- Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery
- I first received a 50 cent copy of Anne of Green Gables as a 5th grade Christmas present. I took to reading it the next November and it changed my life. It was also the only time my mom ever took me into a book store and bought me an entire series.
- Read online here.
- An article about the displacement of Anne in literature canon.
- The Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- I had seen other kids carrying these books around but was determined not to read it since I always had a popularity contest in my reading selection. Then in 4th grade, we were forced to read Little House in the Big Woods and my heart was stolen away. Who can resist that opening line about “Long time before even today’s grandparents were born…”? A note about the readings is that they’re told out of order and a whole section of Laura’s life was not documented since it involved her family living over a saloon and the birth and death of the only male child of Ma and Pa Ingalls.
- Read online here.
- His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman
- A renowned atheist, Phillip Pullman brings together his great mockery in the most delicious package that ended up hurting and ultimately killing the success of The Golden Compass movie when the religious undertones were ripped out in order to appeal to a wider audience (it’s still amazingly stunning. The child playing Lyra was spot on; I wish we could have seen Will in movie form too). Don’t let the religious undertones turn you away, since this is an amazing series which still leaves you feeling unsatisfied at the end, though you know it had to end that way at the end.
- The Old Kingdom Trilogy by Garth Nix
- In high school, the first book, Sabriel, was making the rounds of my friends. My friend asked a few of us to read a passage to ourselves and then once we were all done, he asked us to describe how we had imagined that particular scene. It was unnerving how differently we could interpret the exact same words! These books are a bit gruesome as they deal with death and demons, but the flawed characters and swiftly moving storyline draws you in till the bitter end.
- Personally I listened to the series through the magic of Tim Curry’s reading voice. If you’ve got a lot of driving to do, this is the way I recommend it since he does a beautiful job with the unfamiliar names.
- The Song of the Lioness Quartet: Alanna series by Tamora Pierce
- Introduced to me in middle school, I was scandalized by the final two books. Here is a heroine gone undercover to become a knight who also has a healthy sexual appetite. How many female heroines can claim that? Tamora Pierce continues to dabble in Alanna’s world through several series, so it’s fun to get occasional peeks at what Alanna continues to be doing in her life.
- The Dragonlord series by Joanne Bertin
- Silly covers, but The Last Dragonlord and Dragon & Phoenix are amazing books. I was handed the books before I flew cross-country and I couldn’t put them down.
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I’ve been meaning to comment since you posted this. We should talk books some times. I love all of Tamora Pierce’s books set in Tortall. I call them my bad day books. If its a really bad day I read a whole quartet in one sitting.
I love her writing! However, I wasn’t a fan of the Page series at all. I tried to read Bloodhound over break but I just couldn’t concentrate.