Hey friends, no, you have not crossed over to the dark of the moon or the twilight zone!! Never fear, I will try my hardest to keep the Daleks from attacking!! Yes, the title is a bit convoluted, but rest assured, once you delve further into this booklist it will all make sense. So, to venture beneath, you will need a wizard, a thief, a prince… and a finger to press the button below…
You made it!! So what you have below is a booklist of titles that feature classic stories within!! (Not a portal to a D&D game, if you were wondering!!)
In this first teen read, I kill the mockingbird by Paul Acampora (Roaring Brook Press, 2014), as our title suggests the story within it is Harper Lee’s award-winning To kill a Mockingbird. The three teens in this delightful story decide to take matters into their own hands shortly after the death of their favourite teacher, Fat Bob, and make the book in question disappear. It was to honor him really, and for their common love of books, but what was meant to be a small campaign snowballed into a giant problem once the internet was involved!! Readers who love To kill a Mockingbird as much as I do will find this an exhilarating read!! With themes of mystery and friendship, this literary-infused novel is sure to spice up your reading!!
This next tween read Laura Ingalls is ruining my life by Shelley Tougas (Roaring Brook Press, 2017) takes our readers actually to Walnut Grove where Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie grew up. Our young protagonist, Charlotte has moved across the country to live in Walnut Grove with her family. Her mom is hoping to write a bestselling book with the spiritual help of Laura Ingalls herself, which leads her to move there. For Charlotte, Walnut Grove is small, freezing in winter, all everyone does is talk about Laura Ingalls and it is just another town where her mother can avoid responsibility. Charlotte’s convinced her family will not be able to make a life on the prairie – until the spirit of Laura Ingalls starts getting to her, too. In many ways this may seem like a typical ‘moving house and dealing with absentee mom’s’-type of read but there are some elements that actually seem similar to Little House. Tougas gives readers a vivid image of modern-day prairie life through the voice of Charlotte, a bright and quirky character. We see Charlotte grow to become a better person through this move to Walnut Grove and strengthen her relationships with others, almost like Laura herself!!
The next set of reads is actually a tween series I enjoyed earlier in my blog. You’ll find the full review if you follow the author tag. The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007 to 2016) is a series of tween reads that follow the lives of four sixth-grade girls and their mothers from Concord, Massachusetts. The young girls, Emma, Jess, Cassidy and Megan, are pressured into forming a book club with their mothers and each book focuses on a different classic read. Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, and Pride and Prejudice to name a few grace this adorable book club’s reading lists. Each installment gives readers a glimpse into the life of one of the girls and her family. The adventures they get up to while navigating middle school, testing their friendship, and even a romance or two are such a delight to read about. The multi-layered voices in each title gives the reader a unique experience into this story and you can’t help but fall in love with this series!! A must read for girls of all ages!! Mothers and daughters especially, this one’s for you!!
Dash and Lily’s book of dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan (Allen & Unwin, 2020) is the last selection for this booklist. This teen literary rom-com is one that will keep you gripped at every page. Told in the dual voices of two sixteen-year-olds in Dash and Lily, we as readers are taken to New York City. This first book of the series begins just before Christmas inside Lily’s favourite bookshop, The Strand. She hides her red notebook in the hopes of finding love. She hoped the right guy would rise to the literary clues and weird challenges she has set inside. When Dash finds her notebook on the shelves, he accepts her challenge. As they begin to send each other on a scavenger hunt all across Manhattan, Dash and Lily are falling in love with each other on the page. Discovering if they have the same chemistry in person could be their biggest dare yet. The writing in this amazing collaborative piece had me spellbound from the beginning. Truth be told, I only read the book after watching the Netflix series. Dash and Lily are two memorable characters that will have you racing for this book every Christmas, just like how we watch the Home Alone series!!
I know this last one doesn’t have one specific book that it’s based on but you’ll find it resonates with notes of many other classic stories based in New York City, both literary and cinematic!!
I hope you enjoyed this little booklist. If you have read anything similar I would love to hear from you!!
Stay safe and keep reading
Miss Mahee
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 