Young Adult Book Nostalgia (From the 1980s and early 1990s)

[Ipozem]

Christopher Pike was HUGE in my school. I went to a Catholic grade school, and Stephen King was frowned upon. I also remember Encyclopedia Brown, and the Boxcar children as well.

[Popper19]

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Ipozem wrote:
Christopher Pike was HUGE in my school. I went to a Catholic grade school, and Stephen King was frowned upon. I also remember Encyclopedia Brown, and the Boxcar children as well.

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OH yeah! Chrisopher Pike. I read a lot of him too.

[courtrae]

I was quite a big Christopher Pike fan, too. I think that I tore through most of his books in just a few months in junior high. That was actually about the same time that I went through my Stephen King phase, as well. I do think that my favorite book by Pike had to be _Fall into Darkness_. _Remember Me_ was another one that I absolutely adored! They were like junk food for me.

[PriscillaRose]

Hi,
The first books I got into were the 'Point Horror' collection in the late 80s early 1990s and above, R.L Stine used to write those I think , and Richie Tankersley Cusick wrote one of my favourite books called Trick or treat, I have really fond memories of these books although I also remember been a little scared by them too! I used to stop reading, then begin again when I got my nerve back, ha,ha. I was thinking I would read them now as an adult and see how they are. This halloween I read trick or Treat again, still as good as I remember, but not as spooky!

Priscilla x

[BookwormJen]

Definitely the Christopher Pike books---and Lois Duncan rings a bell---Judy Blume, definitely. I also enjoyed the Sweet Valley High books.

[BookwormJen]

I can't believe I forgot these---does anyone remember the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, where you would make a choice at the end of a chapter, and it would take you to a particular ending? It's so strange-I just picked up a few at B&N for my son, and they were all "new" again. I used to love those.

[PriscillaRose]

Yes I remember the 'choose your own adventure' books, I used to read them at school, the school libary had them, although I must say I used to go round in circles in the story! I seemed to always end up re-reading the same path, so I stopeed reading them after a while! ha,ha

Priscilla x

[Popper19]

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BookwormJen wrote:
Definitely the Christopher Pike books---and Lois Duncan rings a bell---Judy Blume, definitely. I also enjoyed the Sweet Valley High books.

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WOW! Sweet Valley High. As soon as I read that a flood of memories came back. I loved those books too.

[ajsl]

Wow!  All of these authors and books bring back great memories!  I have an 11 year old niece that I told all about Sweet  Valley High and then there was another book series, but I can't remember the name of it.  It was about a group of girls at a boarding school.  For some reason I think the name of the school was Dana Hall maybe?  But  I'm not sure. Does this ring a bell for anyone?  It was mid-80s around the same time as SVH.

Thanks!

[aprilh]

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ajsl wrote:

Wow!  All of these authors and books bring back great memories!  I have an 11 year old niece that I told all about Sweet  Valley High and then there was another book series, but I can't remember the name of it.  It was about a group of girls at a boarding school.  For some reason I think the name of the school was Dana Hall maybe?  But  I'm not sure. Does this ring a bell for anyone?  It was mid-80s around the same time as SVH.

Thanks!

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I'm not sure if this is the right series you were looking for, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. There was a series in the late eighties/early nineties called Pen Pals featuring a group of junior high girls that went to a boarding school, Alma Stephens School for Girls, and all lived in the dorm named Fox Hall. It was one of my favorite series from that time. Hope this helps!

[Dalton]

Hi all, just wondering if anyone can help me remember the name of 2 series of books i read as a kid. Ive tried everything to remember what they were but its eluding me.

The first one was about a group of boys that got stranded on an island. After a while they discover that there are a bunch of criminals there as well, and the books revolve around them escaping/protecting themselves from these people. They discover abandoned labs and various other secret caves etc. I dont remember all the details but i think the men were prisoners and tested on by scientists but they escaped and took over the island. There was a high tech catamaran in one of the books. I think there was 7 or 8 books in the series. It was a similar theme to lord of the flies, with some of the kids defecting to the other side and turning on themselves. As the books progressed, more information came to light about the secret testing that was being performed there before the criminals escaped. There was also a secret part of the island behind a cave wall. I never got to read the final book as a kid as the library didnt have a copy. Ebay didnt exist back then!

The second one was about a bunch of intelligent young adults preparing to go into space (or in space already, i cant remember). They all had some special talent, one had a photographic memory etc. The had to go trhough a series of tests and training programs to make sure they were prepared. Again there were a number of books in the series. I cant remember much more than this, i know its very vague.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, its driving me crazy not knowing!

Cheers!

[Mom_of_3]

I hope someone is still checking this thread. There is a book series that I read as a tween or teen and I can't remember the name of it.  It seemed like it was set somewhere on the California Coastline and the main character's name was Darcy (I think).  I think the cover showed her with long, dark hair.  It seemed like the series title was Sunset something-or-other.  Anyway, one of the characters (it may have been Darcy) was in an accident in one of the first few books and is paralyzed and has to drive a car with hand-controls.  If anyone knows what book series this is, PLEASE let me know. I'd love to get my hands on them.

