The Running Bibliophile

April Fools by Richie Tankersley Cusick tells a story about three friends - Belinda, Hildy, and Frank - who attend an out of town party that none of them were supposed to be at. On their way home, they are involved in a horrific car accident. They leave the scene and vow never to speak of it again, but then, Belinda starts receiving disturbing pranks, and she is on a mission to find out who is the culprit. This is another book I decided to read on my way rediscovery of my childhood. April Fools is one of the first books I read by Richie Tankersley Cusick and was one of the reasons she was my go to author for young adult horror novels. In rereading this novel as an adult, it has stood the test of time and should be a must read for any kid who loves books in the horror genre. The only references that they may not completely get is the mention of a tape deck in the car and a facsimile, or fax for short. And, although this book falls into the horror genre, it does have some romance elemen...

Welcome To Junior High (Girl Talk, #1) by L.E. Blair is the first book in the Girl Talk book series taking place in Acorn Falls, Minnesota and featuring the unlikely friendship between four American girls by the names of Sabrina "Sab" Wells, Allison Cloud, Katherine "Katie" Campbell , and Rowena "Randy" Zak. The first edition in this series is told from the point of view of Sabrina Wells, who is excited for the first day of junior high and seventh grade. Everything that can go wrong on the first day of school does . . . along with making an enemy the principal's daughter, Stacy the Great. The Girl Talk book series was one of my favorite book series when I was in middle school, and I was absolutely in love with the board game of the same name. I never put together that they had anything to do with one another until a few years ago. Additionally, I literally just learned was L.E. Blair is a pseudonym used by author Katherine Applegate, who I absolutel...

Since Halloween is right around the corner, I decided to reread a favorite book from my childhood . . . More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Scary Stories, #2) , which is a collection of stories from folklore and retold by Alvin Schwartz. I first read this book and the other two books in the trilogy, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Scary Stories, #1) and Scary Stories 3:  More Tales to Chill Your Bones (Scary Stories, #3) , in middle school, and I had fond memories of them. I also remember being terribly spooked after reading them, especially by the grotesque illustrations. If memory serves correctly, our teachers weren't thrilled with students reading them. My favorite stories in this edition are Something Was Wrong and The Wreck . I also enjoyed A Ghost in the Mirror . These were the spookiest of the stories. The latter story made a friend and I try to summon "Bloody Mary", and we completely freaked ourselves out. So, this was a great read for nostalgia reasons....

As an adult, I am having a blast rereading my way through my childhood. The most recent book I read from my childhood is April Fool! (Sweet Valley Twins, #28) created by Francine Pascal. When I read the synopsis of the book before reading it, I vaguely remembered the premise. Was I ever surprised because I ended up not remembering any of the details. The synopsis of April Fool! (Sweet Valley Twins, #28) is that twin sisters Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield typically switch places on April Fools Day, and the twins switching places has become legendary with their classmates.  This year, Elizabeth and Jessica decide not to switch places but pretend that they actually had. It all goes down hill for Elizabeth when she keeps getting in trouble for things that Jessica had done. I felt extremely bad for Elizabeth because it seemed like she couldn't catch a break, but at a certain point, I realized that an elaborate scheme had to have been concocted to prank Elizabeth. It was ...

The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories by Carolyn Keene is a book series that my mom introduced to me in middle school. I remember falling in love with it immediately, so as part of my quest to read my way through my childhood, I had to reread it again. Of course, I started with the first book in the series, The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, #1) . There were a few things that ran through my mind reading it as an adult that I know I didn't think of as a child.  Most importantly, this book was originally published in May 1930, and I didn't give it a second thought that cars were still relatively new in the United States and that it was highly unlikely that an eighteen year old would have their own car let alone a convertible. What surprised me the most is that at least the first book had been rewritten since its original publication date. So, I have purchased a copy of what is supposed to be the original story through ThriftBooks.com. I am hopeful that it re...

