Yeah, I read Judy Blume. My mother didn't like that, but I read it anyhow.
What I did do a lot as a child was read, and I particularly remember reading all the 'Hardy Boys' books, a set of history books called the 'Landmark Books,' and a series of science books called the 'All About Books.'
There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children's book.
I rarely read children's books.
Among my books, the ones that sell best are for readers between the ages of 8 and 12. According to a study by the Association of American Publishers, the largest area of industry growth in 2014 was in the children and young adult category.
As a kid, I became a total SF geek. It started in the 5th grade with Asimov's 'Lucky Starr' series of what would now be called 'young adult' novels of adventures in the solar system.
Most of the great works of juvenile literature are subversive in one way or another: they express ideas and emotions not generally approved of or even recognized at the time; they make fun of honored figures and piously held beliefs; and they view social pretenses with clear-eyed directness, remarking - as in Andersen's famous tale - that the emperor has no clothes.
The first book that they gave me was Jeannie, a young teenager. I went on with her maybe ten books.
For me, a good children's book is a good children's book is a good children's book.
I have a passion for children's literature. Young adult literature. I love it. I've always loved it.
To see what books were available for my older students, I made many trips to the library. If a book looked interesting, I checked it out. I once went home with 30 books! It was then that I realized that kids' novels had the shape of real books, and I began to get ideas for young adult novels and juvenile books.
Y.A. wasn't really a specific genre when I was fifteen, but if it was, I would probably have shunned it; I was a huge snob.
I read very, very little fiction as a kid. All the books I can remember are junior science books.
I need the lightness of children's lit.
Children's books are full of violence.
I think Hallmark is doing this really exciting thing right now, where they buy a series of books, they're books for young adults, or adolescents, and they're really fun Agatha Christie-style mysteries. I actually signed on for three of them.
