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The Books That Shaped My Childhood
Books raised me. Growing up, I was obsessed with twins and teenagers who made money. I loved road trips, journals, and evil families. In so many ways, I can see my tastes in books evolving from lighthearted to dark. Certainly, my tastes in reading also mirrored the happenings in my life. I would escape to a world not extremely different from mine but still detached just enough.
I still think about so many of those books today.
“Anastasia Krupnik” by Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry was a staple for me growing up. Anastasia Krupnik, published in 1979, was my favorite, and the sequels were also fantastic. When I was a kid, I had no idea that those books were written 10 years before I was born. The problems Anastasia was dealing with were universal, and you could literally see her character development in the form of a list of her likes and dislikes with each chapter.
“Amelia’s Notebook” by Marissa Moss
This is another series of books about a teenage girl, but this one was in the format of a composition book with doodles and lists. There were so many different books in the series. I remember my favorite involving a road trip through Arizona and New Mexico (Amelia Hits the Road). I honestly had no idea that the latest book in the series was published in…
