fifth grade yeeeah

my latest amazon haul included only books that are approximately fifth grade level (ok ok--and one issue of lula). heck yes.

of course no spontaneous purchase of fifth grade books that shaped your perception of the world would be complete without sharon creech. and my favorite (growing up) was always walk two moons. mmmhm.

walk two moons is named for the adage, "don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins." it follows the main character salamanca on the search for her mother, supplemented along the way with the story (as told by salamanca to her grandparents) of her friend phoebe. through this story, sal figures out her own, etc, etc, i'm making it sound cheesy and it's totally not just buy it 'cause it's definitely worth the the two dollars i paid for a used copy on amazon.

also purchased was the boxes, a novel i remember reading, but not necessarily liking. it just stuck with me. [basic plot: annie--your average girl--inherits two boxes from her exotic uncle--you know that one uncle that never got married. for a long looong time she does not open the boxes. but they call to her (or something???) and she does and the little crazy metal alien stinkbugs that live inside build a city and have class issues (!!!).]

i don't really know why something in my head told me to read the boxes, but i started having dreams about it last week. so i bought it. i believe in dreams. but i haven't reread it yet BECAUSE

during a conversation with a friend about buying fifth grade books, he brought up sharon creech. and when my amazon package arrived (bundled shipping!), i couldn't resist starting with walk two moons.

other purchases:
- from the mixed up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler by e.l. konigsburg and
-maniac magee by jerry spinelli and
-absolutely normal chaos by sharon creech

but i think my actual favorite book from childhood is the westing game by ellen raskin. i've owned it since sixth grade and read it about once a year every year since then. incomparable.

it's amazing to look back at these things that i loved then and see what that says about me now. sort of like salamanca--telling one story told another. that's how i feel about the books i loved growing up.

moral of this story: read them.