A while ago, I was browsing books on ThriftBooks.com and came across the children's book There's A Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. Seeing this book brought back a flood of memories from middle school. This book was originally recommended to me by a friend when we were in the sixth grade and remember absolutely loving it. So, it went without saying that I had to buy this book and reread it. Not remembering much of anything, it was like reading There's A Boy in the Girls' Bathroom for the first time. The main character, Bradley Chalkers, is the kid that no one likes, including teachers. Other students think he's weird and a bully; teachers think he's unruly and destructive. It's actually a very heartbreaking story about a boy that is misunderstood and has distanced himself from his peers and has given up on life in general. There are so many life lessons that can be learned in this book that both children and adults can benefit from learni...

Do you remember the book fairs that came to your elementary and middle school? They were so much fun for me especially when I could find books that were hard to come by. The book fair at my middle school had some teen romance books for sales that were part of the Sweet Dreams book series. In sixth grade, one of the books in the series caught my attention . . . Golden Girl (Sweet Dreams, #169) by Jane Ballard. Golden Girl (Sweet Dreams, #169) by Jane Ballard is about a girl named Claire Montgomery who is dared by her brother Joe to audition for the Trent's Department Store "Golden Girl" spokesperson position. If chosen, she will film television commercials and appear in their print ads for a year. Much to Claire's surprise, she's selected as the spokesperson and will work closely with the executive producer's son, Ben Riley, who is the high school heartthrob. What originally intrigued me to buy Golden Girl (Sweet Dreams, #169) was that it had ...

Reminiscing about books that I loved as a middle school kid, I remembered there was a book series about horses that I was absolutely crazy about, but I couldn't remember the name of the series or the name of the author. It drove me nuts that I couldn't remember! Then, a couple of years ago, I was at my local library book sale and came across the first book in the series and was ecstatic. It brought back all the feelings, lol. The long forgotten book series was Horse Crazy by Virginia Vail. The first book in the series is Horseback Summer (Horse Crazy, #1) , and I remember the entire series made me want to go to sleep away camp that taught horseback riding lessons. The second installment in the Horse Crazy book series is Happy Trails (Horse Crazy, #2). Emily and the rest of her bunkmates in the Fillies cabin are set to go on an overnight trail ride with their horses, but when unhappy Dru falls off her horse, the excursion is cancelled and everyone has to go back to cam...

The Unicorns have decided to start a cheerleading squad at Sweet Valley Middle School and call it the boosters. The caveat put forth by teachers are they must have open tryouts. Amy Sutton decides she wants to try out for the boosters. While that is happening, the basketball team is holding open tryouts as well, and the shortest boy in school, Ken Matthews, decides to try out. Choosing Sides (Sweet Valley Twins, #4) deals with bullying yet again. Do you see a theme in this series? Bullying seems to be most prominent in the middle school years, so it isn't surprising that the Sweet Valley Twins books deal with this subject a lot. The underlying themes are friendship and standing up for yourself in this edition. The Unicorns try to bully Amy because they don't want an unpopular, tomboy on the cheerleading squad. On top of that, Elizabeth is worried that if Amy makes the boosters, she won't have any more time to spend with her. Bruce Patman bullies Ken Matthews j...

During a school book fair in middle school, I stumbled upon a teen romance series called Sweet Dreams . Each book in the series is actually a stand alone book. In addition, each book in the series is written by a different author with many of the authors penning several throughout the years.  I believe the first book I picked up was The Golden Girl (Sweet Dreams, # 169)  by Jane Ballard, which was about a teenage girl who wins a contest to become the Trent's Department Store spokesperson. I loved the book and began reading more and more books from the series, which started in 1981. One of the books, The Popularity Plan (Sweet Dreams, # 2)  by Rosemary Vernon was one that I desperately wanted to read but had trouble finding. I finally gave up looking in my college years. Fast forward 15 years . . . buying used books on Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com had become a popular thing, and they were making it easier to find them. ThriftBooks.com was advertising The Popul...