S/O Book series: What lesser-known books did you love?

[catbus]

Specifically as a kid/young adult? 

[catbus]

I read so many books as a kid, many of which everyone else read (The Giver, all the Judy Blume books, Baby-Sitters Club, etc.), but a ton were totally random. I was thinking about some:
The Broccoli Tapes
 
Secrets of the Shopping Mall

Z for Zachariah

Also, when I went through my Judy Blume phase I read anything similar. Paula Danziger, anyone? The Cat Ate My Gymsuit?

[cajunmom]

I loved the Dr. Dolittle books when I was young. They used to be popular, I think, but I know that my kids haven't seen or read them yet. And if you haven't read them, please for the love of god don't get turned off by the thought of the Dr. Dolittle movies with Eddie Murphy. They're nothing like the original books.

[heyrebekah]

I was just looking this book up the other day. I used to check it out from the library all the time. Wish it was still in print because I would love to read it again (but not for $26).

[cajunmom]

Aug 16, 2013 16:48:53 GMT -5 catbus said:

Z for Zachariah

I loved this book!

[wanderlustfoodie]

I remember reading the Broccoli Tapes. I have a horrible recall for books (like even ones I read a few months ago) so I can't recall any off the top of my head but would probably remember them if I saw them.

I remember liking Dr. Doolittle too.

[pinkdutchtulips]

i read the Sunfire romance series .. all of the books used some major historical event as the main background for the story.

[heyrebekah]

Aug 16, 2013 16:55:36 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

i read the Sunfire romance series .. all of the books used some major historical event as the main background for the story.

Were these the ones where there was always a plucky young heroine torn between a sensible match and a rebel with a good heart?

[catbus]

Aug 16, 2013 16:55:44 GMT -5 kooshball said:

(ok not real but ... choose your own adventure books were good)

I loved CYOA books! (Everyone cheated at them... right?)

[pinkdutchtulips]

Aug 16, 2013 16:57:21 GMT -5 heyrebekah said:

Aug 16, 2013 16:55:36 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

i read the Sunfire romance series .. all of the books used some major historical event as the main background for the story.

Were these the ones where there was always a plucky young heroine torn between a sensible match and a rebel with a good heart?

yes .. ironically you can find the series on amazon for a penny/book !

[mmmomof2]

They were terrible, but I remember liking Camp Sunnyside Friends and Sleepover Friends a lot. Also the Taffy Sinclair series.

I also really liked this book about a girl who switched bodies with another girl like in Freaky Friday. I checked it out from the library all the time. I can't think of the title now. Also Jelly Belly about a boy who went to Fat Camp. Awesome!

I had this Choose Your Own Adventure book that was like anti-tobacco propaganda. There was one point where the choice was to either use chewing tobacco or not. If you didn't try it you ended up becoming class president, and if you did try it you ended up getting mouth cancer and lost your jaw! LOL. My mom found it at a used book store. I'm assuming she didn't read it before giving it to me.

[heyrebekah]

Aug 16, 2013 17:04:40 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

Aug 16, 2013 16:57:21 GMT -5 heyrebekah said:

Were these the ones where there was always a plucky young heroine torn between a sensible match and a rebel with a good heart?

yes .. ironically you can find the series on amazon for a penny/book !

I may have to pick up a few of those. Cassie was my favorite.

[Miss Phryne Fisher]

Aug 16, 2013 17:04:44 GMT -5 mmmomof2 said:

They were terrible, but I remember liking Camp Sunnyside Friends and Sleepover Friends a lot. Also the Taffy Sinclair series.

OMG I loved Taffy Sinclair/Fabulous Five books!! 

I also loved Nothings Fair in Fifth Grade. I read that one well into HS.

I was also a big fan of Christian romance novels. I visited my grandparents every summer and our first stop was the Bible Book Store in town, I loved Janette Oke (they made terrible movies out of the Love Comes Softly series) and the Mandy books. I also loved Hilda Stahl but those weren't well known. There were only 3 in the series because she died, but I loved her Blossoming Love/The Makeshift Husband/The Accidental Wife books. I still have them and love them. 

ETA: I should add...I am not religious in any way. My grandparents were Lutheran, but not particularly churchy. I haven't been to church since about 2000. I just love those stupid books. So chaste, so great. 

[joenali]

The Ink Drinker series! It is a great read aloud set and kids love it!!

[jenny1223]

Here are a few I remember:

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Lurlene McDaniel books, Harriet the Spy, Number the Stars, Happily After All

mmmomof2- my great grandma gave me a bunch of Janette Oke books (I still have them) that I loved.

[Susie]

Aug 16, 2013 17:03:24 GMT -5 catbus said:

I loved CYOA books! (Everyone cheated at them... right?)

Calvin has referred to them a bunch of times... until him I had never heard of CYOA.  Did I have a deficient childhood?

