Spring 2016 Intern
Books that deal with fantastic adventures are the overwhelming favorite amongst the PSG staff when polled on their childhood favorite stories, and mine are no different. I recall swinging plastic swords to defend myself against the imaginary monsters that seemed to always cause trouble in my backyard, because of my infatuation with The Hobbit and medieval-themed fantasy novels.
Because of my interest in such novels, it was enjoyable to see all the funny fantasy titles in the replies from my coworkers. Chelsea’s favorite was the Enchanted Forest series, which dealt with a lot of dragons. She enjoyed the series for its female protagonist’s can-do attitude. Eileen loved the epic nature of the adventures of the mouse in the Redwall series. Alyssa was enthralled with The Magic Locket so much that she had a matching necklace to that of the main character. Ken enjoyed the sci-fi themed adventures of the Danny Dunn series, which had colorful titles like Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine and Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint.
Other staff members enjoyed the classics and a good adventure. Due to a Winnie the Pooh doll that she owned since birth, Nora’s favorite was, obviously, the eponymous series. Kate Domenichella constantly sparked her imagination with well-known reads like Oh, The Places You’ll Go and Where the Wild Things Are. Kate Carroll enjoyed the novel My Side of the Mountain so much that she was inspired to live in a hollowed tree and cook venison like the protagonist, which she eventually decided against due to her lack of skills in venison preparation. Arige got lost in the Bailey School Kids mysteries, because they were a blend of action, adventure, comedy and mystery.
While adventure and fantasy novels were the favorite in the office, there were a few staff members who enjoyed more realistic stories. Annette was so enamored with The Outsiders that she completed her first read of the novel in two nights. Tess’s favorite book was A Chair For My Mother, which deals with a family losing their possessions to a house fire and having to rebuild their lives. Don’t worry, it’s a children’s book, so the family ended up okay in the end (so much so that there’s even a sequel). She enjoyed the book for its intriguing illustrations.
While our interest in books has changed, the PSG staff agrees that it’s always interesting to look back and fondly remember the stories that made us the imaginative and book-obsessed types we are today. After writing this blog post, part of me still wants to crack open The Hobbit and see how Bilbo’s doing, even though I currently lack a plastic sword at my apartment in Fenway.
Did You Know?
The average page length of books intended for middle school
aged readers increased from 115.5 pages in 2006 to 290 pages in 2016, most
likely due to the success of the Harry Potter series.
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