I’m joining this week’s blog hosted by Long and Short Reviews.
I’ll start with the classics.
The first mystery books I ever read were in elementary school. The Westing Game and Harriet the Spy. The Westing Game was a difficult mystery when I was so young and I loved the feel of solving it at the end-and reading it all myself. Harriet the Spy became my idol…I did a lot of spying on my grandmother’s neighbors when things got slow during my summer visits. The next book that had a big impact on me as a young reader was Island of the Blue Dolphins. I loved the adventure and survival themes, but also it sparked a love of history and studying culture. I have loved that book for years.
The next two books I read as an adult, but they are actually for younger readers. Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper is a middle grade book and really, really good. I read it as part of a workshop and was struck by how vivid the writing was and how well it handled themes ranging from disabilities, to bullying, to exclusion. A very powerful book that all youth should read-and adults to.
The other is The Hate U Give. I haven’t seen the movie (yet) but the book is a must read. It takes the contentious issue of race and police and gives it layers and perspectives that you never get from news or politics. The reason fiction is so powerful is because it can take those issues we want to see as either/or and show that life is actually much more complex than that.
Truthfully, I think youth should discover the books that they like. I don’t believe in telling people ‘books you must read’ or behaving as if someone’s genre choices are superior to others. Books are personal and the ‘best’ books are the one’s that are ‘best’ for you.
THE ECHO ZONE 
20 responses
Agree 100%. The Hate U Give was…wow. I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins and Harriet the Spy, too. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad there are more fans of Harriet out there!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Heck yeah, man 🙂
LikeLike
Oooh….I loved Island of the Blue Dolphin. Mostly because my mother read it to me on the couch each night. Years later I read it myself. That’s a special book for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s wonderful that your mother picked that book to read aloud. It’s a great one.
LikeLike
The Hate U Give is an excellent choice! I still need to see the film, too, but the book was amazing.
My post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was amazed at how good that book was.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good choices. Much more up to date than mine (thank you).
Here’s mine: https://www.ourtownbookreviews.com/2019/05/books-i-want-youth-to-discover.html
LikeLiked by 1 person
No problem!
LikeLike
Good choices. I’ve not yet read The Hate U Give.. but it’s on my list!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Please read it. It’s well worth it.
LikeLike
I keep trying to comment but it hasn’t let me. Let me try again… “The Island of the Blue Dolphins” was one of those books I got as a kid from the Scholastic flyer they gave out in school. Loved it! And boy did that bring back memories.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I remember those Scholastic flyers.
LikeLike
Great choices! My childhood mystery reading was some classic Hardy Boys (and those books were old when I got them!), a bit of Nancy Drew, and some Encyclopedia Brown. My own list is here:
http://nagamakironin.blogspot.com/2019/05/blogging-challenge-books-i-want-youth.html
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved Encyclopedia Brown!
LikeLike
I fondly remember both of the first two from my elementary school days! I still need to read The Hate U Give though. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s wonderful how elementary school books stay with you.
LikeLike
At the risk of disclosing my age here, the books I remember from my earlier childhood that stay with me is the Happy Hollister stories. All those twins and their many adventures. Then there was Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. The first sci-fi story I remember is The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key. I think I still have that battered paperback around here somewhere waiting to passed on to some interested youth. I too remember Island of the Blue Dolphins. As you can tell from the earlier selections, I was into the mystery stuff, so there was also Encyclopedia Brown, and Donna Parker in my early reading. As I entered High School, I found Victoria Holt and Phyllis A Whitney as well as Gone with the Wind. So many good titles from back in the day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I didn’t know about the Happy Hollisters. I’ll have to find the Alexander Key book. I remember my first real SF book-I think it was called The Girl With the Silver Eyes.
LikeLike
I’ve never read any of these, but have heard great things about “The Hate U Give”.
LikeLike