I am now reading vintage teen fiction books in my 40's

[enigmatic]

When I was a kid, I was what you would call way ahead of the rest of my classmates in terms of reading above my age group; I was reading stuff like Norman O. Brown, Kafka, and Erich Fromm when I was 12, while my English teachers in Middle School were handing out "Shane" and "Great Expectations". I did a book report of Michael Lesy's "Wisconsin Death Trip" when I was 14, and almost got thrown out of my 8th Grade English class for telling the teacher (and Walt Whitman worshiper) that "Leaves Of Grass" was hackneyed, and argued at length why Bukowski was the greatest poet of our times. I was a difficult student in that way, I guess:)

Anyway, the past few years I happened to pick up a copy of a Brains Benton Mystery (a teen fiction book series published by Whitman in the 50's and 60's) at a garage sale on a lark, took it home and read it from start to finish in one setting, and was completely, utterly hooked from then on. Then came The Power Boys series, some vintage Hardy Boys stuff from the 40's, and this past weekend I lucked into a complete set of first edition Chip Hilton Sports Fiction series from the 40's and 50's written by Clair Bee that I found at a small-town thrift store for 10 bucks, and I'm enjoying the hell out of them right now.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say, other than that I guess I'm at the age now where I can truly appreciate how well-written and FUN these books are, especially in the time frame they were written, and that they are almost as good as meditation or anything else as a way to escape reality for awhile and recharge my mental batteries..

That is all:)

[Heidi]

1. Are these books making you feel more

boyish, in the wake of your recent birthday?

:hug:

[enigmatic]

3. hahaha

:hug:

In a way, I guess; I know that part of the charm of the books are the simpler (in the abstract, anyway) times they were written in, but I think that they were well-written and executed, too, w/ some (still) great life lessons that my 43 year old ass isn't too old to learn, know, and live in kind.

And I should have said originally that I never thought Leaves Of Grass was hackneyed way back when; the teacher loved to tease me about my reading material, and I had to turn the needle back in her direction:)

[hfojvt]

28. well, I can still kinda remember being as young as 43

I read a few teen books as part of my job in the 1990s, although I also read some when I was in my 20s. Katherine Patterson's "Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom" for example.

I enjoyed the Christopher Pike books and Bruce Coville and Mary Stolz and Jackie French Koller's "If I had one wish" was amazing. Also I read the Tao of Pooh and got turned on to Winnie the Pooh books.

[enigmatic]

29. I haven't heard of the Christopher Pike books

what kind of books were they?

[hfojvt]

30. Teen horror n/t

[BlueIris]

39. OMG, I LOVED Christopher Pike books.

The early ones were brill. No, seriously.

[ghostsofgiants]

12. Hahaha, that wedgie emoticon is awesome.

[Heidi]

15. What I call the "Jerry Lewis" smiley is fun, too.

Take note of the resembalance:

[enigmatic]

17. Hey Laaaaaaadyy!!!!!!

:rofl:

[Heidi]

18. Hahahahaha!

I loved Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis movies when I was a kid! :spray:

[enigmatic]

22. I've got an mp3 of Martin and Lewis rehearsing a radio spot

for "My Friend Irma Goes West" in which both Dean and Jerry are positively FILTHY in cracking each other up; I've played it on my Insane Music Program a few times; I'll try to find it for you. It's hysterically funny...

[Heidi]

23. Very cool!

I think Call Me Wesley has never heard Martin and Lewis. :thumbsup: (He's more of a Marx Bros. guy.)

[Droopy]

2. I have taken up reading again

after having read nothing but message boards and a mental health book for the past several years. I didn't even finish the mental health book. It turns out that a few people I've run across on the internet have written books so I'm reading that stuff.

If you dig books for young people check out the Black Stallion series of books. I can't remember the author's name. I thouroughly enjoyed those books when I was 12. I'd probably still dig them.

[enigmatic]

5. Hey bro

Do you remember who wrote them? I'll look for them for sure if you say they are good..

[Droopy]

6. Here you go

http://www.theblackstallion.com/index.html

You can pick them up new pretty cheap on the author's web site. His name is Walter Farley. It looks like his son has taken up the book writing biz as well.

These books might be a little young for what you are looking for. Maybe not quite teenaged level. But what the heck? You can probably find a used copy for a couple of bucks and give it a go.

[enigmatic]

13. thanks bro

I'll check them out!

[Beware the Beast Man]

4. I'd like to get my hands on some Choose Your Own Adventure books.

Those were a favorite of mine as a young lad. I'm sure they're on E-Bay.

