Posted in Book Reviews, YA Book Reviews

Remembering the Good Times

by Richard Peck

 

NOTE: THIS IS A REBLOG FROM ONE YEAR AGO. I decided to repost because summertime often brings back memories of the time I spent with these kids. 

When I think back on this book it is very much like thinking on old friends. Such an incredible book that it absolutely has to be on my list of the three most influential books from my childhood. Previously I wrote about Prince Ombra and Out of the Bug Jar. They were both fairly innocent introductions to the world of fantasy and adventures, but nothing could have prepared me for the experience I had while reading Richard Peck’s book, which is not a fantasy at all. It is a drama for young adults, which seems very boring and certainly not anything I was interested in at the time. Continue reading “Remembering the Good Times”

Posted in Book Reviews, Middle Grade Book Reviews, YA Book Reviews

Remembering the Good Times

by Richard Peck

When I think back on this book it is very much like thinking on old friends. Such an incredible book that it absolutely has to be on my list of the three most influential books from my childhood. Previously I wrote about Prince Ombra and Out of the Bug Jar. They were both fairly innocent introductions to the world of fantasy and adventures, but nothing could have prepared me for the experience I had while reading Richard Peck’s book, which is not a fantasy at all. It is a drama for young adults, which seems very boring and certainly not anything I was interested in at the time. Continue reading “Remembering the Good Times”

Posted in Book Reviews, Middle Grade Book Reviews

Prince Ombra

by Roderick MacLeish

In my previous post, I discussed one of three books that influenced me as a child. This book, “Prince Ombra” is the second. While the hero is a child, the enemy is unclear throughout the majority of the story. There is no one thing or person to defeat, just an ever-present evil that consumes the world if not fought back once every thousand years. When it comes, it challenges a single “hero” and does so by taking the form of the hero’s worse fear. This time, the hero is just a child named Bentley. That is probably the reason I initially picked up this book on my regular library visit that afternoon: great big evil vs 9-year-old child. We were allowed to check out 3-5 books each visit. I was probably not reading that much, I simply liked to pick out five so if I didn’t like one I had others to choose from. Turned out I really like “Prince Ombra”. Continue reading “Prince Ombra”

Posted in Book Nerd Stuff, Book Reviews, Middle Grade Book Reviews

Out of The Bug Jar

Someone once asked me “What are three books that influenced you the most?” And I had an immediate answer. He wasn’t expecting, however, for them to all be children’s books. Perhaps I wasn’t either, but there you have it. When we were children my parents brought us to the library on a very regular basis. I took a long time to venture out of picture books (which I still love) and didn’t always have the attention to stick with a book until the end. As my mother tells it, there was one book I renewed over and over again reading more times than she could count. That book was Out of the Bug Jar by Kathleen Thomas. This is the first of my three most influential books. (I will post about the others separately) Continue reading “Out of The Bug Jar”