Meaning of Life / Literary Travelogue

a.k.a what to read at each stage in your life 
a.k.a.k.a the books that have guided me through the years and molded me into the person I am today

Infant

In your newly-born slash crawly state of infancy, before you yourself are able to hold a book upright, much less read words, you should have a significant adult figure read Pippi Longstockings and Karlsson who lives on the Roof to you. Preferably at bedtime; story time is best accompanied by bed time.

These are the absolute best books to engage a youngin' and their imagination. Seriously, what could be better than a little girl with red pigtails that stick out of her head, wears shoes five sizes too big, wears mismatched socks to her knees, has a pet monkey and a horse, whose father is lost at sea but proudly chief of some island tribe, AND who has superhuman strength. And lets not forget Karlsson who is the little pudgy boy who lives on the roof, comes through peoples windows, makes messes in everyone's rooms, eats all the cookies, AND has a propeller attached to his back. Astrid Lindgren will always be one of my favorite authors; brace yourselves ladies and gentlemen, both of those books have multiple sequels. 

Toddler

Ok, so now you've grown up a bit, and as much as you hate to admit it you're ready to graduate to more sophisticated books (even though all you secretly want is to keep rereading Pippi and Karlsson.) But nonetheless, you put on a brave face and pick up the nearest Magic Treehouse, The Bailey School Kids, or Laura Ingalls Wilder and get on your merry way. 

I'm telling you, those books got me through those rocky years in which I was certain that I should have been born a cat (I had mom draw whiskers on me in eyeliner and everything) and when I was so scared of going to school that I pretended I was sick. The Magic Treehouse kids took me on wild adventures in foreign lands with exotic people and animals. The Bailey School Kids made me doubt every single adult authority figure in my life for fear they were an alien or a ghost, but eventually showed me just how far imagination can go. And Laura Ingalls Wilder perhaps helped me the most because seeing as how we had just moved to the states, and Laura had also been uprooted from her home, we shared that bond and helped each other throughout the transition. 

Spain-Phase (or equivalent)

I'll admit, this section is a bit of an outlier. Now I know that not everyone (or anyone for that matter) will have moved to Spain between the ages of six and eight, but for the sake of this section we can call the 'Spain-phase' by its alternate name, the 'awkward-adolescence-stage-in-which-you're-too-shy-to-make-friends-so-you-get-into-some-interesting-things.' Yup, I feel like that one is pretty universal. In Spain, I relied on my trusty characters from Inuyasha, Geronimo Stilton, and the girls from W.I.T.C.H. 

     

Guys, you can't judge me for what I read. It was Spain and I was in third grade -- besides everything in Europe is weird. Yes, I was that girl that got into anime. Yes, I read it in Spanish. Yes, I'm weird. Now to move on from that haha, I truthfully really enjoyed all of these. If I didn't then I wouldn't still have a huge box of them somewhere in the attic! I fought demons and all sorts of evil with Inuyasha and gang. I solved mysteries with Geronimo Stilton, detective sleuth mouse combo, from finding the missing jewels to anything you could imagine. And with the W.I.T.C.H. girls, I accompanied them on their discovery of their powers and their subsequent adventures. I would also like to point out that all of these books had love interests, and this is where my obsession begins...

And just to proe how much I loved these books, here is a ~vintage~ and ~rare~ photograph of Lusi and father, out sight seeing, and Lusi being the geek she is, is sitting there, reading, completely ignoring the sights. Classic. Just look at that headband...and that sweater! Those pants! My eyes!

Middle School

Now here, here is where it gets really interesting. This was the time of fairy books, and Harry Potter, and Hardy Boys. Middle school was also the time I met Sophia, and lets just say it went downhill from there (Just kidding, love you Sophia!) But really though, never forget the time when she and I read an 'adult' book by accident. Yet, what do we do when we realize what we're reading? Finish the book, like champs. It was very good actually, nice plot twist at the end. Terrible terrible writing and structure, but it made for some very quotable lines haha. And also, lets never forget the Twilight phase that followed shortly after.

These were the cool books to read in middle school, so I definitely recommend them. What's better than solving wizarding mysteries with Harry and gang, and then engaging in some lighthearted rom-com love triangle between a human, a vampire, and a werewolf. It doesn't get better than that if you ask me. And if you don't believe that Sophia and I were obsessed with the Twilight Saga, let me just briefly tell the story of how we met.

*clears throat*

It was a fateful Friday evening. Lusi had purchased tickets to the midnight premiere months in advance, planning on going with her then best friend, Mary Lacy. Suddenly, Mary Lacy bailed and Lusi was left sans movie companion! What was she to do but ask Sophia, the girl who sat on the other side of Mary Lacy in choir who always wore that brown Abercrombie bag that tilted her entire body to one side, if she wanted to join. So Lusi did...and Sophia accepted (albeit reluctantly)...and they went to go get dinner...they got burritos at Moe's...and Lusi brushed her teeth in the Moe's bathroom (onions, am I right?)...then they stood in line for an hour amidst the hoards of all the other pre-teengirls...until they finally got to their seats...first the previews...then finally, the lights dropped...the movie began...then it ended...and Sophia and Lusi have been best friends ever since.

*the end*

If I look far back enough on my email, I can still find emails sent between Soph and I obsessing over who their going to cast in the Twilight sequel or flipping out when Robert Pattison cut off his quote (I kid you not, we wrote this) beautiful golden tousled locks unquote. That's right folks, read Twilight - it gets you lifelong friends. 

High School

And now, we are nearing the end of our literary timeline. As you progress from infancy to teenager, my recommended books will guide you through those tough times when all you can truly depend on is the comport of hiding behind a good novel. And ultimately, those books will act as stepping stones up until high school where you will truly dive into real literary masterpieces. In freshman English with Mr. Lentz, I devoured Night by Elie Wiesel and Native Son by Richard Wright like they were candy. In Mr. Behler's sophomore English, I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Great Gatsby, 1984, and Brave New World. That was the year of the dystopian worlds -- I actually still think I have Behler's copy of Gatsby somewhere...oops! Junior year with Logsdon I read and reread Reading Like A Writer, The Metamorphosis, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. And Senior year with Ms. Whitman was just a hodgepodge of wonderful literature like The Importance of Being Earnest, Girl, Interrupted, Hamlet, Lolita,and so many more! 

So many amazing books were read this year (I haven't eve mentioned all that I've read) so it's hard to focus in on a couple specifics. Instead, I'd like to talk about my teachers. From Mr. Lentz, I formed my literary foundation and he taught me the importance of grammar. Also, he put up with me as a weird little freshman who did a presentation on a song about bananas, so he deserves a standing ovation for that. From Mr. Behler I inherited my love for the Beatnik generation, and he led me to find one of my favorite authors, T.C. Boyle. From Mr. Logsdon I learned an outstanding amount of trivia and pop culture information, but I also learned how to analyze literature and read as if I were the author of the piece. And from Ms. Whitman, I learned how to love literature more passionately and more fervently than I ever could have imagined. 

Cheers, and happy reading! 

And here's also to Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Maya Angelou, two phenomenal authors (and some of Ms. Whitman's favorites) who unfortunately passed away this year. I am thankful for all of their contributions to the literary world.