[enigmatic]

8. Without a doubt

When I really started getting into these books I haunted thrift stores around town and in the small-towns looking for them, and I have a pretty good collection of them now. Mrs E. is an ebay freak, and she showed me how much these books were in demand there, so I bet you could score them there, no problem..

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. My dear Enigmatic!

How fortunate for you to have found these....

So you read Erich Fromm? Did you read "The Art of Loving"?

It helped me marry my husband! It taught me much about the nature of love.....

:loveya: :hug:

[enigmatic]

9. Hey Peggy!

:hug:

Oh yeah; I loved Fromm, especially "The Art Of Loving"; I haven't picked it up in years, and I should....

[Richard Steele]

10. Have you read any "Encyclopedia Brown" yet?

I recommend them HIGHLY.

[enigmatic]

11. Yeah!

That(and Alfred Hitchcock And The Three Investigators series) were the only "young" fiction books I read when I was 9-10; I still have a lifelong love of mystery books that was definitely started by reading both...

[Richard Steele]

14. I was TOTALLY going to recommend the "Three Investigators"...

But then I thought that might be too lame,
so I played it safe with the E. Brown mention! LOL!!!!

I honestly had NO CLUE who Alfred Hitchcock was back then,
but I sure loved those books!
The Hardy Boys were some serious Stepford IDIOTS (and I read them all)
but the 'Three Investigators' totally rocked my 8yo world!

So, please allow me to recommend the "The Great Brain" series,
written long before WWII....

And also the "Mad Scientist's Club", compiled from short fiction pieces
originally published in 'Boy's Life' magazine.

[enigmatic]

16. Right on

My Mom bought the Afred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine every month and always picked up a Three Investigators book for me as well; I always wanted to have a clubhouse/lab in the middle of a junkyard like they did!

Have you seen this?

http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com/

And thanks for the tips; I'm going to look for those this weekend:)

[Richard Steele]

19. No, I had never seen that site!

All these decades, I thought I was the only one
who loved those books! LOL!

[enigmatic]

24. You should check out the Brains Benton books

Very well written and slyly funny, too; Brains could have been Jupiter Jones' brother in mystery:

http://www.townofautumn.com/brainsbenton/

[Richard Steele]

35. Yeah, I was a big Brains Benton fan as well!

Can't believe I forgot about him.
I guess it's been awhile- like 25 or 30 years!

I must be getting absent-minded in my old age.

[XemaSab]

34. I thought I was the only one

who had ever HEARD of those books! :o

And yes, they're definitely worth finding!

[Frank Cannon]

32. The Three Investigators were the shizznit!

I loved those books! Kind of a mixture of the Hardy Boys and Scooby Doo.

And yeah, I fantasized about having a junkyard crime lab housed in a trailer (that had a secret entrance through the floor, as I recall).

[khashka]

36. Yeah!

I loved those books!

Kinda scary but not too much. And great fun!


And as a pedant, I must point out it's "Alfred Hitchcock And The Three Investigators".

Khash.

[Frank Cannon]

37. That's right

Good old Hitch always seemed to make a cameo appearance in these books. And as I recall, you could also find his face hidden somewhere on the book covers, as well.

These books always had a creepier, more supernatural bent than some of the other standard "juvenile" mysteries like the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, etc. Yet you could always count on the Three Investigators to figure out the more mundane scientific explanations for the crazy goings-on.

Truly first-rate mysteries for the younger crowd (no matter what their ages!).

[enigmatic]

38. It did

I loved those books so much; I need to start collecting them, too..

[KitchenWitch]

20. My mom had a copy of "Wisconsin Death Trip"

I was morbidly fascinated as a child with the photos in it.

[enigmatic]

21. Those photos haunted me for years

Still do, frankly; have you seen the film based on the book that was made a few years ago?

http://www.wisconsindeathtrip.com/

[KitchenWitch]

25. No I didn't.

I should go see my mom and see if she still has the book. I never actually read it, but was definitely spooked by the photos. I should see the film as well.

[enigmatic]

26. The film isn't bad

Although the book is an undeniable classic (and revolutionary in it's time)and IMO much better. Lesy did a sequel a few years later called "Real Life: Louisville In The 20's" that was just as good..


Here's a great interview of him if you're interested:

http://www.identitytheory.com/interviews/birnbaum125.html

[KitchenWitch]

27. Thank you!

I will check it out!

[ScreamingMeemie]

31. You need to move on...

...to Cherry Ames Student Nurse!!!! :hi: :thumbsup:

[LostinVA]

33. Also read tye Margaret Maze Craig books (Trish, etc.)