Really? Cool! I thought they were too adult-ish for me by that time but I really liked it. It was from those books that I learned some French words. Hehehe!!

Another toss up, because both were in 6th grade...A Wrinkle in Time or From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Peggy wrote: "The book I remember most from my pre-teens is FOREVER AMBER by Kathleen Windsor [1944:]. Now, over 60 years later I can still see some of the scenes in my head."

That was a good one, I need to read that one again.

I know this isn't really enlightened much but The Stand. I just really liked the book and couldn't put it down

I don't know if people are still responding to this discussion, but I like the question so much I'm going to write something anyway. I don't think I've ever truly enjoyed long books--attention deficit, I suppose. That being said, I was fairly into Stephen King's IT (1000 some odd pages) for quite a while in high school before ending ruined it for me. All in all, I like to read short, well-crafted things slowly. That way if it has no ending I'm not too disappointed. Now that I've been writing for a while I get fairly impressed when anything has a well formulated beginning, middle, and end.

i think it would have to be reading catch-22 in the eighth grade that really solidified my love for reading.

I also tried reading the Grapes of Wrath and Moby Dick in high school--didn't really work out so well. Maybe the maturity level wasn't there. Or maybe the books were just boring. I remember Moby Dick had a lot of information on whaling I just didn't want to know.

Hello Dana, Daniel, and everyone. Have a wonderful Independence Day weekend.

Happy Independence Day Ilyn and everyone here!

Hello Sowmya,

Thank you. Have a marvelous day. Happy Independence Day!

Best regards.

You too Ilyn.

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "What was the first fairly long book you remember enjoying as a youth (beyond books for very young children)? Mine was one of the following (I can't be sure which it was):

_Little Lord Fauntleroy..."

I remember the point in first grade when I moved from struggling with "Dick and Jane" to rolling right through "A Fly Went By"--it seemed very long at the time. Sometime in second grade ('61-'62), I graduated to real books, the first being "Old Yeller." Why that? I have no idea why anyone would suggest something so sad to a seven year old. I probably grabbed it off the library shelf, liked the first page and just went for it, with no idea what I was getting myself in for. By ten, I read "Gone With the Wind," probably the longest up to that time. Motherhood was my introduction to truuuly looong books. In pregnancy, I read all the parts (3-4?) of Kristin Larensdottir (sp?) straight through, and then spent all those nighttime nursings reading "War and Peace." I guess I was practicing for being in for the long haul.