little girl bookworm

last night, austin and i tried to watch a weird movie version of a wrinkle in time, and although we didn't even make it like 45 minutes into the thing, i couldn't help but start reminiscing on all of my favorite books from elementary and middle school. i'm thinking about maybe rereading some of them, and wanted to make a little list here. i'm starting with the earliest books that i remember absolutely loving and going in chronological order (as best as i can), ending with a series of young adult novels that i actually finished in the last year or so. ;)

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i was obsessed with this book. i read the four sequels, even though i remember not quite grasping some of the concepts (i read this in 3rd or 4th grade.. i think). i remember thinking meg was so cool, because i've always loved girl heroes in literature. and since i didn't read much science fiction, every aspect of this book seemed so weird and different. although the movie kinda blew (since we were watching it via netflix, i didn't actually know that it was made for tv until like 30 minutes in?), it only made me want to reread the book (maybe all five of them?!) even more.

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i read holes around the same time that i read a wrinkle in time. it takes itself a lot less seriously, so it's a more fun read, even though i remember being super on edge the entire time (haha, a worrywart from the beginning!). it's a really cute story, with a sweet ending. a funny movie was made of it.. i still remember all of the lyrics from the theme song? ohh geez.

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this book is insane, and i actually reread it all of the time. my copy was given to me in a book trade with some childhood friends, and it doesn't even have a cover anymore. it's about a wizard who holds a competition to find the most evil witch to become his wife. i don't even know, i'm obsessed with this book. no one ever knows what i'm talking about when i bring it up, haha.

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my sister and i LOVED this book. i think i even reread it a bunch of times when i couldn't sleep while i was in high school. it's really sweet, kind of a retelling of a classic fairy tale (cinderella, probably?). it's such a quick and fun read, i might just pick it up tonight. oh, and this one was also made into a movie, but kendall and i both agreed that it wasn't great.. it was nothing like the book.

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i think i loved this book for the same reason that i loved a wrinkle in time.. kit was such a strong female character. it starts out as she's orphaned, and then ends after many accusations and hardships towards her. i cried myself to sleep the night that i finished this one.. for good reasons! actually, i'd probably cry if i read it tonight. it's a classic for a reason. and, as far as i know, there has not been a movie made of this one.

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i probably read this when i was too young?, but i'm glad that i did. it's intense, but so is middle school, right? i probably cried through every single page of this book, and i think that was probably its point. melinda just starts out so pitiful, and the book is almost excruciating. i remember forcing kendall to read it (and catcher in the rye) when i was old enough to feel like i could make her read things. ;)

oh also it was made into a lifetime movie. that's actually pretty good and heart wrenching. and stars kristen stewart.

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sarah dessen was actually one of my favorite authors in middle school, but i remember this book the most. i think it was because it's about a girl who's soooooo against love, and i totally thought i was above all of that. kendall and my copy of this book was torn to shreds by the time we moved out of our house, i think we may have actually just thrown it away. i may have to restart a little sarah dessen collection. :) oh, and no movies have been made from this book, but two sarah dessen books were combined to make the mandy moore movie, "how to deal."

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and this is my favorite young adult fiction novel of all time, in conjunction with the four other books of the jessica darling series - the last of which i found in a goodwill last summer (i hadn't known that it existed!) and devoured in like 2 hours. i feel like i literally read these five books over the course of ten years.. it was like jessica and i were growing up together. the books start when she's around 16 i think? and end when she's about to get married. ughhhhh i just love them and could talk about how much i love (and hate) jessica darling and marcus flutie for like ten hours. AND I HEARD THAT THEY'RE MAKING A MOVIE OF SLOPPY FIRSTS. omg.

this is really long and kind of embarrassing because i promise i was (and am!) reading really intense literature that you don't find in the young adult (or even children's chapter books, in this list) section of barnes and noble. i will forever have a soft spot for all of these books, though.. and they'll probably never leave my bookshelves. one day i'll start doing lists of my favorite fiction novels, but these are worth some reminiscing over! :)

have i missed any that you loved? i think this may have started a weird craze in me, add some to my list! <3

ps, in case you noticed this glaring absence: i purposely left off one of my all-time favorite authors, even though she writes young adult fiction, because i'm planning on rereading all of her books and hopefully being re-inspired by her all over again, so i want to give her blog posts all to herself. francesca lia block, anyone? xoxo