[catbus]

Aug 16, 2013 17:48:20 GMT -5 Susie said:

Aug 16, 2013 17:03:24 GMT -5 catbus said:

I loved CYOA books! (Everyone cheated at them... right?)

Calvin has referred to them a bunch of times... until him I had never heard of CYOA.  Did I have a deficient childhood?

This is shocking to me, but I actually am not sure if they were popular among my peers. I discovered them at my aunt's house; they had belonged to my cousins, who were born in '70 and '76, respectively. I think their peak of popularity had passed by the late '80s, but there I was in, like, '93 plowing through a stack of them. They weren't exactly challenging literature, but they were fun and super quick reads.  

[Deleted]

Fabulous Facts About the 50 States 

[zelda25]

Aug 16, 2013 16:51:29 GMT -5 cajunmom said:

Aug 16, 2013 16:48:53 GMT -5 catbus said:

Z for Zachariah

I loved this book!

Until now, I've never come across anyone else who had read this--it was one of my favorites. My love of post-apocalyptic stories began early

And Lizard Music--did anyone else read that?

[scribellesam]

Did anyone read the All of a Kind Family books, about a Jewish family with five daughters in 1900ish New York? Loved those books, they had lots of great descriptions of food lol and I loved learning about all the Jewish holidays.

Bonus random: the What Katy Did trilogy by Susan Coolidge, written in the late 19th century. I loved reading about how kids lived in the past.

More modern stuff I liked: the Saddle Club and the Thoroughbred series. I was one of those horse obsessed girls for sure.

[Deleted]

Aug 16, 2013 16:55:36 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

i read the Sunfire romance series .. all of the books used some major historical event as the main background for the story.

I loved these!!! Who could forget how Jennie survived the Johnstown flood, or how Darcy prevailed during the 1905 Galveston Hurricane or how Emily stood up to he high society parents to become a nurse at the turn of the century...

I also loved Jeanette Oke.

[jm1982]

Aug 16, 2013 17:41:13 GMT -5 jenny1223 said:

Here are a few I remember:

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Lurlene McDaniel books, Harriet the Spy, Number the Stars, Happily After All

mmmomof2- my great grandma gave me a bunch of Janette Oke books (I still have them) that I loved.

you had great taste in books!

I was a huge fan of anything by Scott O'Dell. He was best known for Island of the Blue Dolphins, but my favorite was The Spanish Smile. I read that book at least 20 times in my childhood.

[Susie]

Aug 16, 2013 17:52:00 GMT -5 catbus said:

Aug 16, 2013 17:48:20 GMT -5 Susie said:

Calvin has referred to them a bunch of times... until him I had never heard of CYOA.  Did I have a deficient childhood?

This is shocking to me, but I actually am not sure if they were popular among my peers. I discovered them at my aunt's house; they had belonged to my cousins, who were born in '70 and '76, respectively. I think their peak of popularity had passed by the late '80s, but there I was in, like, '93 plowing through a stack of them. They weren't exactly challenging literature, but they were fun and super quick reads.  

Ah, I see.  So I can add this to the list of things that I teasingly point out to him that whereas he was a child of the 70s, I am too young and missed the boat.

I am ok with this. 

[Susie]

Aug 16, 2013 17:41:13 GMT -5 jenny1223 said:

Here are a few I remember:

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Lurlene McDaniel books, Harriet the Spy, Number the Stars, Happily After All

I remember liking that book too.

[zelda25]

Aug 16, 2013 16:48:53 GMT -5 catbus said:

Also, when I went through my Judy Blume phase I read anything similar. Paula Danziger, anyone? The Cat Ate My Gymsuit?

Yes!  And There's a Bat in Bunk Five!

[mbcdefg]

Second Fiddle
You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye
They're Torturing Teachers in Room 104
The Pushcart War
The Devil Cat Screamed
Christina's Ghost
The Egypt Game
Emily's Runaway Imagination
The Roger Lea MacBride books about Rose Wilder
West Against the Wind
Somebody's Horse
The Story of the Amulet
Miracle on Maple Hill

I had a CYOA book and I can't remember the title ... one option included finding a golden collar for a beast that made him talk.

Aug 16, 2013 17:53:01 GMT -5 v said:

Fabulous Facts About the 50 States 

I had a kids' atlas that I loved.

[IIOY]

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4.

[jm1982]

Oh! The other one that I read over and over again was Wait Till Helen Comes.

[justjen]

The Satin Slippers-- kids at a ballet boarding school. This might explain my current love for Breaking Point on the CW

I'm remembering a book called "M, My Name Is Mia" that I really liked, but a quick google search turned up nothing

[Myrrhine]

I also loved the Mandy series, the Young Astronaut series, and The Ordinary Princess. I also liked this series The Blythe Girls, which was by the same author as the Bobbsey twins. It was about plucky orphaned sisters making their way in the big city (published 1925-32).

ETA Also West Against the Wind! That is on my list to own some day.