Books to Remember...

This week's post was hard for me because I really didn't read a lot outside of school during my teen years, but I read voraciously (read: consumed) tons of books in elementary and middle school. So my diplomatic choice is to present a handful of the books that were most meaningful to me when I was younger...

#1. FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by E. L. Konigsburg. [Newberry Medal Winner, 1968] I think the fact that I can remember the entire title (spelling included) without having to look it up speaks to how much I loved this book. It's about a girl and her younger brother who decide to run away... to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (in NYC). The adventure begins with them standing on toilet seats to avoid detection of the security guard and they manage to stay in the museum for a week, studying the exhibits and becoming fascinated with one in particular. The true quest begins as they try to determine the mysterious origins of the "angel" statue, ultimately digging through the files of the its former owner, none other that Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I remember being so in love with the idea of running away to a museum and finding a mystery to solve once there.

#2. THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin. [Newberry Medal Winner, 1979] Another mystery/puzzle book. This one is an absolute classic. The sixteen residents of Sunset Towers apartments in Chicago are paired up and sent on a quest to solve the mystery and win Sam Westing's fortune. Crazy characters, clues, puzzles, and a lovable heroine. I love a good mystery, and it's probably because this book meant so much to me. Can I tell you how excited I am to be published by the same house that published this? Who could have known when I first read this book like twenty years ago (omg I'm getting old) that I'd be sorta among it's future ranks? It's gotta be fate. (On Amazon, this book has 709 reviews with an average of 4.5 stars. Now that's a winner.)

#3. THE EGYPT GAME by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. [Newberry Honor Book, 1968] This is my most obscure favorite. I swear, if not for the Scholastic catalog, I would be severely less well read than I am. Anyway, this is the book the dove me head first into ancient cultures. It's about a group of kids who get enthralled with ancient Egypt and start an elaborate make-believe world that recreates that past. There's also a mystery (duh, right?) and plenty of Egyptian mythology. After reading this book I became obsessed with ancient Egypt. I bought books about it, tried to learn hieroglyphics (ha), and ultimately this love of ancient culture spread into other cultures... like ancient Greece. Which definitely influence my own writing career, since much of my book relates to Greece myth. It's amazing, when you think about, how the most seemingly insignificant thing (like picking a book out of the Scholastic catalog) can change a person's entire life. (Oh, and this one was set in California, so I have the East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast covered in my selections!)

Hugs,
TLC
[The Book Without a Title], Summer 2008 Dutton Children's Books

what I'm reading ... THE STAND by Stephen King (finally broke down and bought the uncut edition, sigh...)

A treasured book...

This week, we're talking about teen books that had a profound impact on us growing up. A book that might have influenced us to become writers. For me, this one's a no-brainer.

Sure, I read all of the Little House on the Prairie books and Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, Little Women, Frog and Toad Are Friends (what?!)...they were all fantastic. However, they were just wonderful, creative stories that I enjoyed reading. They didn't spur me to pick up pen and paper and begin crafting myself.

Until I read The Parent Trap. This book came out in 1968 (I know...a lifetime ago) by Vic Crume when following the 1961 Disney movie starring the ever-charming Hayley Mills (no...not Lindsey Lohan's version) playing the duel roles of Sharon and Susan, twins separated after birth when their parents divorced and went their separate ways.



Now, it wasn't particularly the plot of the book that I identified with -- seeing how I don't have a twin sister I was separated from or divorced parents (mine just celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary.) Rather, it was the whole atmosphere and setting and...what if factor that the story created. And, the fact that these two thirteen year old girls could swap lives and manage to bring their parents back together.



When I was younger, I read this book to death, cover to cover, several times over. The thing was so tattered and torn, it looked like it had been through a shredder. At some point, I re-wrote the story in screenplay form in a notebook. I would have my stuffed animals act it out as a "play" with various set of animal twins playing the roles of Susan and Sharon. Sometimes, I'd even switch up the plot a little bit, ad-libbing here and there. I couldn't get enough of it, somehow wanting the story to be part of me, to have created it.

It wasn't novel-writing, at that point, but it was writing. I mean, I was like nine years old. But, it was a seed that was planted and set to grow and develop...until one day I'd be lucky enough to sell one of my stories.

So the rest of the Buzz Girls will weigh in this week on the books that influenced them. We'd love to hear from you and find out what books have meant the most to you through your life.

Marley = )
Sorority Rush Begins - May 2008
Rush - A Sisterhood Novel
Pledge Class - A Sisterhood Novel
Puffin Books