What books did you read as a pre-teen or teen that you now can't believe?

[Mothersweets]

I've never heard of VC Andrews. Should I feel "out of it"? :D

 

Bill

 

Nope! You should feel doggone lucky!!

[happygrrl]

I recently heard a wonderful interview on NPR about the start of young adult fiction (as a publisher genre) in the 70's. I was intrigued listening to the list of these books I remembered being on the library shelves. It only took a few minutes, though, for the host to ask the guest what she read in high school.... you guessed it..... VC Andrews! I had totally forgotten about those horrible books. I don't even think you could buy them in my town; they were passed from girl to girl in secret. I immediately called my BF from Jr. Hi, and we were both shrieking with laughter as we discussed them. Terrible terrible!

 

They did not affect me, though, as much as reading Maya Angelou did (maybe 6th grade?). I knew the attic children were made up... but the harsh truth of Ms. Angelou's life really happened. After reading her, I never picked up another trashy book again.

 

(I'll add that no one would be happier about that decision than my 5th grade teacher. I did my class book report on Gone With The Wind that year....)

[chaik76]

Absolutely nothing was off limits to me growing up. I read War and Peace when I was eight and The Good Earth when I was nine (I was an early and prolific reader...I read anything and everything I could get my hands on. The Good Earth especially left a lasting impression on me). Lady Chatterly's Lover and others. Torey Hayden, Robert Ludlum, Agatha Christie; just about anything (except romance novels and horror)...I read it. Judy Blume, Madeleine L'Engle...and yes, even V.C. Andrews (that's just stuff before being a teenager). I have to admit, I don't regret any of it, and think it made me a better person. My children are allowed to read what they want, too.

Edited September 22, 2009 by chaik76

[Ibbygirl]

It's funny that so many people think that V.C. Andrews was horrible. I remember those books being wildly popular too when I was in school. I never read them on principle because I didn't want to be like everybody else. hehe:tongue_smilie::lol::001_huh:

[Rebecca VA]

I read lots of books by Taylor Caldwell, Grace Livingston Hill, Eugenia Price, and some Emilie Loring (I'd forgotten about her). I loved Gone With The Wind and Christy -- I read them over and over. I'd read the Reader's Digest Condensed Books on my grandmother's shelf. Really, I just read everything -- and most of it was pretty innocent.

 

Writers back then were so much more literate than writers seem to be today. The Lexile ratings on these books -- many of them considered "light romances" -- were probably very high.

 

Around school the cool, forbidden books were The Godfather (there was a racy scene in there, and the book got passed around in our math class so we could all read it), Go Ask Alice, and a few counter-cultural books.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Well, since we weren't allowed to watch TV, we did quite a bit of reading as kids, so I had read all the Judy Blume books, includind sneak-reading Forever in snippets at the library, by 4th grade. My mom never had the trashy novels around the house and they really didn't appeal to me. She read a lot of Taylor Caldwell, so I had read all of those books by high school. I also read several Steinbeck books as a pre-teen/teenager. I remember reading The Grapes of Wrath while babysitting and I must have been about 14 at the time.

 

I do remember wondering what all the hype was about Flowers in the Attic, so I read it while staying with my cousins. I thought it was horrible and poorly written, even then.

[mrsrevmeg]

Uh...I was reading nothing but adult fiction and school assigned books by the time I was 11. I read a lot of Stephen King, ... My mom continued a Harlequin book club she never read because I read them; I read well over a hundred of them. In high school, I read my dad's Penthouse Letters when he was done with them.

 

Needless to say, my kids will NOT be following in my footsteps.

 

As a teen I joined a romance book club and it wasn't my father's penthouse letters, it was a boyfriend's!! :blush:

I do not want to raise my kids in a way where they will be exposed to the same things I was a a young girl

[Peela]

My dad is/was a sci fi fan and he used to feed me classic sci fi like Asimov. Then on my own I got into such heady stuff as The Female Eunich, Zen and the Art of MotorCycle Maintenance, Simone du Bouvoir (sp? ), Ghandi's autobiography.

I used to feel like a freak at highschool- like no one lived on my wavelength- you can see why :).

[AlmiraGulch]

My best friend in junior high was obsessed with VC Andrews novels, and made me read them. Scarred me for life, I tell ya. I don't think I would have read them otherwise, but I was voluntarily reading Piers Anthony, who I now recognize as a filthy old man. Bleh.

