my book worm counterpart. {circa: my pre-teen and early teen years.}

have you noticed my new gadget?
<--------- its over there (at the top of the page. the one that says 'i'm currently reading')
i've decided to start sharing what i'm reading, what i have read and what i'd recommend reading.
i don't know why i haven't done it earlier, because the truth is, i am an aspiring novelist and therefore an avid reader.
i read more than probably anyone i know (there was a point in time in my life when i was reading about 4-5 books a week.) and i have a deep and irrevocable love for the written word. i'm one of those types of girls that carries books around with me in my purse because any spare minute i have, i've got my nose in said book.
reading is a HUGE part of my life.

that being said, its funny to me that i haven't really said much about it [reading] until now. this blog is about me, all of me, but somehow i've failed to highlight one of the biggest parts of my life.
epic fail on my part.

anyway, the other night my brother, gregward, and i were talking books that we read now compared to books we used to read when we were in our pre-teen and early teen years and how much our tastes have changed.
at this point in my life i am a really big [middle grade] fantasy/non-fiction enthusiast. harry potter, fablehaven, that sort of thing. (which my brother thinks is funny. he told me i need to read books from a pov other than a teenager. ha!) its not that i don't enjoy other books, believe me, i can appreciate the classics and books written for adults, but fantasy is my one true book love.
but when i was younger (11-14). oi! i dabbled in just about everything from mystery/horror/suspense to drama and romance.
my favorite books/authors included:

cages

by: peg kehret

(160 pages)

plot: kit hathaway (i couldn't remember her name. i had to look it up.) is caught shop lifting and is sentenced to 20 hours of community service at the local animal shelter. the book follows her as she fulfills her hours and has to confess to everyone that she shoplifted... among other things.

i distinctly remember reading this over and over and over again when i was in 6th grade. i don't really even remember what happens, only the basic plot line (which i wrote above) and that i loved it.

(in addition to this book, i also really liked her thriller books, nightmare mountain, terror at the zoo, and danger at the fair.)

author: lois duncan

you know her. she wrote i know what you did last summer (among many other thriller books and then she churned out hotel for dogs... yeah, i don't get it either).

while i've never been one for the horror genre (in books or movies), i LOVED lois duncan books.

a few of my favorites by her were:

gallows hill and stranger with my face

number the stars

by: louis lowry

(136 pages)

plot line: its set during wwII and follows a girl named annemarie and her best friend ellen who is jewish. just as denmark's jewish community is being evacuated and taken to concentration camps, annemarie's family steps in and  aids ellen's family in escaping the nazi soilders and helps them to freedom.

when i was younger, i was obsessed with the holocaust. it was just all so interesting to me, i think that's why i loved this book so much. but i read this one quite a few times as well.

author: lurlene mcdaniel

i look back at the fact that i spent many hours devouring lurlene mcdaniels books and i just facepalm myself.

but i did. i l♥ved her books.

if you're not familiar with her, she writes books about people with terminal/chronic illnesses, missing limbs, and diseases. that sort of thing. they are all sad. they are all dramatic. and they were all i read when i was about 13-14 years old. she's written over 60 of these books and i've probably read at least 20 of them...

the outsiders

by: s.e. hinton

(192 pages)

plot: (do i really need to give a plot? basically, if you haven't read this book, you aren't american. okay maybe not, but i'm sure most of you have read it.) its about a gang of greasers who are in the wrong place at the wrong time when their enemies the "socs" come around. when ponyboy's (main character) friend johnny goes too far and kills one of the socs, he and ponyboy make a run for it. the book follows them as they hide from the cops and even attempt to take on alter identities. 

i loved this book. i loved the movie too, but i really loved the book. and then just knowing that s.e. hinton wrote this when she was 16 years old inspired me even more. i've read it multiple times and it still is on my top favorites list.

the true confessions of charlotte doyle

by: avi

(240 pages)

plot: in 1802 a 13 year-old-girl (charlotte doyle) who was brought up very much a lady is put onto a ship with miscreant sailors in attempt to meet with her father who is... somewhere. i can't remember. anyway, while on the ship, a murder happens and miss charlotte doyle gets caught in the middle of it and is deemed guilty until proven innocent.

i had to read this in 6th grade with my class. after we read it as a class, i read it alone... quite a few times.

oh how i loved this book. it was so... adventurous. danny devito has been rumored to be putting together a film of this book, but that rumor has been around since about 2007. we'll see danny. we'll see.

author: jack weyland

jack weyland is an author who writes books about lds girls who struggle with life's issues (such as eating disorders, rape, pre-marital pregnancy, and divorce) and how the lds religion helps them through their trials. his books were also very dramatic and i just laugh now at the fact that i was so obsessed with them for so long. of the 28 books he's written, i've read 19 of them some of them multiple times.

oh my life. what a funny girl i was.

that concludes my pre-teen to early teen year book list.

of course there were other books and authors i read through that stage of my life, but these ^ were my go-to books and authors. i think that has a lot to do with why i read what i do now. i wore myself out on the dramatic, romantic stuff ages ago. now i just want adventure!

what'd you read when you were younger?

{all pics found via google.}