Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
These are some of the many books I read in school and what I thought of them. There are a few mild spoilers in this post, but I can only assume that all of you have either already read these old titles or don’t mind a few vague hints about their endings.
1.The Giver (The Giver, #1)by Lois Lowry
My Thoughts on It: Certain details about this society make no sense if you try to work out the logistics of them over multiple generations, but I found the rest of it thought provoking and loved it overall.
2. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
My Thoughts on It: This story was surprisingly relatable, especially since a few of my friends acted a lot like Ponyboy.
3.1984 by George Orwell
My Thoughts on It: What a frightening warning about totalitarianism. This was a great read.
4.The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
My Thoughts on It: I loved Anne and was heartbroken by the postscript that let readers know she died in a concentration camp. We’d read a fictional book in which a girl about her age survived it shortly before this one, so I assumed this nonfiction account would have a triumphant ending as well.
5. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
My Thoughts on It: Why didn’t they listen to the sensible adults around them? I liked this story but was so annoyed with Romeo and Juliet for rushing everything.
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
My Thoughts on It: While I liked the story, I hated the ending. It was so dark and dreary.
7.Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
My Thoughts on It: I loved the first 90% of it, but the last 10% or so is the origin story for why I’m so hesitant to read books about beloved pets anymore unless I know for a fact that those pets are going to live happily ever after.
8.A Separate Peace by John Knowles
My Thoughts on It: The writing was beautiful, but I thought many of the characters needed to learn some basic manners and social skills as they clearly hadn’t been taught how to behave at home. They were so unkind to each other! I faced enough bullying growing up that it was not something I usually wanted to read about in fiction, especially when the adults in the story often didn’t take it seriously.
9. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
My Thoughts on It: Living in a giant peach sounded terribly sticky and uncomfortable, but I loved the playfulness of this story.
10. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco
My Thoughts on It: This is still one of my all-time favourite stories. I love the life lessons in it about never judging anyone based on physical appearance and how even small acts of kindness you don’t think anyone has noticed can still be repaid in unexpected ways.
I forgot about A Seperate Peace and Anne Frank — although in Anne’s case, we read a play based on the book and not the book itself. I’ve since read it several times, though. I realized it’s a very edited version of Anne, but she’s always a ray of sunshine in a sometimes bleak world.
I’ve never seen a play based on Anne’s life. That must have been interesting.
And, yes, I’m sure her diary was very edited.
I *cannot* believe I forgot about The Diary of a Young Girl this week.
It was a very popular pick this week! 🙂
Good list! A Separate Peace was my favorite. Thanks for visiting my blog today.
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked that book!
I forgot about James and the Giant Peach, that was a fun one indeed!
I thought about putting A Separate Peace on my list, but I didn’t have strong enough memories/feelings about it to really say anything about it. I do remember being so mad at the main narrator character though. A lot of the other titles on your list are ones I just read for fun!
I’ve not read many of those. They sound interesting though!
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
I like the Prokofiev ballet where the priest makes it back to stop the disaster of pre-teen decision making!
I’ve read all the books on your list, though I only had to read a few of them for school. The Velveteen Rabbit is one of my all-time favorite books, too. 😀
The Outsiders was one of my favorites when i was a teen
That would be so hard to read Anne Frank expecting a positive ending because of the other book. I’m not sure what I expected going in but was heartbroken because of Anne’s fate.
Seems like a lot of people got The Giver and The Outsiders. I have still never read The Diary of Anne Frank.
I loved Where the Red Fern Grows and The Outsiders! I’m sorry you read Anne Frank expecting it to end differently, that must have been traumatizing. But maybe that’s also what makes it a powerful read. Much of it is so mundane – arguing with family, having a crush on a boy, etc.
I’m sure many adult readers can trace their fear of pets dying in a book to Red Fern! 😭 you had a rich young reading life!