 

First of all....THANK YOU for helping me remember the name of this guy that I've been trying to think of for YEARS! I loved the Incarnations of Immortality series, and couldn't even remember their names or the series name. I just remembered having a snake ring "Sning" that I bought because of one of those books.

 

I wanted to introduce my daughter to them, but now I'm nervous since you said he was a dirty old man. :confused: I just looked at his book list and saw one called "The Color of Her Panties". Are you kidding me? PLEASE tell me my beloved Incarnations books weren't icky!!!

[chaik76]

First of all....THANK YOU for helping me remember the name of this guy that I've been trying to think of for YEARS! I loved the Incarnations of Immortality series, and couldn't even remember their names or the series name. I just remembered having a snake ring "Sning" that I bought because of one of those books.

 

I wanted to introduce my daughter to them, but now I'm nervous since you said he was a dirty old man. :confused: I just looked at his book list and saw one called "The Color of Her Panties". Are you kidding me? PLEASE tell me my beloved Incarnations books weren't icky!!!

My husband and I both loved the Incarnations books...but, depending on the age of your daughter, I might re-read them before handing them over. The person who ends up as God at the end is someone who has raped, etc...someone who has had many human experiences.

 

I still like Piers Anthony and will have no problems letting my kids read his stuff. FTR, "The Color of Her Panties" is a Xanth book...those are the ones that have tons of puns and stuff in them.

 

I really don't see Piers Anthony as a dirty old man.

[kewb]

Too far back to remember. I do remember sneaking my mother's copy of Sidney Sheldon's The Other Side of Midnight.

[dangermom]

First of all....THANK YOU for helping me remember the name of this guy that I've been trying to think of for YEARS! I loved the Incarnations of Immortality series, and couldn't even remember their names or the series name. I just remembered having a snake ring "Sning" that I bought because of one of those books.

 

I wanted to introduce my daughter to them, but now I'm nervous since you said he was a dirty old man. :confused: I just looked at his book list and saw one called "The Color of Her Panties". Are you kidding me? PLEASE tell me my beloved Incarnations books weren't icky!!!

I've actually never read the Incarnations of Immortality series, and my husband says that was the best one. I'd say to re-read them yourself, enjoy, and see what you think.

 

I did read pretty much all the other series, which all start off pretty interesting and go downhill after the first few volumes. As time passed he wrote more and more innuendo featuring very young girls (and a few boys), esp. in the Xanth series. Blue Adept has quite a bit of sex IIRC and the Mode books are about a young girl who has been gang-raped and her recovery/sexual development thereafter. I don't know if that one ever got finished.

[AuntieM]

I read Gone With The Wind at nine.

 

Me, too! It was the only one I'd count as remarkable. Like many other posters, I got into a lot of trash, one or two of the VC Andrews, Victoria Holt, Stephen King... I was another totally unsupervised reader. I read a ton of junk in the middle school years.

 

In high school I became a William Faulkner fan, and learned to enjoy the classics, but mostly my social life and college course work interfered with pleasure reading until I became a stay at home mom with my first.

 

ETA: Oh yeah, Helter Skelter...ick! And I read every Robert Ludlum.

Edited September 22, 2009 by AuntieM

[paula j]

I read Thorn Birds, all the VC Andrews novels, but my real passion was Stephen King. I read every single one of his books, some over and over. I read "It" in 1 day and it must have been 3 inches thick.;) No wonder I have such vivid nightmares.

 

My mom worked evenings so I also had free reign on the tv so I watched scary movies too. In fact I still have the theme song from Hotel Hell floating around in my head.:001_huh:

[chaik76]

I've actually never read the Incarnations of Immortality series, and my husband says that was the best one. I'd say to re-read them yourself, enjoy, and see what you think.

 

I did read pretty much all the other series, which all start off pretty interesting and go downhill after the first few volumes. As time passed he wrote more and more innuendo featuring very young girls (and a few boys), esp. in the Xanth series. Blue Adept has quite a bit of sex IIRC and the Mode books are about a young girl who has been gang-raped and her recovery/sexual development thereafter. I don't know if that one ever got finished.

I definitely think the Incarnations series is his best series. The first few Xanth books were good...not worth reading after the third or fourth one, though.

[Guest Katia]

I've never heard of VC Andrews either.

 

I read a lot of books when I was pre-teen/teen that I don't remember them all, but I don't feel bad that I read any of them. I learned a lot. Whether they were 'appropriate' or not, they filled a very real need in my life at that time and I'm glad my parents didn't monitor what I read.

