Your favorite author from your Junior High (Middle School) days

[pokerfan]

For me it was Alistair MacLean. I absolutely devoured them and wrote many a book report.

I'm currently rereading "Fear is the Key' for the first time in many years and just loving it, even if I do know its ending.

Spoiler-free summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_is_the_Key

Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke would also be up there as well. Kind of odd my favorite was an adventure/thriller write than a SF author.

[QMPMom]

1. I am ashamed to say that part of that time was known as "The

Barbara Cartland Years". I quickly outgrew it and moved on to Hermann Hesse. "Siddartha" was a favorite as was "Demian". Funny that I remember very little of them now. I think I need to reread them.

Our high school was consolidated when I was a Senior and the new Grade 12 English and Literature teacher was from a "rival" school. One of the first things she did that year was to make us go around the classroom and state what the last book was that we had read. When I said "Demian: she called me a liar. (I had reread it at the end of the previous year.) The other English teachers, who had been my teachers in years past, backed me up. That woman hated me the whole year.

[applegrove]

2. Somerset Maughan - I loved his short stories.

[jobycom]

3. Tolkein, IIRC. At least, in sixth grade. I can't remember who I read in 7 or 8.

Tolkeing got me into a fantasy kick, so I probably read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi books not worth remembering much.

[pokerfan]

7. When I first read Tolkien, there was only the Hobbit and LOTR

I was already in college when The Silmarillion was published. I've read all the subsequent stories but nothing compares to LOTR.

It's like when I first read Lonesome Dove and went on a McMurtry tear only to find that, while very good, they just don't live up to his masterpiece and Pulitzer Prize winner.

[jobycom]

35. I had the same experience with McMurtry. nt

[lost-in-nj]

4. Yeah

me to

trashy novels were what I read.....
when I read...

lost

there is one I read that has stuck with me
forever
it was called Nakoa's Woman...


It was actually written pretty well...

[YankeyMCC]

5. That would probably be Jack L. Chalker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_L._Chalker

Kinda embarrassing but his novels The Four Lords of the Diamond series and the first Well World series are what got me hooked into SF and really reading for pleasure in general. As an adult I reread the Well world stories and cringed at times, but still enjoyed it, but I also read a collection of his short stories which were actually very good and still stand up when I read them as an adult.

[Lyric]

6. Tolkien and Susan Cooper nt

[pagerbear]

8. Not sure I had one particular favorite during those years.

I do remember fondly in early grade school years being devoted to Beverly Cleary's Henry and Ribsy series. Oh, and a little later, to the Encyclopedia Brown series!

[Left Is Write]

10. I got to meet Donald Sobol in 6th grade.

It was pretty cool! I also won a story contest to have my Encyclopedia Brown-like mystery story read and autographed by Mr. Sobol. He told me he thought I was a good writer.

My mom still has the story.

[pagerbear]

12. Because I was smart and read a lot and my name was Browning

...well, you can guess what some of the kids called me.

[Left Is Write]

9. I read a lot, from Judy Blume to Victoria Holt to George Orwell.

[Dervill Crow]

56. I read my first Victoria Holt novel in the third grade.

I really appreciate that my teacher didn't laugh during my oral book reports. I read HP Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Graham Greene . . . all my mom's books. I doubt that I understood a lot of what I read, but I loved them anyway.

In junior high it was Trixie Belden books. I guess I devolved.

[flvegan]

11. Stephen King

Yeah, warped kid right here.

[Left Is Write]

14. I read my first horror book in junior high.

It was called The Guardian, by Jeffrey Konvitz. It was actually a sequel, so then I had to go back and read the first book.

The Guardian scared the hell out of me.

[Nevernose]

29. "It" is what makes me like King so much

When you're in middle school, you identify with those characters so very strongly -- he really nails them for you. Yet, when you're an adult, you begin to truly understand the big picture.

[auburngrad82]

41. Stephen King for me as well

Carrie was the first one I read I think.

