From: Jane McMahon <JMCMAHON>
Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 11:14:52 -0500

As a kid, I read anything and everything. Books that took me to strange new settings held the greatest fascination for me...Island of the Blue Dolphins, Watership Down, Kon-Tiki, Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave, even Stephen King's The Shining--those images of the woman in the bathtub with lolling breasts, and the topiary coming to life still live somewhere--ghosts in the library of my mind.

I think as I've accumulated life experiences and reading experiences, it is harder for me to be swept away into an author's world...although Kite Runner and Mary Doria Russel's The Sparrow are a couple of books I've read recently with that child-like wonder.

For the 8th graders I presently teach, the books Speak, Define Normal, and The Outsiders are often cited as the best books they've ever read.
Received on Fri 26 May 2006 11:14:52 AM CDT