Teen reads

Following on from childhood reads, it's time for my teen reads. I'm a little fuzzy on exact reading dates, so some of these might be childhood reads, but ho-hum.

As an early teen, there were four book series I mainly bought. Firstly, the Goosebumps books by R.L. Stine - these were the predecessor to me buying Point Horror books (another of the series). I *hated* the ones with the ventriloquist dummies - soooooo creepy! From what I recall, I liked the one set in Egypt where the mummies came to life - I think the kid was called Gabe - and the one where the kid swapped bodies with a bee. LOL. Anyone else read these?

Another of the series was The Baby-sitter's Club books by Ann M. Martin - I loved the New York Special - and my favourite characters were probably... actually, I have no idea now! I'd say Kristy or Mallory, but I don't think my thirteen year old self thought that: I think my favourite was Stacey back then, maybe Dawn! And then there were the Sweet Valley books. From Sweet Valley Twins to University, I couldn't get enough of the Wakefield twins! Oh, and The Unicorn Club!

I suddenly feel quite juvenile! Moving on! Two other authors that spring to mind are Bill Bryson and J.K. Rowling. I was eleven when Harry Potter was first published, but started reading the books aged thirteen. It was just before Prisoner of Azkaban was published - coincidentally that became my favourite Harry Potter book, and I recall reading it for the very first time on Christmas Day. I was fourteen when I started reading Bill Bryson: Notes from a Small Island was my first book of his I ever, and I've read him ever since.

When I was about sixteen, I started reading Robert Rankin books. I can't remember why - I think I spotted them in a bookshop, and was attracted by the covers. My first read of Rankin's was Snuff Fiction, which I still love now. Then it was onto the likes of Bridget Jones, Adrian Mole, and Ben Elton books - Dead Famous was my first Elton read. It's funny how I didn't develop my love of chick lit until I was twenty-one - I much preferred travel writing and comedic far-fetched fiction like Elton's and Rankin's.

I'm sure I'm missing some essential teen reads out, so what were *your* teen reads? Maybe you can jog my memory! What do you recall reading?

9 comments

  1. Haha! I loved the Sweet Valley books!! awww.. I was also a Nancy Drew, Nancy Drew X-Files, and Trixie Belden fan.. dunno! I loved the mysteries!! :D

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  2. and by x-files. I mean case files.. oy.. my mind!! :P

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  3. As a teen, I also read a LOT of Christopher Pike books. I guess when I graduated from Goosebumps, I moved on to Christopher Pike for the next level of "scary" stories (minus the creepy ventriloquists, of course!)

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  4. @ mhea - I've never heard of Trixie Belden. I loved the fact with both the Sweet Valley books and Nancy Drew ones, that the seemingly ordinary protagonists’ had so many adventures, yet you just accepted their exciting lives and knack for sniffing it out, without ever questioning the credibility - well I didn't question it anyway! Hehe!

    @somewhere in between - Christopher Pike is ringing a bell. He did some vampire books, right? I probably have some of those tucked away with my Point Horror books! :0)

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  5. Lois Duncan was one of my favourite writers as a teen. She covered tons of interesting topics like voodoo and astral projection, but the writing as well was excellent!

    The film "I Know What You Did Last Summer" was actually based on one of her books. But we won't hold that against her . . .

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  6. I was a HUGE Goosebumps fan! I loved the cover of the book.

    Oh, and I tagged you!

    http://dontcallmekathleen.blogspot.com/2008/10/duck-duck-duck-goose.html

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  7. Austen and Bronte all the way!

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  8. @Paula - I've never even heard of Lois Duncan, and even when I checked out her site, nothing rung a bell. She has a new movie out in January based on her book called "Hotel for Dogs" ...

    @Katie - Reader beware, you're in for a scare! Tee hee! There was the TV series as well they did (obviously - there's *always* a TV series on sucessful books!)

    @Kate - I have never been an Austen and Bronte fan ... strange, really.

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  9. Awww I remember those! I didn't read that many Goosebumps books as even when I was younger I found them a tad immature - pretty much went straight to Point Horror which were fantastic.

    And I too distinctly remember Christopher Pike.

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