Nancy Drew : Age 11

Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene

My sister is a few years older than me. When I was born, she was reading her way through the Nancy Drew mystery series. She asked our parents to name me Nancy, and that's how I got my first name! My sister had a row of Nancy Drew books in the bedroom we shared, and when I was in 3rd or 4th grade I started reading my way through them. I liked the adventure of trying to solve each mystery before Nancy Drew did. I liked discovering the pattern of the stories after I had read a few. I liked reading about the same familiar characters in each book. Although, I must admit, I skipped over the descriptions of clothing. I was a farm girl and couldn't imagine wearing pearls and sweater sets while climbing winding staircases. I had read most of the book series before the Nancy Drew t.v. series started. The actors in the t.v. series didn't look like the characters I imagined, and I found I liked the books better. I still feel that way when I see a movie based on a book. I like imagining the scenes and characters in my mind, and books give so much more detail than movies!

Lassie Come-Home : Age 9

Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight

My grandmother lived in a very old house with a built in bookcase in the main room. On the lowest shelf she kept a collection of children's books left behind when my dad's brothers and sisters grew up and left home. When we visited grandma, I would choose a book to read while the adults visited. As I got older and started reading the chapter books, Grandma told me to pick out some to take home. One of my favorites was Lassie Come-Home. I had watched a tv show about a dog named Lassie, but this book was the real deal, the story that inspired the show. And the book was so much better than the show! This was the first book I ever read that made me cry. Lassie's courage and determination as she traveled from Scotland to England, and the mixture of cruel and kind people she met along the way, introduced me to stories with conflict. And there was a map of Lassie's journey on the inside cover, which I absolutely love!  If you only know Lassie from television reruns, you don't know the real Lassie.