Books I read at age 13

[sophia_sol]

I was sorting through some old papers and found a list of books I read over the course of some undefined period when I was around 13 years old. A fascinating blast from the past! I wish I had more reading lists from my younger self; I only started systematically keeping track in 2009.

It's interesting to look through this list and see which books I still remember with love and which ones have completely slipped my memory over the years. I had forgotten about Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood but I remember it being wonderful! I ought to give that one a reread sometime. On the other hand, I strongly suspect A is for Aarrgh hasn't held up, despite having always thought of it fondly.

Here's what I read. The ones with an asterisk were marked as rereads. Yes I did a LOT of rereading when I was young!!

*Sandry's Book, by Tamora Pierce
*Page, by Tamora Pierce
Lady Knight, by Tamora Pierce
*Dragonsong, by Anne McCaffrey
*Dragonsinger, by Anne McCaffrey
Mixed Magics, by Diana Wynne Jones
*Witch Week, by Diana Wynne Jones
*The Lives of Christopher Chant, by Diana Wynne Jones
Funny Frank, by Dick King-Smith
*Babe the Sheep Pig, by Dick King-Smith
*The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare
*The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
*On Tide Mill Lane, by Melissa Wiley
*On Top of Concord Hill, by Maria D Wilkes
*The Courage of Sarah Noble, by Alice Dalgleish
*The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
*Sable, by Karen Hesse
*Wander, by Susan Hart Lindquist
*A Puli named Sandor, by Sharon Siamon
The Christmas Stories of George MacDonald, by George MacDonald
*Brian's Winter, by Gary Paulsen
Carpe Jugulum, by Terry Pratchett
Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Soul Music, by Terry Pratchett
Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett
Emperor Mage, by Tamora Pierce
*In the Realms of the Gods, by Tamora Pierce
*A is for Aarrgh, by William J Brooke
Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood, by Meredith Ann Pierce
Star in the Storm, by Joan Hiatt Harlow
Believing is Seeing, by Diana Wynne Jones
*The Homeward Bounders, by Diana Wynne Jones
*Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones

Comments

[lirazel]

It's so hard to know whether to risk a reread of beloved childhood books, isn't it? There are many that do hold up, but you can't always know going in, and sometimes a reread will ruin the happy memories.

I love seeing your list (special shout-out to one of my all-time faves The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare, which I was also rereading at that age)! I think I have some lists somewhere that I had to keep for school, but I only had to do that in a grade or two, so there are thousands of books that are lost to the mists of time.

[ivyfic]

Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt 100% held up. True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle--no. And then there's Indian in the Cupboard, which I loved, but....

[sophia_sol]

Yeah old beloved children's books can turn out to be so varying in quality! There are some books I adored as a kid that these days I completely cringe over. But I love when I reread an old favourite and discover new depths and new reasons to love it as an adult.

I am actually surprised to discover that I read The Witch of Blackbird Pond multiple times because I have so little memory of that book, and yet I clearly liked it enough to reread it. All I remember is the ship at the end named Witch!

[lirazel]

It really still holds up! I reread it a few years ago to write Yuletide fic and I still love it so very much.

[ivyfic]

I kept a book journal starting in seventh grade, as part of my promise to myself to read at least 200 pages a week outside of school. At some point, I typed up an index of it, so I was able to pull it up just now. The short version is--I read a lot of Star Wars tie ins. A LOT. Literally every one they published. And since I rated every book on a scale of one to ten, I can tell that I consistently rated the SW books lower than everything else I was reading. I blame Timothy Zahn for filling me with hope as to what those books would be that kept me doggedly going through them.

