I remember I read a book titled "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls. It was a book about a boy who lived in the Ozarks and got 2 blood hound dogs for hunting. He teaches them to hunt in his backwoods....and they get so good at it that he enters them in national competitions. It was a fantastic book about a boy and his love and companionship of dogs.
I absolutely could not live without the Nancy Drew series!
Also, I really enjoyed the Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series. It seems a little old fashioned now but still great stories.
One more fave: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Loved, loved, loved "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", "Anne of Green Gables", "Pollyanna", "The Diary of Anne Frank", "Little Women", "A Christmas Carol", "Call of the Wild", "The Adventures of Huck Finn", "The Nancy Drew Series"---the list could go on! I was a voracious reader---now that I look back, most of the central characters featured in these literary classics were strong characters to which I was naturally drawn---go figure! And they loved an adventure as much as I do! Nothing much has changed since then! I am still a voracious reader drawn to novels where strong characters are featured and who, through various adventures, learn a lot about themselves and the world around them.
Here are some of the memorable books I read:
- A Wrinkle In Time - Madeleine L'Engle
- The Chronicles of Narnia Series- C.S. Lewis
- Homecoming Series - Cynthia Voigt
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - Roald Dahl
- The Perilous Gard - Elizabeth Marie Pope
- Thursday's Children - Rumer Godden
- Goodnight, Mr. Tom - Michelle Magorian
- Behind the Attic
Wall - Sylvia Cassedy
I didn't like to read much when I was in grade 7/8 but there was one book that I loved. It was "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton. I think boys would like this book too. I read it so many times the pages were worn out!
When I was in grade 8, I remember reading anything about WWII history, Lord of the Rings/fantasy novels and The Hardy Boys series.
My favourite books were from "The Famous Five" series by Enid Blyton.
Nancy Drew series
Hardy Boys series
Narnia series
Chicken Soup series
All books by Avi: Especially "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle"
All books by White: "Charlotte's Web", "Stuart Little", "Trumpet of the Swan"
Roald Dahl books
Where's Waldo? books
Biographies
Science, Geography books
I remember reading every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on. There was a used bookstore in downtown Brampton and my aunt would scour that shop for books for me. I also loved books about animals and nature (books by Jack London, Farley Mowat, the book Black Beauty).
Some of my favourite authors were
1. Gordon Korman -- he is a witty writer who incorporates a lot of humour. I love the tricks and pranks that the characters play on each other. His books always made me laugh out loud - sometimes to the point of tears!
2. Judy Blume -- she wrote a lot about issues that I was going through as a young teenager. I lot of my friends read her work and we talked about her books a lot.
My favorite book series of all time is His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. I think the books are in the Davis library, actually, and there is a movie based on the first book (called The Golden Compass) coming out in theatres sometime in early December.
Mr. Trivedi
I remember reading "King Solomon's Mines" by Sir H. Rider Haggard. It is a story of adventure, exploration and intrigue - a kind of historical fiction. It was written in 1885. The story is set in pre-colonial/colonial Africa where who were heroes and who were primitives was pre-determined. As I looked or the summary after so many years, all the characters, the plot and the discussions come to mind. I know there was a movie (black and white - long and boring), but it was a rare treat in those days nevertheless.
In Grade Eight I contracted Chicken Pox. I was forced to stay home from school for two weeks! During my time off I picked up J.R.R. Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" triology. I'm not sure if it was the writing or the illness, but the adventures of Frodo and his fellowship seemed extremely vivid to me. I have read the entire trilogy about four or five times since Grade Eight. I even had to read "The Two Towers" (book two of the triology) for a course at the University of Toronto! I enjoyed Peter Jackson's recent movies based on the books, as well. And I even enjoyed the "Lord of the Rings" cartoon movie that was made in the 1980's. One other point, I have never been able to read these books cover to cover. Some of the writing, such as the first Chapter of "The Fellowship of The Ring", is a bit "boring" -- I always skip forward to the good parts!