 

Let's see.......

 

10/11yo - all of Emilie Loring and Grace Livingston Hill

 

12yo - all of Victoria Holt

 

13yo - all of Madeleine L'Engle

 

14yo - tons but not all of Danielle Steele and Harelquin romances

 

15yo - Clan of the Cave Bear (liked the first one and quit somewhere mid-second or third as they lost or rather narrowed :D their focus) and

James Mitchner, and Mary Stewart! and T.H. White

 

After that I read whatever I could fit time into a busy high school schedule, but I remember switching over to funny TV like Monty Python and Saturday Night Live when I was 16/17yo. Tastes change.

[Haiku]

The time I wasted reading crap when I was young is the main reason I have chosen to be very selective about what my kids read.

 

What was my mom thinking letting me read VC Andrews ... in JUNIOR HIGH???

 

I also read a series of books called The Girls of Canby Hall about girls at a boarding school. For some reason I thought boarding school was the height of cool. Nothing objectionable in those, just completely unedifying.

 

Tara

Edited September 22, 2009 by TaraTheLiberator

[aggieamy]

I definitely think the Incarnations series is his best series. The first few Xanth books were good...not worth reading after the third or fourth one, though.

 

I loved the Incarnations books and recently reread them. Books 1-5 are the best, 6&7 start being questionable. Completely agree with the Xanth books. Really enjoyed the very early ones and stopped with those. After reading Book 7 of the Incarnations books I would agree that Piers Anthony is something of a dirty old man. Too much objectionable sex for my tastes these days but as a kid I loved them.

[FriedClams]

I read EVERY book by Tristan Jones. A foul-mouthed sailor. Think Bill Bryson-ish with a sailboat. Great stories though (as I remember them!). I still have them so I think I'll go back and try to read some. LOL!!

 

I never went for any trash - until my Lori Wick habit... LOL!!

 

And Cliff Notes.

 

 

Don't tell m kids. :O

[Jennifer]

No one has mentioned The Exorcist. I read it in 6th grade. My mom had it on her bookshelf and I remember sitting reading it with her in the same room. I had wanted to see the movie but she said I had to read the book first. :eek: I was then allowed to watch the movie. I am still scarred from that experience.

 

Also Rosemary's Baby. Had to read the book before I could see the movie. But dear old Mom didn't see any problem with that either, I guess.

 

Jennifer

[kpupg]

What I still, to this day, regret reading was Stephen King novels. My parents are not readers, and I do not know why they had his novels lying around the house. Probably just for show, I guess, as he was new and trendy in the 70's. They allowed me to read whatever I wanted. They probably had no clue what was in those books. I still have images in my mind from some of those books that I wish I could just erase.

 

I do not allow my kids, even as teens, to read un-vetted books. I must read a book or two in a series to make a judgment, then I might allow them to read the series unmonitored. But I always have to have a good idea what's in there. I've told my kids why I have those requirements -- I've told them that I was allowed to read totally inappropriate things at an impressionable age and that I still regret it in my current old age. They seem to understand and accept it.

 

Once they go to college, they'll be on their own, and I'll just have to pray that their judgment is better than mine was at the same age.

 

I've heard a lot of people, especially credentialed teachers, say "it doesn't matter what they read as long as they're reading." I vehemently disagree. I am still suffering the ill effects of such a philosophy, and yeah, I'm still angry about it ... sigh.

 

God bless us all,

Karen

[Jen500]

Well, I don't regret reading it, but after I read The Jungle I became a vegetarian for a few years.

[katilac]

It's funny that so many people think that V.C. Andrews was horrible. I remember those books being wildly popular too when I was in school. I never read them on principle because I didn't want to be like everybody else. hehe:tongue_smilie::lol::001_huh:

 

Child abuse, check. Incest, check. Gang rape, check.

 

V.C. Andrews, winner of the "horrible books for tween girls to read" trifecta!

[6packofun]

*gasp* Me too!! Jude Devereaux. Ugh. :glare: Wish my mom had put her foot down. lol Of course, it didn't help that I always raided the vast romance collection under her bed... NOT a romance fan at all anymore!

[Ibbygirl]

Child abuse, check. Incest, check. Gang rape, check.

 

V.C. Andrews, winner of the "horrible books for tween girls to read" trifecta!

