Top Ten Favorite Childhood Books

There is a meme created by The Broke and The Bookish called Top Ten Tuesday.  Every Tuesday, they ask YA book bloggers to post their Top Ten of whatever that week's theme is.  This week's theme is Top Ten Childhood Favorites (which, incidentally, was the *first* TTT theme, so they reposted it since they thought more people would participate this time around).  In reading the many different lists, I was inspired to post my own.  SO, without further ado and in no particular order, here are my Top Ten Favorite Books From My Childhood.

1. Tuck Everlasting

Holy crap, I love this book like it's my job.  I've read it more times than I can remember.  Thinking back, this story has probably influenced  my current reading habits much more than I ever realized.  Even in elementary school, I adored how (mild spoiler alert) it ends on kind of a downer, and yet it's still so hopeful.

2. The Baby-Sitters Club

Oh, I read them all.  Every single one.  Every book, every special edition, every anthology, even every Baby-Sitters Little Sister.  I even owned the game pictured.  I bet it's still at my parents' house in my closet right now.  I may or may not have tried to get my parents to take me on a trip to Stoneybrook, CT as well.  (P.S. it's not real so don't ask.)  My personal favorite was Stacey because she was super fashionable and she lived in Manhattan and dotted her i's and lower case j's with hearts.  However, I always loved that Mary Anne, the plainest girl in the eternal 8th grade, was able to bag a hottie like Logan Bruno.  Good for you, girl!

3. Sweet Valley Twins, more specifically Jessica's New Look

Obviously, this Jessica was a huge fan of the Wakefield twins, seeing as one of them has my name and all.  Why this one in particular?  Well, much like my girl Jessica, I also had to get glasses.  However, this book came out about 2 years before my glasses initiation, but I always knew it wasn't far away.  I must have read this one a billion times.  Freakin' glasses.

4. The Secret Garden

I distinctly remember this being one of the first books that wasn't a school summer list read or a BSC/Sweet Valley book that I chose myself.  I just started reading it on a whim, and I couldn't stop.  It's where my love of the UK began, frankly.  I wanted to live in a big manor house out in the English countryside with beautiful gardens and foggy moors and a dude named Dickon to teach me about animals.  And also a really demanding cousin.  Have you ever seen the 1993 movie?  It's amazing.  Dame Maggie Smith is in it, and she rules.  My mom also took me to see the musical when the touring company came to Richmond.

5. Bridge to Terabithia

Truly, truly, truly one of my favorite books on the planet still to this very moment.  I first read this in the 4th or 5th grade, and I swear I cried in class because I was so wrapped up in the characters.  This was the very first book that made me realize just how much words can affect your heart.  Amazing.

6. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

I mean, come on.  This one just sells itself in title alone.

7. Wayside School is Falling Down

This is the silliest book ever, and that's why I adore it.  In a complete turnabout of my usual character, I read this without having first read Sideways Stories From Wayside School (aka the first book).  However, that didn't really matter.  I would still rock a shirt that says, "Star Bringing Purple!"

8. A Light In The Attic

I seriously cannot choose my favorite poem.  Everyone loves Shel.

9. The Monster at the End of this Book

My dad used to read this one to me all the time, and his voice would get progressively higher and more nervous and it was hilarious.  He's not a big reader at all, but he always read to us.  That's important.

AND FINALLY
10. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

All girls of a certain age have read this.  Fact.  I think it's like required.  It's terrifying in its description of maxi pads on belts.  BELTS. WHAT DID THOSE GIRLS LIVE THROUGH? Oh, I'm still totally wigged out.

What about you?  What are your favorite books from childhood?