I’m one of those people who marks moments in their lives with books.
The Horse That Came to Breakfast reminds me of my mom and me reading in this big queen sized bed that smelled of moth balls at this cabin in Hardy, AR. My mom was dating this guy [who later became my step-father for a period of time] who owned the cabin and that is the only time I can vividly remember my mom reading to me before bed.
Grade school was The Baby-Sitters Club and Mein Kampf – how’s that for a really fucked up reading list? My grandpa suggested I should read Mein Kampf so that I could get an inside look at Hitler’s mind and all it did for me was leave me incredibly bored. I’ve gone back now that I’m an adult and reread it and it still bores me to tears.
Junior High and Highschool was Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, a lot of Stephen King – who is SO much more than just what you’ve seen on TV – and Cry the Beloved Country since I did a research paper on it.
There were other books that dotted my childhood but those, for some reason, are the ones that stick out.
All of the books were boxed up and moved with me when Mom kicked me out of the house – long story for another time – and were, for the most part, forgotten.
While I was back in Arkansas earlier in the month, Mom told me to go through the stuff she had moved with her when she and my step-father had divorced.
I found a couple of half finished journals – one from when I was 11 and another from when I lost my virginity – and a whole box of books that I had completely forgotten about.
The box was a weird mixture of stuff. Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Nora Roberts, a first edition Little Women and Nietzsche were all hanging out in the same box.
Also in that box were three books out of a series called Boyfriends/Girlfriends [which is now called Making Out].
What was so funny about finding those books is I can completely remember reading these books. They deal with a few friends on this island in Maine and the problems that they all go through; they’re actually pretty good reads.
Out of a fit of nostalgia, I grabbed the first book – Zoey Fools Around – and read it that day. The books are all less than 300 pages and to say they’re a light read is an understatement. Even though they’re YA books, I didn’t feel the shame that I felt when I read the Twilight series.
Then again, I wasn’t standing in line at Target with these books like I did with the Twilight series. I hid those bad boys under diapers like a 12 year old trying to hide tampons from the cute checker…if 12 year olds hid tampons under diapers.
What’s odd is that I have the first, second, and fourth book in the series but the third book – Nina Won’t Tell and my personal favorite – is missing. I KNOW I read that book since that third book is pretty freakin’ important in the whole story progression and I can even remember some of the stuff that happened but I’ll be damned if I can find it.
So, what did I do?
I got on Amazon and ordered that bitch for $.01.
In fact, I just got an email saying that the book has shipped. Granted, I won’t get it until after we get back from Arkansas for Christmas but it’ll be here and then I’ll be able to dive right back into some Young Adult fiction and relive those times before marriage and kids and those times when my biggest worries were about my upcoming Physics test or if random crush boy had said “Hi” to me or not.
Finding those books really took me back and I can’t help but wonder what books you remember from childhood and your teen years? They don’t have to be deep…hell…I listed Baby-Sitters Club for crap sake.
What books do your remember and love?
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