Warning: This ain't your Hunger Games or Harry Potter slideshow. This is a tribute to the forgotten books from your childhood and teen years. The ones that may not have been made into movies, but were just as influential in their own special way.
So, allow us to throw out just a few of the many titles that will stir up warm pangs of nostalgia when you see their covers and read their titles. Number the Stars. Zlata's Diary. Homecoming. A great novel you read when you were younger can feel like an old friend. Rediscovering it as an adult gives you the chance to revisit an important part of your formative experience.
Curling up with these 41 novels from your childhood might feel like a journey to the past, but you'll also find new ways to appreciate them now that you're older. That's what makes these books classics. They only get better with age.
The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
First published: 2014
Yes, it's pushing it to call a 2014 book a "classic" only two years later, but we think this tale of a cancer-stricken teenage girl with a dark sense of humor merits its now legendary status.
Photo: Courtesy of Penguin Books.
Zlata's Diary
Author: Zlata Filipović
First published: 1994
From 1991 to 1993, Zlata Filipović kept a diary of her life in Sarajevo. When she started writing, she was just a regular fifth grader. By the end of her tale, Filipović would become one of the defining voices of life during the Bosnian War.
Photo: Courtesy of Penguin Books.
Switching Well
Author: Peni R. Griffin
First published: 1994
A magical well in San Antonio, Texas, sends Ada Bauer 100 years into the future from 1891. At the same time, Amber Burak travels a century back in time from 1991. Both girls have to learn to survive in an unknown era and avoid getting lost in the social service system.
Photo: Courtesy of Puffin.
Walk Two Moons
Author: Sharon Creech
First published: 1994
After a tumultuous year in a new school (and her father's befriending of an eccentric woman named Margaret Cadaver), Salamanca and her grandparents set off on a cross-country road trip to find her mother, who Sal knows wouldn’t have just abandoned her.
Photo: Courtesy of HarperCollins.
The Westing Game
Author: Ellen Raskin
First published: 1979
Mysterious millionaire Sam Westing gathers sixteen potential heirs to his fortune together in the Sunset Towers apartment building on Lake Michigan. They are divided into pairs and given a set of clues that will reveal who murdered Westing. The pair that solves the mystery will inherit Westing’s fortune and paper product company.
Photo: Courtesy of E.P. Dutton.
Number the Stars
Author: Lois Lowry
First published: 1989
Lowry’s Newbery Medal-winning novel about Annemarie Johansen and her family, who live in Copenhagen during the Nazi occupation, is an unforgettable lesson about the triumph of the human spirit and bravery during the Holocaust.
Photo: Courtesy of Dell Publishing.
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Author: Scott O’Dell
First published: 1960
The tale of Karana, who is abandoned on an island for 18 years, is based on the true story of Juana Maria, also known as “The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island.”
Photo: Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Author: E. L. Konigsburg
First published: 1967
Feeling unappreciated at home, Claudia Kincaid runs away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She brings her younger brother Jamie along because he's got the money. The two are living in the museum when a collector named Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler donates a statue to the museum. Claudia and Jamie set off to discover the statue’s history.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
Ballet Shoes
Author: Noel Streatfeild
First published: 1936
The first book in Streatfeild’s iconic “Shoe” series brings together three unique adopted sisters — Pauline, Petrova, and Posy — who discover their hidden talents and passions when their Great Uncle Matthew goes missing and the money for their care dries up.
Photo: Courtesy of Dell Yearling.
Behind the Attic Wall
Author: Sylvia Cassedy
First published: 1983
An eerily gothic novel about Maggie, a rebellious, lonely orphan who finds magic — or the supernatural — in a pair of porcelain dolls that will ultimately awaken her rich imagination and capacity for emotion.
Photo: Courtesy of Avon Camelot Books.
Bridge to Terabithia
Author: Katherine Paterson
First published: 1977
There will be tears. So many tears.
Photo: Courtesy of Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
Author: Nancy Farmer
First published: 1994
Set in Zimbabwe in 2194, Farmer’s tale follows the three children of General Matsika as they escape the fortified mansion where they are forced to live after their father rages a battle against the nation’s many gangs. Their parents hire the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, detectives with superhuman abilities, to track the children down.
Photo: Courtesy of Orchard Books.