[DrDan]

13. Steinbeck

[femmocrat]

15. Rosamund du Jardin.

I seriously doubt that was a real name! LOL

[KitchenWitch]

16. Judy Blume

She captured the essence of preteen and teen angst like no one could.

[LostinVA]

42. Me too

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

17. Chaucer. He and I went to school together

see?

[WinkyDink]

18. Thor Heyerdahl.

[Xipe Totec]

19. Ray Bradbury for English, Elena Poniatowska for Spanish nt

[fudge stripe cookays]

20. Ellen Conford.

Hilarious teen books, which I thought were much better than Judy Blume. Two of hers were: "Seven Days to a Brand New Me" and "The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Book of Rules and Regulations."

Before there was chick lit, there was Ellen Conford.

http://www.amazon.com/Alfred-Graebner-Memorial-Handbook-Regulations/dp/0671643886

http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Brand-New-Ellen-Conford/dp/0590438247/ref=sr_1_15/104-7078815-7799950?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185419429&sr=1-15

[Va Lefty]

21. Ray Bradbury and Jack London

[RebelOne]

30. Ray Bradbury here also. I can't count how many times

I re-read "The Martian Chronicles."

[Zomby Woof]

22. S. E. Hinton

[fishwax]

27. those first four books of hers were really outstanding

The Outsiders remains my favorite, though the other three are each good in their own ways. I still find them pretty moving.

She came out with another book in the late 80s, but I didn't much care for it. But the canonical works will always, in a certain way, define junior high and early high school for me :)

[LibDemAlways]

36. Years ago I taught 8th grade. There was a kid in my class

named Daniel who was completely unmotivated and proud of it. I couldn't get him to do anything.

The class had a book report project coming up, and Daniel informed me he wasn't interested in books.
I went out and bought him a copy of The Outsiders and simply left it on his desk without comment. During class I noticed him leafing through it. Then I noticed him reading the first page. Before long he was hooked.

A couple of days later he approached me and asked if there were any more books like that. I think I bought him That Was Then, This is Now and Rumble Fish, which he also poured through.

I suspect Susan Hinton has been personally responsible for getting many such reluctant readers to finish a book. Only wish she had written dozens more for adolescents.

[Midlodemocrat]

37. Mine, too.

[LostinVA]

43. ARRGGHHH -- didn't think of her -- perfect

[Left Is Write]

47. I read The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now over and over and over.

I hated the TWTTIN movie.

[momophile]

67. another one for S.E. Hinton nt

[mitchum]

23. William S Burroughs (I was a strange kid)

[Roon]

24. Judy Blume and S.E. Hinton...and whoever wrote the pigman

I always got A's when my English class was reading those books because I would read the books several times.

[Onceuponalife]

28. the Pigman was written by Paul Zindel

One of my fave authors back then. Also, Blume, Tolkien, Vonnegut, Hinton, Ken Kesey, King, other horror novelists like John Saul and Peter Straub and...... George Orwell and Rudyard Kipling.

[Seashell Eyes]

25. Louis Duncan

I was into suspenseful fluff.

[realisticphish]

26. A tie

between Douglas Adams and Piers Anthony

[Burma Jones]

31. The World Book Encyclopedia and Kurt Vonnegut

[AngryAmish]

32. Robert E. Howard

Why, yes, I was (is) a total geek.

[IndianaJones]

51. Mine as well (along with L. Sprague DeCamp)...

what I can't believe now is that these books were in our school library (up to 6th grade).

[noonwitch]

33. Mark Twain

I read "Tom Sawyer" in 6th grade, and "A Conneticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" on my own the next summer.

I also read a lot of my mom's books at that point, like "The Thorn Birds". I tried to read some Michener book, but thought it was boring.

[unpossibles]

34. Piers Anthony, Asimov, and Alfred E. Neuman n/t

[ceile]

38. Lois Duncan and Dean Koontz

I was out growing my Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High phase.

[LostinVA]

44. I forgot about Lois Duncan, too!

[ceile]

49. "Daughters of Eve" was my favorite. n/t

[LostinVA]

61. OMG -- that book is sooo good

"Five Were Missing" is probably my second favorite.