 

 

Really??!! :eek: :svengo: I had no idea. I'm so glad I didn't read them now. I had no idea that's what they were about. I remember everybody reading Flowers in the Attic and telling me that I had to read it too, but meh... I didn't want to go the way of the crowd. I did read copious amounts of Stephen King though and Whitley Streiber and Edgar Allen Poe too. :eek: Stuff of nightmares too be sure! I confess I did do the Sweet Valley High books when I was in middle school. I had quite a collection of them in fact. I always wanted to be Jessica! hehehe She was like the Joan Collins of tween fiction. :lol:

[Word Nerd]

Child abuse, check. Incest, check. Gang rape, check.

 

V.C. Andrews, winner of the "horrible books for tween girls to read" trifecta!

 

And the best part was that the books (my favorite series was the one about Heaven) made incest sound romantic. :001_rolleyes:

Edited September 22, 2009 by WordGirl

[ocean_eyes]

Babysitter's Club and Sweet Valley Twins were my staples from about 4th grade to 7th grade. Then I graduated to Sweet Valley High and VC Andrews. I read everything by Judy Blume, stole my mom's trashy romance novels, and essentially read nothing decent unless I "had" to for school. *shame*

 

My dad worked at book and newspaper publishing factory and when we had to go help on Saturdays, we were allowed to dig through the bins of books w/ stripped covers after we were done. Nothing good ever came from that, lol.

 

The only book I ever remember my mom telling me I couldn't read was some smutty thing I immediately read as soon as she left the house to go grocery shopping, lol.

 

I am very, very selective about what my kids read (obviously more so my 11yo).

Edited September 22, 2009 by ocean_eyes

[HRAAB]

I remember reading everything I could get my hands on by Taylor Caldwell, Daphne du Maurier, Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt (and all her other pen names), Agatha Christie, James Michener (my girlfriend and I had a race to see who could read Centennial the quickest), Irving Stone. I really didn't read anything trashy until I was an adult. Guess it was a phase, but thankfully a short lived one.

 

Janet

Edited September 22, 2009 by Ishki

[PineFarmMom]

Child abuse, check. Incest, check. Gang rape, check.

 

V.C. Andrews, winner of the "horrible books for tween girls to read" trifecta!

 

<shiver> Those were truly horrid books!! I read them all and wonder what I could have done with those wasted hours! Sick stuff.

[Peri]

I am so glad I am not into those kinds of books. I can't stand romance novels. I tried to get through one one time and half way through the book i ended up throwing it at the wall. Never picked it up again. I was more into horror novels than anything else. I was sooooooo into Stephen King and Anne Rice ... and Clive Barker.

[Imprimis]

I guess I am an oddity among homeschoolers. There are books that Iread that I wish I hadn't but mostly I don't remember their names. .

 

 

This is me. I really can't recall anything horrible that I read as a young teen. Never read any VC Andrews.

 

My junk reading years were my twenties when I read all the Anne Rice Vampire novels (and more than once:001_huh:) and Jackie Collins....

[PineFarmMom]

My junk reading years were my twenties when I read all the Anne Rice Vampire novels (and more than once:001_huh:) and Jackie Collins....

 

I did those in my 20s also. Those Anne Rice novels were twisted!! I had this dumb idea back then, while reading Jackie Collins and Danielle Steele, that I was doing good because I was reading.:lol: I'd have been better off reading the back of the cereal box!!

[Devotional Soul]

I can't believe that my high school required us to read Orwell. Especially 1984. I will have my kids read it when they get older and I pray that no more of what it tells of is true by that time.

[AlmiraGulch]

I'm yet another who can't believe how much I loved the V.C. Andrews books. I'm not one to censor what I read, and I let my DD13 read more than I maybe should, but I would NEVER let her read those books.

 

I am going to go back and read all of Piers Anthony's Incarnation books. I remember loving them, waiting anxiously for the next in the series. The last one I read was Being a Green Mother, and I didn't know there were two more after that. So excited!

 

Combined with all 17 Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series novels my sister just sent, I've got enough mind candy to last a bit, don't you think? :D

[Word Nerd]

Speaking of Sweet Valley High (I read a few of those too), Diablo Cody is going to adapt the books for a new movie.

[Ibbygirl]

Speaking of Sweet Valley High (I read a few of those too), Diablo Cody is going to adapt the books for a new movie.

 

 

LOL Oh wow! That should be very very interesting! hehe She'll have to cover up those tats to play Elizabeth though. ;) :D

[OhM]

Yep - VC Andrews popped immediately to mind here, too.

