young adults

[hahawhat]

I never read young adult novels, but I think I'm going to start.  I was always busy trying to be really a big intellectual, reading John Ashbery at like 14 because I heard him read a poem on NPR (what?  As if I could understand one goddamn stanza back then?  I could hardly handle putting in a tampon).  When I was 9, I took a titanic leather bound

Comments

[valadon]

I remember reading Christopher Pike books when I was eight and nine years old for the "sex" scenes..and James and the Giant Peach when I was seven. I too bought a Poe book from the scholastic book catalog (LOVE THE CRINKLEY PAPER!@#!) when I was ten for the same reasons. And I've loved him ever since.

[corium]

the giver. the phantom tollbooth. definitely francesca lia block and anything by roald dahl. and i love the outdoorsy stuff like julie of the wolves and my side of the mountain and deep dream of the rainforest, but could see them not being your thing. i also loved the anastasia books, number the stars, thunder rolling in the mountains, and island of the blue dolphins.

[valadon]

Island of the Blue Dolphins! Yes! I was so in love with Rontu and wanted a wild wolf dog of my own.

[art_is_a_lie]

oh my god, island of the blue dolphins. such a great book. and the phantom tollbooth!!!!! great suggestions, jess.

[art_is_a_lie]

dude. camille DOES talk like a twitchy insane person. and she talks so fucking fast, i think because she thinks so fast her mouth can barely keep up. she is so fucking hilarious in class...the way she talks about oscar wilde always cracks me up. also, i cannot help but wonder what sort of person she would fuck, and how she would fuck them. i just sit in the back of her class and imagine it. she is such an enigma. it's amazing.

books? hmmmmmmm

catcher in the rye, obviously. but i hope you've read that already. i also really really love the perks of being a wallflower, even though it is super cheesy. i read dear god it's me margaret in a coffee shop one afternoon and it made me laugh a lot. when she writes to god about getting her period i almost died.

[solaenelsol]

my god this entry was hilarious. i loved that your fourth grade self was writing homage sequels.

[stochastically]

i think you probably have enough suggestions to last you a while but! my two cents:

- the maestro by tim wynne-jones (hatchet-y, sort of) - also his short story book 'some of the kinder planets'
- watership down by richard adams (i think it's YA, it has bunnies? but it's epic!)
- anything by e.l. konigsburg, specifically 'from the mixed up files of mrs basil e frankweiler' (about kids who run away to spend the night in a museum!) and 'the view from saturday'