[IndianaJones]

39. Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague DeCamp. nt.

[deepthought42]

40. Oh geez... R.L. Stine...

I loved the Fear Street books. :freak:

[MysticalChicken]

58. My little brother had a lot of the Goosebumps books...

I loved them, although Stine overused sentence fragments, which drove me crazy.

[AllegroRondo]

45. Bradbury, Tolkein, and Stephen R Donaldson

I read all of the Thomas Covenant books between 7-9th grade. At the time, I thought it was amazing storytelling.

I also like Piers Anthony - but at least I outgrew him in high school.

[Vilis Veritas]

46. Kurt Vonnegut Jr

The Sirens of Titan

Slaughterhouse-Five

[IA_Seth]

48. R.A. Salvatore

I think... Just the first few of his would have been middle school I think.

I loved, and still love, a good non-fiction book though, and would even go buy college reference books (only the used ones!) I am a geek.

[flying rabbit]

50. Gary Gygax

I had the freakin DMG memorized. I'm better now. *sigh*

[SoxFan]

60. At least one person got the reference!

:hi:

Don't forget about the MM and FF!

[flying rabbit]

62. Woo Hoo!

or the PH.
:hi:

[SoxFan]

70. -

You know you were a 14 year old in the early eighties if Homlett, Greyhawk, and Furyundy were places with which you were well accquainted!

[enigmatic]

52. Harry Crews

http://www.harrycrews.com/

[MysticalChicken]

53. Probably Roald Dahl and L.M. Montgomery

...both of whom I'm still huge fans of. I actually have only two of Dahl's books (The Witches and Matilda), but I have about a dozen of Montgomery's books.

EDIT: Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables is Conservative, but I had no idea what "liberal" or "conservative" meant when I was a kid. I just thought it was the Canadian way of saying "democrat" or "republican." Besides, it's a fictional character, it's the 1800s, and it's Canadian politics, not American, so it doesn't count.

(Anne): "...Mrs Lynde says if women were allowed to vote we'd soon see a blessed change. What way do you vote, Matthew?"
"Conservative," replied Matthew promptly. To vote Conservative was part of Matthew's religion.
"Then I'm Conservative too," declared Anne promptly. "I'm glad, because Gil--because some of the boys in school are Grits."

Also, my most favorite fictional character ever, Ilse Burnley from the Emily of New Moon trilogy is also Conservative, although this is not mentioned until the third book.

They don't act like today's right-wing conservatives, though.

[seemunkee]

54. Tolkien, Ian Fleming and Robert E Howard

My brother was more into the Asimov Clarke SF stuff. I preferred fantasy and sword and sorcery stories

[Rob H.]

55. Edgar Rice Burroughs

Specifically, the 'Tarzan' and 'John Carter of Mars' series. There's a rumor that Pixar is going to do a blended live-action/computer animation John Carter movie, but it won't be out 'til 2012. :(

[regularguy]

57. I didn't read books until Junior year of HS...

Bunch of smarty-pantses y'all are ! :)

[Adsos Letter]

59. Ray Bradbury...n/t

[ornotna]

63. Ursula K. Le Guin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin


The Left Hand of Darkness

The Lathe of Heaven

The Earthsea books

There were others, she was my favorite for sure.

[SarahB]

64. Madeline L'Engle

[ikojo]

65. I primarily read the novelization of the Star

Trek series. I forget the author's name but I think his first name was James. When called to do a book report in English class, it was always on a Star Trek related book.

Yeah, I was obsessed with all things Trek.

[Kat45]

66. "Catcher in the Rye" was my favorite book

Loved J.D. Salinger's style. We actually read it for a class. I didn't have a favorite author per se because we had to read so many books in my English/Literature classes that I didn't have time to choose any books that I wanted to read myself.

[Broken_Hero]

68. Gary Paulsen, nt

[Canuckistanian]

69. Robertson Davies

The Deptford Trilogy.