Bookish Bent Goes Retro

I know I’ve posted about kids books before here and here, but yesterday I got to thinking of more books that I used to read and got excited about them all over again. I’m talking about The Baby-sitter’s Club and Sweet Valley Twins. I loved these books when I was younger. When did we read these – fifth grade? I feel like I read them when the characters – middle school girls – were older than me. And I read nearly all of them. The BSC had like 130+ and SVT had like 100+ in each series. I’ve always been a fast reader and I consumed these books in days, excited to move onto the next one. And the good thing was that they were already well-established series so volumes and volumes had already been published.

I loved reading about Elizabeth and Jessica in Sweet Valley Twins. The first book was about them going to seventh grade and realizing they were very different from each other. I totally related to Elizabeth, who was smart and a good student. I had friends who were a Jessica though, more interested in being popular (remember the popular girls club she wanted to and did join, The Unicorns? Kills me!). I think the books were a little over the top, but they did cover issues that junior high brings. I never got into Sweet Valley High though.

I never baby-sat when I was younger – I was one of the youngest in the neighborhood – but I still loved reading about the girls who did. I think Claudia and Stacey were my favorite characters. The books dealt with diversity (Claudia was Hawaiian, wasn’t she?) and illness (Stacey had diabetes), plus all the other things (like boys, moving, fighting) that junior high girls deal with. Both series had “Super Editions,” those few books that were like three books in one – usually when the class or the group went on trips or something. I loved those!

I also read a lot of the Mandie books, by Lois Gladys Leppard. Mandie was a teenaged orphan who went to live with her wealthy uncle after her parents passed away. The books took place in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Each book had a mystery to it – like Mandie and the Secret Tunnel, Mandie and the Ghost Bandits. I loved these, too. Now looking back on them, because they’re dated, I can see some stereotypes were made when it came to Native Americans and blacks. However, I never noticed those things as a kid, and it didn’t alter my perceptions, I don’t think. Have you ever looked back on books you used to read and question them?

I also read Anne of Green Gables, and all the subsequent books that followed. (Anne with an ‘e’!) Those were good, too. I liked the movies that would sometimes air on PBS, too. I think we even watched them in school? How did the boys stand it?

So, go retro for me. Did you read these books too? What other “series” books bring you back to your pre-teen days? What did boys read at that age?

(P.S. It was hard for me to find a cover of Sweet Valley Twins or The BSC. Publishers update the covers of the older books so they look nothing like how I remember them. Or else they don't have an image available. I understand why, but it's also kind of sad.)

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Series

Three years ago this June, hubby and I went away for a week in northern Minnesota (that's actually the week we became betrothed). Knowing it would be a week of relaxing on the deck of the cabin and the boat, I wanted a mindless, fun book to read. I picked up The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants at Target. I was a bit embarrassed. These were books for pre-teens and teenagers. But, the movie had just come out with America Ferrera and Alexis Bledel, and I loved those actresses from Real Women Have Curves and Gilmore Girls, respectively. Maybe the book would be a good read? Well, it was and I was hooked.

Fortunately for me, the next two books had already been released, too. And I absorbed those two over the summer, too. I had to share the love, so my two best girlfriends and I formed a mini Pants book club, mailing the books to each other (our own version of the Pants, perhaps?). The books made us laugh, cry and gasp. The fourth and final book even made us feel it was a bit too racy for its intended audience.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Four friends are going to spend the summer apart for the first time since they were babies. A pair of thrift store pants - which magically fit these girls of all different shapes and sizes - are what keep them in contact. They send each other the pants - using them when they "need" them, sending them along with a member of the sisterhood needs them. The girls experience love, remarriage, sex and death over that summer.

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood: Bridget heads to Alabama to meet her grandmother, Lena spends time with who she thinks is her true love, only to be surprised by a shocking revelation, Carmen's mom starts dating, and Tibby takes a film course, learning more about herself along the way.

Girls in Pants, The Third Summer of the Sisterhood: Lena takes a controversial art class against her father's wishes, Carmen's mom falls in love, Bridget heads to coach soccer camp with a former flame, and Tibby goes through some family trauma of her own. Once again, the Pants prove comforting for all.

Forever in Blue, The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood: The girls definitely grow up this summer after their first year of college. Lena has a romantic fling with a fellow art student, Carmen takes up theater and falls in with a very dramatic friend, Bridget takes a trip to Turkey for an archeology dig - meeting a very engaging professor, and Tibby learns what it means to be in an important relationship with her boyfriend. The Pants take them on one last adventure before they're ready to let them go.

Again, I loved these books. Quick, engaging reads. I think author Ann Brashares does a good job of creating strong female characters who are very different - sporty, arty, nerdy, beautiful, skinny, chubby, from broken homes, of blended families, and of different nationalities. They all have strengths and weaknesses, and they all need each other. It's a great series about friendship and acceptance. I don't think we're ever too old to read about such relationships. My girls and I look forward to the movie sequel come August. It won't be one for the Oscars, but it'll make us laugh and cry, I'm sure.

What other books or series out there are written for kids, but adults can enjoy, too? Obviously, Harry. Any other recommendations?

Literary Legends

I received a press release about a new series presented to the Twin Cities by The Loft Literary Center and the Hennepin Theatre Trust: Literary Legends. From March to October the series welcomes literary greats for special in-person appearances. I'm really excited about this, not only because I would love to see a few of them speak, but because I think gaining access to authors is a cool experience for many of us. Here's a bit from the press release:

Literary Legends launches March 30 with Mary Oliver, the beloved American poet acclaimed for her lyrical connection to the natural world, and recipient of the Pulitzer, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the National Book Award. The series continues on June 23 with the groundbreaking Armistead Maupin, who is now back with more eagerly awaited “Tales” in his 2007 book “Michael Tolliver Lives.” October 2 brings a not-to-be-missed opportunity to hear David McCullough, two-time recipient of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, comment on the U.S. presidency as the country prepares for an historic election. October 17 offers another special highlight with Khaled Hosseini, the Kabul-born author of two recent worldwide best-sellers—“The Kite Runner,” just released as a hailed yet provocative film, and “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” On October 19, David Sedaris, the funny and sardonic perennial favorite of the literary world, reads from his much anticipated next collection “When You Are Engulfed in Flames.”

Minnesota Public Radio also offers up great authors to Twin Citizens through Talking Volumes. One I would love to see: Judy Blume. In June she talks about her new children's series, an off-shoot of her hit "The Pain and the Great One." I read that book so many times when I was little.

What author would you love to see if you had the chance?