I read in high school and loved.
Great list, Jamie!
Jamie says
Oooh I’ve never heard of the Girls of Canby Hall! You little bookish hipster you! 😛
Wendy @ Book Scents says
YES I adored all the Sweet Valley high books!! And omg little house on the prairie. LOVED. TKAM – of course. 🙂 these make me so nostalgic!
Jamie says
RIGHT? As I was writing this post I was like NOSTALGIA NOSTALGIA NOSTALGIAAAAAA.
Chrissi Reads says
Sweet Valley High and anything Judy Blume were my absolute favourites as a tween/teen! 🙂 Great list Jamie!
Jamie says
I felt so grownup reading them because I knew they were a bit “older” but I was definitely an advanced reader and my parents trusted me.
Cynthia says
So many of these are on my top ten list as well. I loved Sweet Valley High and all Judy Blume books. And I LOVED the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary.
Jamie says
RAMONA WAS THE BEST. I never did see the movie that came out semi-recently but I was super happy that they kind of rebooted those books. I wonder if they are still popular amongst kids!!
Cynthia says
They actually did a pretty good job with the movie! Granted, it had been a while since I read them but it seems like they kind of combined the plots of a couple of the Ramona books. It was a sweet movie.
Kat says
I LOVED The Secret Garden as a child – I must have read it dozens of times, and then obsessed over the movie. I would love to go back and re-read it one day.
Jamie says
You know, I don’t know that I ever watched the movie!!
Elle @ Erratic Project Junkie says
How did I not think of the Little House series? Such good books. I had Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume on my list as well. Total staples for a young girl, I think.
Jamie says
They totally were staples for younger girls! I wonder if they are still popular choices for kids today!
Rebecca @ The Library Canary says
Sweet Valley High, Beverly Cleary! Little House on the Prairie! Loved all of those. I actually was homeschooled for 3 years and we did a whole unit on Little House on the Prairie. We even made their snow candy, remember that? With the snow and molasses? It was disgusting. haha. but fun to make!
Sarah's Book Shelves says
Secret Garden and Mockingbird made my list too! And – I was so into SVH growing up, but not sure I care about revisiting them now.
DLWhite says
I re-read 1984 a few years ago and I totally loved it more than when I read it in… high school I think? Especially since I am older and I see so much more Big Brother than I did back then. Eerily predictive!
Jennifer @ YA Book Nerd says
Loved SVH – read the book for adults (flash forward 10 years) that came out recently…and hated it. But I think I would like to re-read a few of the regular books.
Jenn says
Your addition of 1984 reminded me that I read Animal Farm when I was a child – I think I thought it would be about fun farm animals?? And instead I was so, so disturbed. Hahaha.
Sana // artsy musings of a bibliophile says
Sweet Valley High and RL Stine, OMG. I used to read them as a teen and I didn’t know anyone who did besides you! Now I’m having all the Elizabeth/Todd flashbacks and Jessica as a cheerleader. I was definitely an Elizabeth, too. I kind of really want to read Sweet Valley Confidential but I might never actually get around to doing that.
I read To Kill a Mockingbird a couple of years back so definitely not a teenager read for me but it’s amazing!
Maggie @ The Novel Orange says
Hi! Great list! To Kill a Mockingbird made my list as well! I wish now that I’d thought to mash entire book series together for this week’s TTT! I also love Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, R.L. Stine…pretty much everyone on your list! I’m embarrassed to say I never read Sweet Valley High books although I remember admiring the books’ cute covers! Happy reading! 🙂
Heather says
Fantastic list! I adored most of these growing up and was thinking of rereading some as well. I’m really just super excited for my daughter to get older so I can pass some of these down to her (like my Little House on the Prairie books). I was also a huge Babysitter Club fan growing up. Okay, now I’m going to have to go back and do some rereading. Nostalgia!
Mallory @ The Leaning Tower of Tomes says
The only Judy Blume book I’ve read was Tiger Eyes, which I loved but didn’t read until I was a teen. I feel like I missed the Judy Blume bandwagon. Is it too late to jump on it now? 😉 I also loved the two Little House books I read (and reread to death): Little House on the Prairie and On the Banks of Plum Creek. The Secret Garden I also remember loving, though the movie more than the book (but, then again, I did have an abridged version of the book and abridged versions are just no good, IMO). And To Kill a Mockingbird — one of my favorite classics.
Kayla says
I never read 1984 when I was in middle/high school and actually read it for the first time as an adult (and I use adult loosely – I was around 23!) – absolutely loved it! I probably wouldn’t have picked it up, but I had this list of 50 books everyone should read in their lifetime that I was determined to put a dent in, and I’m so glad that I read this one! It’s one of the books that I recommend to anyone who will listen to me. You should check it out again!
Also, ditto on Little House on the Prairie and Fear Street!
