You Say “Obsessed” Like It’s a Bad Thing

Today’s YA Highway Roadtrip:

What books were you obsessed with as a kid?

Where to start?

Dude, the mind boggles at the sheer volume.  I was an avid reader, and an even more avid re-reader.  To this day, the Sister and I have a category of books called Cheerios Books: books that we can pick up and start reading on any page while nibbling dry Cheerios. (Not a lot of junk food in our house.  Thank my mother for my lack of any cavities).  These are still my go-to books…I have reread every book in this post within the last year or two.  Many of these books have been re-released with newer cooler, more 2011-kid-friendly covers.  But whenever possible I’ve kicked it old-school so you can see how we lived in the 1980s.

So what was I reading and rereading (and rereading and rereading and rereading…)?

Well…

The Anne of Green Gables books, for one.  I loved ALL of them, from the beginning with Matthew and Marilla to Anne’s daughter Rilla’s life during the first world war.  SO good!

Then there was Louisa May Alcott.  Like with Anne, I didn’t stop with Little Women. I also loved Little Men, Jo’s Boys, Rose in Bloom, Old-Fashioned Girl, and pretty much anything else she wrote.

I reallyreallyreally wanted a hoopskirt. Sigh.

I also ADORED Madeleine L’Engle.  Loved the blend of science fiction, religion and family in A Wrinkle in Time and the rest of that series.  But even more, especially as I hit the tween years, I loved the Austins.  My very favorite,  (and perhaps the reason I spent much of my life obsessed with dolphins and writing):

What else, you ask (or maybe you didn’t, but you’re going to hear anyway)?

Well, I loved Edward Eager’s Half Magic and Elizabeth Enright’s Four Story Mistake.

But perhaps my biggest obsession? Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising series.  These blend of Arthurian legend, mystery, suspense, and fantasy were dazzling to me then, and still are today.  There is great poetry in her language, and a haunting beauty to the descriptions.  And for the record, I reread them all in December.

What about you? What books were you obsessed with as a kid?