Thanks!

[alienshadow]

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ajsl wrote:

Wow!  All of these authors and books bring back great memories!  I have an 11 year old niece that I told all about Sweet  Valley High and then there was another book series, but I can't remember the name of it.  It was about a group of girls at a boarding school.  For some reason I think the name of the school was Dana Hall maybe?  But  I'm not sure. Does this ring a bell for anyone?  It was mid-80s around the same time as SVH.

Thanks!

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 Could it have been The Girls of Canby Hall series?

[alienshadow]

Mom of 3

This was the Sunset Island spin off about Darcy by Cherie Bennett!  There are 3 books about Darcy:

Sunset after Dark, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Sunset after Hours, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

Sunset after Midnight, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.

The rest of the Sunset books were about Sam, Carrie and Emma.

[emmabunny]

Does anyone remember a series of books where it is 3 girl friends all going to the same college? One starts out with her boyfriend going as well, but they break up. One of the friends is wild and crazy and one of the friends is poor, but business like. Even tries to join a sorority. I have been trying to search this every way I know how and can't find anything. There is also a 4th girl who becomes a roommate of one of the 3 girls. She is rich and chubby and a legacy at the sorority.

[adamsmom729]

Hi!  I'm so glad i found this board.  I have 2 books that i'm trying to find info on.  I remember reading them somewhere around 90-96....  The first was a series about the western coast of Michigan and a summer town.  I remember there were people that lived in the town all year old and then some would come just for the summer.  there was also a regatta (sp) (a sail boat race) that took place annually.  I want to say there was 4 books in the series, each taking place in a different year.

the other one was about 2 step sibiling that fell in love.  I don't really remember much about that book exept that i liked it alot. 

Any help with the authors or titles of these books would be great!  thanks so much!!

[jjshoun]

that was the freshman dorm series! I actually bought almost the whole set (30+ books) on ebay a few months ago, just for nostalgia. and they actually hold up pretty well! (as far as teen books go).

I LOVED Christopher Pike, Sweet Valley, Fear Street, Babysitters Club, Freshman Dorm, Sunset Island, Cheerleaders, Couples, all the Sweet Dreams books etc. This was all pretty much in late elementary/early middle school. There were so many ya series then. 

So I'm going to add another mystery book, and it's going to be a bit vague because I'm just blanking.

Plot includes a bunch of kids that play either lazer tag or paint ball, except that it turns real, and they end up hurting/killing each other. It's some weird  experiment. I remember there being candy rewards and the candy might have been what turned things real? I've been searching for this book FOREVER, I'd just like to know what is is, so I'd have some peace of mind. =) 

[Permacav50]

Lol, thats great that you guys mentioned the Choose Your Own Adventure books I just started a post like that in the family thread. I loved those books as well.

A few other favorites i remember...

Secret, Silent Screams   

 Great book about a girl who is convinced her friends suicide wasnt a suicide but murder.

Where the Red Fern Grows 

 

Summer of the Monkeys  

These were some of the earliest novels I can recall reading. Probably my first personal experience of the statement...

"The book was better than the movie"

Sadly I dont remember the title of another favorite from the grade school/junior high days. I just remember the main characters name was Angelo and his family went into the witness protection program and he didnt want to leave his life behind. His girlfriend was another main character whos stepdad was the mob boss who had a henchman named Bloch who packed a .22. Angelo also had two friends who liked to have food fights and worked at a batting cage and there was a minor character named big don who pretended to be Don Mattingly from the Yankees. Oddly enough I remember all these details but not the title of the book or the author. If anyone can tell me that please let me know. I'd love to re-read this.  

[Litprof]

We had the weekly reader series at our school, but we could never afford to buy any, so I was jealous of those who had them. One friend ordered a book and a poster that I've been trying to place. It was scary, and it seems to me that the poster glowed in the dark. The poster featured the monster in the book, which was some kind of giant thing with a pumpkin head (if I remember correctly). Does this ring a bell with anyone? This would have been about 1979, 1980.

Also, in our school library, most of the books were old, and one of my favorite books to check out was about a haunted school. Some kids go in and figure out what's going on. This book was probably from the 1950s. I can't think of the title of this either. Ring any bells?

Do you guys remember the American Heritage Junior Library books? Those were great.

Now that I have my own child, I'm buying all these books I read as a kid, including every one of the American Heritage set. We also had the Childhoods of Famous Americans set, too.

Message Edited by Litprof on 07-17-2009 08:40 PM

[Stephanie]

Litprof,

Don't be too disappointed if you child doesn't want to read all those books you read as a kid.  If there are some you really want to share, read them to him/her.  I keep telling myself that everyone has different tastes, but it kills me when one of my kids doesn't like one of my favorites.