Alexa S. says
You’ve definitely read a lot of my favorites! I was obsessed with Beverly Cleary books as a child (and still have most of them at home), and was SO obsessed with Little House (and definitely still have all of these too). The Secret Garden is a book I love that I haven’t reread in ages! And Sweet Valley (Kids, Middle School, Junior High, High, University) was yet another series obsession for me. I did love those Wakefield twins!
Becky LeJeune says
I loved BEHIND THE ATTIC WALL! You’re so right, too. It seemed like no one else had every read it or even heard about it. I still have it boxed up with my middle grade and teen books somewhere.
Angie says
Yes yes to so many of these. Ashlea and I are actually talking about maybe going back and rereading all the Fear Street books together because hello child.
SWEET VALLEY WAS MY LIFE WHEN I WAS A KID. I was also an Elizabeth. I also may have had a pair of twin baby dolls named Elizabeth and Jessica. I could tell them apart because one was blue and the other was pink and wow I’m going to stop now.
Karla says
I reread all the Little House books a few years ago and really enjoyed them. As a child, they were fun, but I picked up on so much more as an adult.
Amy says
BEHIND THE ATTIC WALL. Why has no one else heard of that book? I seriously almost convinced myself that I had made it up in my mind until I found it at goodwill a couple years ago! So good and slightly creepy!
Jessica @ a GREAT read says
OOoh nice! Only read one or two of these in my childhood/teens and those were required reading ones! Seeing a lot of R.L. Stine! Ironically, I never read those books as a kid. But I liked Are You Afraid of the Dark, o go figure! Guess I was afraid of those books because I knew how powerful my imagination was! Yeah, let’s go with that! LOL! Great picks!
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Rachel says
I TOTALLY FORGOT BEVERLY CLEARY. I honestly can’t think of a single one of hers that I didn’t like. I also liked the Little House books. I remember my stepdad buying me the complete set for Christmas one year. I love that you loved R.L. Stine’s books so much. They scared the shit out of me and gave me nightmares, so I couldn’t really read them haha.
KatieMcD @ Bookish Tendencies says
YES to Judy Blume and SVH for sure! I kind of forgot about Beverly Cleary, so that was a fun reminder 🙂
My TTT: https://bookishtendencieskatie.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/top-10-nostalgic-books-from-yesteryear/
Diana Staresinic-Deane says
I loved, loved, loved BEHIND THE ATTIC WALL. I can’t remember how I learned about it…I think my elementary school library had a copy. I have a copy in my own grown-up library, tucked in next to William Sleator’s AMONG THE DOLLS and PEPPERMINTS IN THE PARLOR by Barbara Brooks Wallace. BTAW had the most amazing setting. I can still feel it in my head.
Kayla @ The Thousand Lives says
To Kill a Mockingbird and 1984 are still some of my favorites! And oh wow I haven’t thought about the Little House books in years… my set is all beat up from how often I read those books! I don’t think I ever actually finished the series now that I think about it. I always stopped at the fifth or sixth book.
Lola says
I almost put To Kill A Mockingbird on my list, as well as R. L. Stine books! Those were so popular!
Josephine says
Ramooooona! Oh god. So much love for Ramona Quimby.
Been trying to post my top ten all day but the Internet is being a bitch. Beverley Cleary’s ‘fifteen’ will be on there when I do get it posted though – have you read that one. I loved it.
The Maya Angelou is awesome; the whole ‘Caged Bird’ series is pretty phenomenal actually.
And TKaM is, God, I’ve read that book so many times I have no words for my love for it.
Also, pretty sure I wanted to *be* Laura Ingalls Wilder for a while, no lie!
Katie @ Bookish Illuminations says
All of these are fabulous picks! Yes to Sweet Valley High and Little House on the Prairie. I have one Sweet Valley High on my list for today. I also read Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary as a child and think I still have some of my childhood copies.
And yes, I know of and actually have my copy of Behind the Attic Wall. It’s so funny that you included this because I was just looking at my copy and was planning to re-read!
Cait @ Paper Fury says
I grew up with Little House and the Prairie too!! It’s like one of my first ‘reading’ memories (although my mum always read them aloud) second only to Narnia. 😉 OH YES TO BEVERLY CLEARY. I was perusing our old bookshelves to take photos for this prmopt and realised we have an entire shelf of Beverly Cleary! Even ones like Otis Spofford and Socks and Ellen Tibbits and Dear Mr Henshaw. xD Such fond memories. It makes me want to reread EVERYTHING.
Here’s my TTT!
JoLee says
My friend and I were just talking about BEHIND THE ATTIC WALL. I’d never met anyone else who had read it. And now, here you are, bringing it up again just one week later!
Shelumiel says
I feel like I have to have this origin story and always carry it around, because I didn’t grow up reading. BUT To Kill a Mockingbird and Harper Lee actually kindled my love of reading and, as much as I’m in your Team I Like The Idea Of Rereading But Fail In Praciting It, I’ve already reread TKAM twice and every time it’s like it’s my first read somehow but also nostalgic (does that make sense?). I enjoyed The Secret Garden as well, and I remember smiling like fool in my room for the most parts of it.