Just for shits and giggles, have however much of my list fits in this comment box:
Number the Stars - Lois Lowry
Monkey Island - Paula Fox
Accident, The - Todd Strasser
When the Stars Begin to Fall - James Lincoln Collier
Rebecca - Daphne de Maurier
Ghost in the Big Brass Bed, The - Bruce Coville
Mystery of the Cupboard, The - Lynne Reid Banks
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Only Earth and Sky Last Forever - Nathaniel Benchley
Tracker - Gary Paulsen
More Five Minute Mysteries - Ken Weber
More All-of-a-Kind Family - Sydney Taylor
Diary of Latoya Hunter, The - Latoya Hunter
Song of the Trees - Mildred D. Taylor
Down a Dark Hall - Lois Duncan
Island Keeper, The - Harry Mazer
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred D. Taylor
Weasel - Cynthia de Felice
My Name is Not Angelica - Scott O'Dell
Leaves in October, The - Karen Ackerman
Island, The - Gary Paulsen
Bearstone - Will Hobbs
Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls
They Never Came Home - Lois Duncan
High Trail to Danger - Joan Lowry Nixon
Deadly Promise, A - Joan Lowry Nixon
Speeding Bullet - Neal Shusterman
On Fortune's Wheel - Cynthia Voigt
Connecticutt Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A - Mark Twain
Don't Look Behind You - Lois Duncan
Killing Freeze, A - Lynn Hall
Dead Man in Indian Creek, The - Mary Downing Hahn
Dealing With Dragons - Patricia C. Wrede
Tombs of Atuan, The - Ursula K. Le Guin
Perilous Road, The - William O'Steele
Long Winter, The - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Prince of Foxes - Samuel Shellabarger
All Things Bright and Beautiful - James Herriot
Dog Stories - James Herriot
Banner in the Sky - James Ramsey Ullman
Heir to the Empire - Timothy Zahn
Dark Force Rising - Timothy Zahn
Last Command, The - Timothy Zahn
I Am the Cheese - Robert Cormier
Girl in White Armor, The - Albert Bigelow Paine
Incredible Journey, The - Sheila Bunford
Acorn People, The - Ron Jones
Killing Mr. Griffin - Lois Duncan
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The - Douglas Adams
Twenty and Ten - Claire Hachet Bishop
Cay, The - Theodore Taylor
Freaky Friday - Mary Rodgers
Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The - Washington Irving
Great Train Robbery, The - Micheal Crichton
Let the Circle Be Unbroken - Mildred D. Taylor
Road to Memphis, The - Mildred D. Taylor
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The - Mark Twain
Moves Make the Man, The - Bruce Brooks
Building Blocks - Cynthia Voigt
My Brother Sam is Dead - James Lincoln, Christopher Collier
Belles on Their Toes - Frank B., Ernestine Gilbreth Gilbreth, Carey
Night to Remember, A - Walter Lord
Truce at Bakura - Kathy Tyers
Pigman, The - Paul Zindel
Ruby in the Smoke, The - Philip Pullman
Friedrich - Hans Peter Richter
Count of Monte Cristo, The - Alexandre Dumas
Drackenberg Adventures, The - Lloyd Alexander
Sirens and Spies - Janet Taylor Lisle
Playing Beatie Bow - Ruth Park
Book of Three, The - Lloyd Alexander
Death and Life of Superman, The - Roger Stern
Black Cauldron, The - Lloyd Alexander
Castle of Llyr, The - Lloyd Alexander
Taran Wanderer - Lloyd Alexander
Ambush at Corellia - Roger Macbride Allen
Hunt for Red October, The - Tom Clancy
High King, The - Lloyd Alexander
Long Live the Queen - Ellen Emerson White
Third Eye, The - Lois Duncan
Callender Papers, The - Cynthia Voigt
Voices After Midnight - Richard Peck
Cat Who Lived High, The - Lilian Jackson Braun

[sophia_sol]

I think you and I read some very different books at that age! I recognize surprisingly few from your list. It's too bad about all those star wars tie-ins not living up to your hopes; I'm impressed with your dogged determination to keep plowing through them!

[chestnut_pod]

Look at all that Tamora Pierce and DWJ! I think our respective 13-year-old selves would have had a grand time silently reading the same books across a table from each other.

My elementary and middle schools both required us all to keep reading logs, so I made records of every single book I read from first grade through eighth, and yet I didn't save a single one! On the one hand, why would a 6-to-13-year-old think that one day I would really want these, but on the other, I so wish I had saved them!

[sophia_sol]

Yessss, a good shared taste in literature :)

Oh my gosh what a resource was let go!!! I can't imagine knowing you kept lists and not being able to access them. Although in retrospect - I definitely must have kept regular reading lists for a number of years, because I participated in that thing where you got free Pizza Hut vouchers for reading a certain amount, but none of those lists were kept (whether by me or my mother). I'm so curious to know what all I was reading in elementary school.

[skygiants]

What a great list!! I only have one for fourth grade, I desperately wish I'd kept track in middle school but I didn't pick it up again until college.

[sophia_sol]

Ah thank you! I'm so glad I started keeping lists in university too, and only wish I'd thought to start sooner. I only started because a friend of mine said she was doing it and it sounded like a neat idea.