Sloppy Firsts
Author: Megan McCafferty
First published: 2001
Jessica Darling, the hyper-observant heroine who fails to live up to her last name in the best way possible, is wise beyond her years and 100% over life in suburban New Jersey. When her best friend Hope moves away, Jess feels like it’s going to be her against the world. That is, until she starts talking to Marcus Flutie.
Photo: Courtesy of Three Rivers Press.
The Girl With the Silver Eyes
Author: Willo Davis Roberts
First published: 1980
Katie Welker's silver eyes give her telekinetic powers, making her feel like more of an outcast than ever.
Photo: Courtesy of Scholastic.
Go Ask Alice
Author: Anonymous
First published: 1971
While its authenticity as a real teen’s diary has been debunked, the haunting entries depicting an anonymous teen’s descent into drug addiction are an all-too-true cautionary tale.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon Pulse.
Where the Red Fern Grows
Author: Wilson Rawls
First published: 1961
This is the tale of Billy Coleman and his two Redbone Coonhounds, Old Dan and Little Ann, whose legendary hunting prowess improves the Coleman’s lives for the better.
Photo: Courtesy of Doubleday.
The Mennyms
Author: Sylvia Waugh
First published: 1993
The Mennyms are a family of life-size rag dolls that came alive after their maker died. For 40 years, they’ve managed to live under the radar in a small town in Britain thanks to sunglasses and overcoats. Their placid existence is threatened when a distant relative of their landlord comes to visit from Australia.
Photo: Courtesy of Greenwillow.
Maniac Magee
Author: Jerry Spinelli
First published: 1990
An orphaned boy renowned for his athletic prowess and bravery becomes a local legend as he searches for a home in the socioeconomically divided town of Two Mills, Pennsylvania.
Photo: Courtesy of Little Brown & Company.
The Goats
Author: Brock Cole
First published: 1987
Two campers — a boy and a girl — are stripped and abandoned on an island in the dead of night. It’s a tradition, and they are the “goats.” But, this particular pair of goats realizes they actually like being on their own and living without the other campers’ taunts and their parents’ rules.
Photo: Courtesy of MacMillan.
Maggie Adams, Dancer
Author: Karen Strickler Dean
First published: 1982
This stirring story of a talented young ballerina shows the struggle, pain, and sacrifice it takes to follow your dreams.
Photo: Courtesy of Avon Books.
Girl
Author: Blake Nelson
First published: 1994
Set against the backdrop of the underground music scene in Portland, Oregon, the titular girl is Andrea Marr, a high schooler who’s tired of being a boring, straight-A student. She decides to rebel a little, and soon discovers thrift shops and falls in love for the first time with rock god Todd Sparrow.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon Pulse.
The Face on the Milk Carton
Author: Caroline B. Cooney
First published: 1990
Janie Johnson notices that a missing child named Jennie Spring on her friend’s milk carton looks a lot like she does. Janie realizes that she may have been kidnapped, and that the people she believes to be her parents might actually be criminals who took her from her real family.
Photo: Courtesy of Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers.
The Castle in the Attic
Author: Elizabeth Winthrop
First published: 1985
William’s beloved housekeeper, Mrs. Philips, gives him a model castle and says that its knight, Sir Simon, is under a spell. It’s up to William to become the castle’s newest squire and rescue the silver knight from an evil wizard.
Photo: Courtesy of Yearling Books.
Tuck Everlasting
Author: Natalie Babbitt
First published: 1975
Winnie Foster discovers a boy named Jesse Tuck drinking from a spring on her family’s land. He refuses to let Winnie drink from the spring, finally revealing to her that the water has the power to make those who consume it immortal.
Photo: Courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Sixth Grade Secrets
Author: Louis Sachar
First published: 1987
Laura Sibbie and her friends start a secret club at school to learn the true meaning of the real three R’s: Relationships, Rivalries, and Responsibility. This starts an all-out prank war with a rival club called Monkey Town, led by Laura’s nemesis, Gabriel. But, does he really hate Laura as much as he lets on?
Photo: Courtesy of Scholastic.
The Best Little Girl in the World
Author: Steven Levenkron
First published: 1978
A heartbreaking look at a teen’s life as she struggles with anorexia.
Photo: Courtesy of Puffin Books.
