Ahhhh I love this subject!! And Leslie is the one that got me thinking:
Leslie M: Ok, so I just read Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret for my “Time’s top 100″ in our challenge. So funny to re-read something from my childhood with an adult perspective. “We must, we must, we must increase our bust.” I feel so far removed from an 11 yr old girl, I could never write a realistic coming of age book. The silly things that seem so important…
Anyway, it was fun. Maybe I need to pull out some Nancy Drew.
Hrmm… thinking back, I can say I definitely have not re-read anything from my childhood (now as an adult) – although throughout my childhood, I re-read my favorites over and over again, especially Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I couldn’t get enough of that one, and related so deeply to Margaret in so many ways. I wonder how I’d feel about it now? I’m kind of tempted. 😉
I loved all the Judy Blume books (many of them seemed so mature to me – I couldn’t wait to have my first boyfriend and fall in love and these were my “learning” ;).
And of course, all of the Sweet Valley Highs (so relevant to my pre-teen years). I think I read them well into my teens, although by then, I was deep into biographies and horror. 😉 And I haven’t even re-read any of those, either… years later.
I wonder what my perspective would be?
What about you? Have you since re-read any of your childhood favorites, and what was it like to re-read from an adult perspective?
Jan: Yes! I did this last year with a couple of my old favs. Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright and The Feather Star by Patricia Wrightson. A feather star is a kind of pretty jelly fish the girl saw on a summer holiday. Wrightson was an Australian author of terrific books for kids, but this one was my fav.
I think the books were old already when I first discovered them at my local library. LOL. I happened to find musty old hardback copies at a secondhand book sale last year and I bought them out of curiosity to see if the magic was still there. Well, it wasn’t really 🙁 but it was a very interesting thing to do. I’m still not sure why I read these books over and over as a young teen. Maybe cos they were about wonderful summer holidays and about the awkwardness of growing up? They were about girls roughly my age when I originally read them. Maybe a combination of connecting with a character but also escapism to a dream summer holiday? Yes Maryse, like you said, I think they were helping me learn about relationships too.
Maryse: It’s always fun to look back on our first books fondly… sometimes remembering the feelings they stirred in us, or just the memory of the time period when we read them, is enough.
Jan: Yes – it was about the feelings those books gave me. Looking back helped me remember my shy young teen self just starting to explore relationships.
Kat: Yes Anne of Green Gables. I’ve read read it 2 or 3 times now.
Leslie M: I am also going to be reading Judy Blume’s Forever for my “banned book” category. That one is a bit more mature than Are You There God it’s me Margaret.
Maryse: Whaaaa?? It was banned?
Leslie M: Yup! All kinds of books get banned for very silly reasons.
Annie: Don’t forget Deenie, by Judy Blume. My older sister tattled that I was reading it (at a young age) and my mother took it away. I couldn’t wait to finish it.
Tessa: I have. Sweet Valley High #18, Head Over Heals was my favorite book. It made me swoon with the rich bad boy falling for the kind, also rich, deaf girl. I could read it a thousand times.
Maryse: Hrmm… I don’t think remember that one, Tessa. Sounds right up our alley. I should try and find it again.
Tessa: OMG, I absolutely adored it! I read it the first time when I was 11. And still will read it today. I read all the Sweet Valley High books, up into the 100s when they started to get dumb. But to date, Bruce is my first Book Boyfriend because of this book.
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Yes! I did this last year with a couple of my old favs. Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright and The Feather Star by Patricia Wrightson. A feather star is a kind of pretty jelly fish the girl saw on a summer holiday. Wrightson was an Australian author of terrific books for kids, but this one was my fav.
I think the books were old already when I first discovered them at my local library. LOL. I happened to find musty old hardback copies at a secondhand book sale last year and I bought them out of curiosity to see if the magic was still there. Well, it wasn’t really 🙁 but it was a very interesting thing to do. I’m still not sure why I read these books over and over as a young teen. Maybe cos they were about wonderful summer holidays and about the awkwardness of growing up? They were about girls roughly my age when I originally read them. Maybe a combination of connecting with a character but also escapism to a dream summer holiday? Yes Maryse, like you said, I think they were helping me learn about relationships too.
It’s always fun to look back on our first books fondly… sometimes remembering the feelings they stirred in us, or just the memory of the time period when we read them, is enough.
Yes – it was about the feelings those books gave me. Looking back helped me remember my shy young teen self just starting to explore relationships.
Yes Anne of Green Gables. I’ve read read it 2 or 3 times now.
And you still love it, Kat?
I am also going to be reading Judy Blume’s Forever for my “banned book” category. That one is a bit more mature than Are You There God it’s me Margaret.
Whaaaa?? It was banned?
Yup! All kinds of books get banned for very silly reasons.
Don’t forget Deenie, by Judy Blume. My older sister tattled that I was reading it (at a young age) and my mother took it away. I couldn’t wait to finish it.
I have. Sweet Valley High 18, Head Over Heals was my favorite book. It made me swoon with the rich bad boy falling for the kind, also rich, deaf girl. I could read it a thousand times.
Hrmm… I don’t think remember that one, Tessa. Sounds right up our alley. I should try and find it again.
OMG, I absolutely adored it! I read it the first time when I was 11. And still will read it today. I read all the Sweet Valley High books, up into the 100s when they started to get dumb. But to date, Bruce is my first Book Boyfriend because of this book.