Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.
Today’s Topic: Top Ten “Gateway” Authors/Books
These are authors/books that got us into reading, got us into reading a new genre, or some other gateway into a new reading experience.
Ricki
1. The Boxcar Children series
I read every book over and over again. I should also give a shout-out to the Nancy Drew series, which taught me to make predictions very well.
2. Wonder by R. J. Palacio
This book showed me how brilliant middle grade (and younger) fiction can be, and how it can be accessible for adults.
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green
This was the first book that I read in a YA class as a student. Wow. It prompted a flurry of reading for me.
4. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
I didn’t think I liked fantasy before I read this book. It taught me that I LOVE fantasy!
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I read this as a freshman and thought it was okay. Rereading it as an adult taught me how incredible rereading texts can be!
Kellee
1. Anthony Horowitz
The Stormbreaker series helped me realize again, after my literature degree, that reading can be fun.
2. Among the Hidden then Hunger Games
I loved The Giver (my favorite book ever!), but it wasn’t until Among the Hidden then Hunger Games that I jumped into the dystopian fad and read as many as I could.
3. Mo Willems
He definitely shows that picture books can be brilliant (and usually hilarious!).
4. Baby-Sitter’s Club series
These were my gateway book when I was younger–I don’t know if I would be the same reader I am today without it.
5. Betsy books
These are the books that my mom read to us at bedtime. I thank her and Betsy for helping me be a reader.
What authors or books were your gateway?
and
So many great books! I still regret that I haven’t read Wonder yet. I really need to get to that one this year. I love Mo Willems, I see he just put out a new Pigeon book, so excited to get that for my school library!
My Top Ten
You’ll love it Kristen 🙂
And YAY for new pigeon book. I didn’t know about it–thank you!
I grew up reading The Box Car Children and desperately wanted to live in a boxcar and cook dinner from broken dishes and forks/spoons that I planned to find at the dump just like Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny. I still remember being entranced by the opening lines One warm night four children stood in front of a bakery. No one knew them. No one knew where they had come from. I was instantly hooked!
I also loved mysteries like The Happy Hollisters and Trixie Belden. That was some great reading.
I’ve never read a Box Car Children book. Now I really want to!
I don’t know why I didn’t include The Giver on this list! It has been my favorite book since I was in 6th grade… UGH! I blame it on pregnancy brain (since I was 9 months pregnant when I wrote it).