Homecoming
Author: Cynthia Voigt
First published: 1981
The first of seven novels in Voigt’s Tillerman Cycle, Homecoming tells the story of Dicey Tillerman, who is forced to care for herself and three younger siblings when their mother abandons them in a mall parking lot.
Photo: Courtesy of Ballantine Books.
The Devil's Arithmetic
Author: Jane Yolen
First published: 1988
When Hannah Stern goes to open the door for Elijah during her family’s Passover seder in the 1980s, she’s instead transported back in time to Poland in 1942. She becomes Chaya Abramowicz, and her family and village members are soon transported to a Nazi death camp. What Hannah sees through Chaya’s eyes changes her perspective on life forever.
Photo: Courtesy of Puffin Modern Classics.
A Wrinkle in Time
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
First published: 1962
Supernatural beings Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which transport Meg Murry, her brother Charles Wallace, and her friend Calvin O’Keefe through the universe using a tesseract, which allows them to fold space and time.
Photo: Courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
The Dollhouse Murders
Author: Betty Ren Wright
First published: 1983
Amy finds a dollhouse in the attic of her aunt’s house. It’s an exact replica of the house, right down to what happens when Amy, her sister, and her friend Ellen start to play with it. Namely, the dolls reenact Amy’s great-grandparents’ murder.
Photo: Courtesy of Apple Paperbacks.
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep
Author: Lurlene McDaniel
First published: 1991
Before The Fault In Our Stars, Lurlene McDaniel’s books were the original YA sick lit.
Photo: Courtesy of Random House.
The Chocolate War
Author: Robert Cormier
First published: 1974
Jerry Renault tries to fight the bullying and pranks carried out by a secret society called The Vigils at his private Catholic school.
Photo: Courtesy of Pantheon Books.
The Little Prince
Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
First published: 1943
A pilot crashes in the desert and meets a little boy who has traveled very far from his tiny home planet to explore Earth and make friends. Ultimately, the prince decides to return to a rose for which he has lovingly cared on his planet.
Photo: Courtesy of Harcourt Books.
The Borrowers
Author: Mary Norton
First published: 1952
The Borrowers are a tiny family trying to live amongst “human beans” without being seen, but teen daughter Arrietty Clock always seems to strike up friendships with the Big People.
Photo: Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself
Author: Judy Blume
First published: 1978
Readers of all ages can find a piece of themselves in Blume’s many works, but this is the one of the prolific author’s books that offers up the most autobiographical pieces of her own childhood.
Photo: Courtesy of Random House.
The Indian in the Cupboard
Author: Lynne Reid Banks
First published: 1980
Omni inherits a cupboard and magical key that bring toys placed inside to life, like his figurine named Little Bear. This becomes a big problem when his friend Patrick introduces a cowboy named Boone into the picture.
Photo: Courtesy of HarperCollins.
Running Out of Time
Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
First published: 1996
This book was The Village before M. Night Shyamalan ruined the concept. Basically, read this instead of watching the movie, which Shyamalan won’t admit is ripped from Running Out of Time.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
The Phantom Tollbooth
Author: Norton Juster
First published: 1961
A boy named Milo receives a magic tollbooth, which transports him to the Kingdom of Wisdom. He goes on a quest to rescue Princess Rhyme and Princess Reason, jumps to the Island of the Conclusions, and has many other punny adventures.
Photo: Courtesy of Random House.
Caddie Woodlawn
Author: Carol Ryrie Brink
First published: 1935
Who didn’t dream of running wild on the frontier like famed literary tomboy Caddie Woodlawn? She was brave, adventurous, and spunky.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
My Side of the Mountain
Author: Jean Craighead George
First published: 1959
Fed up with living in a cramped New York City apartment with his parents and eight siblings, Sam Gribley decides to run away to his great-grandfather’s abandoned farm in the Catskills to live off the land.
Photo: Courtesy of Puffin Books.
Searching for Shona
Author: Margaret Jean Anderson
First published: 1978
An orphaned heiress named Marjorie Malcolm-Scott convinces Shona McInnes — who lives at the nearby orphanage, the inhabitants of which are about to be evacuated and sent to the Scottish countryside — to switch places with her when Marjorie is being sent to live with relatives in Canada.
Photo: Courtesy of Random House.
Black Beauty
Author: Anna Sewell
First published: 1993
The ultimate book for burgeoning animal rights activists.
Photo: Courtesy of Dover Children's Thrift Classics.
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