Back to school time always makes me think of my school days, back when my biggest concern was my mom buying the right flavor Kool-Aid and getting all of my homework done so I could play outside. During the summers, my mom would walk her daycare kids (and her two kids) up to the library to get books for the week. Back then, my mom was a big reader and she tried to pass that on to all of us kids. As a result, I remember working my way through The Bobbsey Twins and The Boxcar Children series. Unsupervised children solving mysteries was my jam. I also read a lot of Goosebumps and R.L. Stein books, too.
But I had some other books that I loved, too. I bet you might have loved these, too.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Scwartz- Folklore stories collected and retold by Alvin Scwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell in a way that scarred an entire generation, the book found resurgence when a film version was made in 2019. But for some of us, this book never went away. It was often an ’80s/’90s kid’s first introduction to literary horror and our first exposure to urban legends.
I remember reading this book with my hand covering up the illustrations because some of them were so intense, I couldn’t concentrate on the story. Not that the stories weren’t intense on their own. I’m sure more than one of those stories and/or illustrations were responsible for some nightmares.
The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin- This series of books about a group of teenage babysitters dealing with the challenges of child-minding and growing up was adapted twice as a television show, once as a movie, and is now available as a graphic novel, which I think is pretty cool. The series covers everything from dating to divorce to blended families to death to diabetes to learning disabilities to racism. There were also Super Specials and a Mystery series, as well.
It should come as no surprise that I came by affinity for the series out of ego because the president of the Baby-Sitters Club was named Kristin, went by Kristy (I went by Christi in grade school), and was a bossy tomboy like me. I didn’t read the entire series. At some point I lost interest, but for several years, these books had me by the collar. I loved them and couldn’t get enough of them.
The Midnight Club by Christopher Pike- A group of terminally ill teens living in a hospice get together at midnight to tell each other stories. According to author Christopher Pike, the book was the result of a request from a terminally ill teen who wrote to Pike and asked him to write about her and the other kids in her group who would meet at midnight to discuss his books. It was adapted as a TV series in 2022.
I read this book when I was a freshman in high school during study hall and I loved it. For years, I would randomly think about the book, but I couldn’t remember the title or author. Once I started working at the library, I used the book finding skills I developed to track it down…and then request it from another library. The reread was just the nostalgia I needed and the book held up to my faded memories.
I hope this little stroll down my memory lane inspires you take your own stroll. And if not, well, feel free to sit it out.
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