I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.
Hey all, it's been a while since I posted. Last week's topic I had done a few years ago and didn't have anything new to add, and the previous couple of topics weren't striking me with inspiration. Even this week has a lot of overlap with one from earlier in the year, but I decided to go ahead with it. These are ten books I'd give my younger self!
1. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I was pretty meh about this when I finally read it as an adult, and I'm sure I would have been less critical as a kid. Also, my favorite parts were hearing exactly how things were accomplished in that time and place, which I know would have fascinated me when I was younger as well.
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Similar to the first one, I've never had an abiding love for this book the way a lot of people seem to, and that might have been different if I'd read it when I was closer to the girls' ages.
3. Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards
I ate up books like this as a kid, where Mandy discovers the joy and pride of working on a project that's all her own, without adult help. It's similar to why I loved From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
4. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
As a former gifted kid, this book spoke to me so much, and it shares a lot of the wordplay elements of The Phantom Tollbooth, which I loved when I was growing up.
5. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
I will never not be mad that To Kill a Mockingbird is held up as the exemplar for introducing kids to this time and place.
6. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Like some of the above books, I definitely would have enjoyed reading about how Marty set about solving a logistical problem (hiding and caring for a dog) all on his own.
7. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
I probably could have used an introduction to the realities of poverty (and my own privilege) sooner, and this book is a gentle introduction to the topic (it's not tragedy porn even though it contains real hardships) told from the perspective of a girl I could have related to.
8. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
This is another one where I was overly critical reading it as an adult but would have just appreciated it for the story as a kid. It probably also would have given me a needed introduction to the realities of racism in 1960s America a little sooner.
9. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
I would have enjoyed this book a lot more when I was the target audience and did not have a bunch of experience with time travel plots that made the story somewhat predictable. I was a huge fan of mysteries as a kid — which I guess I still am, but it's so disappointing when I figure everything out early on!
10. Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan
This is one that I enjoyed as an adult and likely would have enjoyed just as much or more when I was younger. Although it follows a predictable "chosen one" story, there's more diversity and depth than in a lot of similar stories.
What would you like to give your younger self?
Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Possession, Everyday Bias, and How to Be a Perfect Stranger
Five years ago I was reading: The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Split, and Uncle Tom's Cabin
Ten years ago I was reading: Reading Lolita in Tehran
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