 

From this thread I gather that NO ONE's mother picked up any of her books to read, eh? I also don't do much censoring around here, but I would NOT let my dd's read those books. Not the 11yo OR the 14yo. You can't unthink it. Blech, yuck, ick.

 

ETA: The more I think about it - Lolita-ok; A Clockwork Orange - yep; Fight Club - eh, maybe; Prince of Tides - now I have a real problem with this one, personally, but after a frank discussion of content, if oldest dd felt up to it, fine. But VC Andrews - NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.

Edited September 24, 2009 by OhM

[Spy Car]

Child abuse, check. Incest, check. Gang rape, check.

 

 

I can think of other very popular book that features all of the above, but I don't want to stir-up trouble ;)

 

Bill

[Spy Car]

I can't believe that my high school required us to read Orwell. Especially 1984.

 

Why not 1984? That was one book that I read repeatedly in Junior High. Maybe a dozen times, or more. I practically had the thing memorized. I'm not sure why exactly it captured my imagination, but it did.

 

Bill

[Devotional Soul]

Why not 1984? That was one book that I read repeatedly in Junior High. Maybe a dozen times, or more. I practically had the thing memorized. I'm not sure why exactly it captured my imagination, but it did.

 

Bill

 

I read it a few times as well. You can look at Orwell as either a psychic who talked about things before the happened, or as someone revealing a terrible plan. I'm surprised that they required us to read 1984 because it reveals a plan to destroy freedom for global tyranny. Predictive programming, I suppose, but still surprising to me.

Edited September 24, 2009 by Devotional Soul

[Spy Car]

I read it a few times as well. You can look at Orwell as either a psychic who talked about things before the happened, or as someone revealing a terrible plan. I'm surprised that they required us to read 1984 because it reveals a plan to destroy freedom for global tyranny. Predictive programming, I suppose, but still surprising to me.

 

Orwell was an anti-totalitarian so I'm sure he intended 1984 as "cautionary" and not as a blue-print for the future, 'cause that would be doubleplusungood :D

 

Bill

[Mrs Mungo]

Orwell was an anti-totalitarian so I'm sure he intended 1984 as "cautionary" and not as a blue-print for the future, 'cause that would be doubleplusungood :D

 

Bill

 

I find it interesting that it is an anti-oligarchy book but is somehow looked upon as anti-socialist...when Orwell was a democratic socialist? Weird.

 

I read tons of books that I probably shouldn't have: VC Andrews, Stephen King, the works. I also read a ton of Bronte sisters and such...that's almost as bad. :lol:

[Jenny in Atl]

I find it interesting that it is an anti-oligarchy book but is somehow looked upon as anti-socialist...when Orwell was a democratic socialist? Weird.

 

 

 

A lack of education?

[AlmiraGulch]

I can think of other very popular book that features all of the above, but I don't want to stir-up trouble ;)

 

Bill

 

Ohh......so very true!!!!

[Mrs Mungo]

I can think of other very popular book that features all of the above, but I don't want to stir-up trouble ;)

 

Bill

 

:lol:

[RoughCollie]

I read In Cold Blood. My mother recommended it. I was totally shocked by it because I didn't know things like that happened. I must have been 12 or 13 years old, and I did not think it was an appropriate choice, even though I finished the book.

 

Mom was desperate when she suggest that book because I had already read everything our home and libraries had to offer.

Edited September 25, 2009 by RoughCollie

[LibraryLover]

I have no book regrets whatsoever.

 

Viva le livre!

[Slartibartfast]

 

From this thread I gather that NO ONE's mother picked up any of her books to read, eh?

 

Well...Helter Skelter was my parents :lol:

[Mrs Mungo]

My mom gave me all kinds of books to read. My parents didn't really censor our reading. I know she gave me Sybil to read, for example.

[Shelly in the Country]

My reading was never, ever censored (and I had extremely over-protective parents). I never read a lot of "trash" though. I discovered Wuthering Heights in the 6th grade and decided classic literature was the way to go. The writing was better. I began a self-imposed reading program of two books per week and I only chose "classic literature". I ended up reading most of what I would go over in high school English classes before I ever got out of middle school. Except for Shakespeare and Homer....I didn't try to tackle those on my own for some reason.

 

Funny thing about all the V.C. Andrews talk in this thread though. I had a friend in the 4th grade who had read Flowers in the Attic and I remember her description of the plot to this day. I never read it myself. Now as to how a 4th grader got ahold of that book....