Been sick and haven't had much to share with you guys, though I do have some projects in the works. One is a possible children's book series related to solving scientific mysteries. Science has become such a taboo in so many parts of our country because of the shameful power held by so few who fear it so much. That message needs to get out to the kids before this new generation becomes intellectual paupers as well as monetary.
So it got me thinking about my favorite books as a child. I read The Babysitter's Club books almost exclusively for many years, to the point I would wait for them to be released with bated breath. Meeting Ann M. Martin as a child was awe inspiring. I wanted to be her, be a writer, since then. Then those books got me through the long nights of insomnia after my mother died, my night time friends.
The few other books that managed to hold my interest included the Everworld series, Raul Dhahl's books, and various others I can't remember at this point. But there are two books, and one series that stand out as ones I will still revisit to this day, two well known, the other an obscure find at Buck-a-Book, the greatest east coast chain store of the 80's. The less famous is
Double Yuck Magic, a book about a girl who lives in an apartment and wants a dog so bad she uses a mad scientist's handbook as well as a heap of magic to create the world's best dog.
The other book is a much older and well known one,
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. It had a very feeble made for tv movie version that fell so short of it's mark it barely resembled the book. It was one of the first times I felt an author was writing a brilliant mystery with grown up plot twists for me. and even though I know how it ends I still love to reread it to visit all my favorite kooky characters and to cheer on a twelve year old outwitting the grownups.
My other favorite series was the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede.
In the first book Dealing With Dragons a princess decides she doesn't want to do boring princess things like needlework and dancing and runs away and becomes, (on her terms) the captive princess of a dragon named Kazul. Adventures ensure with witches, wizards, more dragons and magical items, in this quadrilogy.
What were your favorite books as a kid? What books made you made? What do you still read to this day?
I loved the Dealing with Dragons series! They still grace my shelves. I was also a huge fan of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsinger trilogy which led me into the wide world of Pern.
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