This list was initially created for Deb and her son in middle school. I then added titles for other age groups.

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Note: I consider dancing a sport, and I have created a separate booklist for dancing.

I can think of many other sports stories which I have not read, so I'll post those titles in the comments below.

From today's The Writer's Almanac:

It was on this day in 1925 that F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby was published. Fitzgerald was 28 years old at the time. He'd just produced a play called The Vegetable (1923), which was a big flop. So he sailed with his wife, Zelda, to France in May of 1924. He found that he could see America better from a distance, and he began to write his novel about a wealthy bootlegger named Jay Gatsby, who wears pink suits and throws extravagant parties and is obsessed with winning back the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan.

Fitzgerald worked on the novel every day that summer, writing in pencil, drinking Coca-Cola and gin, and reading Keats whenever he needed inspiration. He struggled with the title and considered calling it "Under the Red, White and Blue," "Among the Ash Heaps and Millionaires," and "The High-Bouncing Lover." When he sent the first draft to his editor Maxwell Perkins, just five months after he'd started writing, he thought it should be called "Trimalchio in West Egg" or just "Trimalchio." Perkins suggested The Great Gatsby.

Happy anniversary to one of my favorite novels.
Happy anniversary to Nick, one of my favorite literary narrators.
Thank you, F. Scott Fitzgerald, for the hope that is the green light.

Each @ symbol represents the recommendation of one postergirl. A title followed by @@@@ was recommended by four postergirlz.

Classic Picks from Postergirlz (Published Pre-1930)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett @@@@
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen @@@@
Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery @@@
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald @@@
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott @@@
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte @@@
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett @@
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll @@
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas @@
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit @@
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne @
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter @
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy @
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens @
All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor @
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathon Swift @
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte @
Call of the Wild by Jack London @
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo @

Many postergirlz also enjoy the works of Shakespeare.

Modern Classics (Post-1930 But Pre-1980)
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster @@
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge @
Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis @
The Chosen by Chaim Potok @
The Promise by Chaim Potok @
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok @

Additional Resources
Jen has posted her own favorite classics booklist.

What is reader resonance? It's relative, I think.

I think of reader resonance in terms of the story and its characters sticking with the reader. I also factor in the probability of the book being re-read. In other words, while appeal is more applicable at the onset - Will people want to read this? Will it sound interesting to them? - reader resonance is the reaction after completing the book - Does the story stay with the readers? Do the characters stay with the readers?

It's easy to say that a book is GREAT! immediately after reaching the satisfying conclusion. It's right then, right there, in the moment of completion, so it might feel like it's the best book ever. But do you still exclaim a week, a month, a year after you've read it?

It's been years since THE ALISON RULES by Catherine Clark was published, and I still think about it. I still 'know' those characters. I still tell people about that book. The same with SWOLLEN by Melissa Lion, THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER by Sarah Dessen, and other titles. Some are bestsellers, some aren't. Some (THE GREAT GATSBY, THE NEVERENDING STORY, ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, ANNE OF GREEN GABLES) are classics, some are contemporary. Some can be found in most big-name bookstores and some are out-of-print.

Their publication dates don't matter to me. Their fame doesn't matter to me. Their covers don't matter to me. Other people's reviews of these books have no bearing on my opinion of these books. These books are here with me because, for one reason or other, they echo. Whether they whisper or scream, old or new, they are here with me for good.

I run to feel my heart beat hard against my ribs, to feel strong, tough and free. I run from school and the good girls, the bad girls, all the labels. Once, just days before he died of a swollen heart, I ran from the most popular boy in school. And then, the day he died, a new boy arrived. A boy I would run to if he would let me, and maybe he will.

This is the story. It's about love. No matter how hard I try, it's never quite right. But I keep trying. I keep running anyway.

-- from the back cover of Swollen by Melissa Lion

And then, the first line:

I ran.

And then, from the second page:

I was a middle girl. In everything I did.

Samantha Pallas is that middle girl. She is a part of her high school's cross-country team, which is the best team in school. but there are always girls in front of her, leading the pack, winning the races. She watches her classmates succeed in athletics, in school, in life, as she struggles to find her footing. She yearns to be seen, yet is content to get lost in the quiet. Often, she gets lost with a quiet boy, but even then, it is just for a short time, for an eyeblink, then never seen again, for the duration of a heartbeat, never long enough to have that heart fill with love.

Owen, Sam's classmate who died unexpectedly, was also a runner. Farouk, the boy who arrives at their school the day the tragedy is announced at assembly, doubts that Owen died of heart failure.

When Sam's friend Chloe expresses sadness at Sam's being an only child, Sam is quick to correct her: "I'm an only, not a lonely." She won't be an only child much longer: her father's girlfriend, who lives with them, is pregnant.

Sam feels detached from different situations on different levels. She worries that she may disappear altogether, yet she is not without hope, without some happiness.

Swollen has something in common with The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I can open the book up to almost any page and find a quote that I love.

And so I waited in the library and touched the spines of the books I should have read long ago to make myself smart, to keep up with him. - Page 161

I have recommended Melissa Lion's novels to my customers many times. I would really love if someone would reading this blog would take me up on this recommendation. Swollen was an amazing debut novel and Upstream was an amazing sophomore release. Both made it onto my Best Books of 2005 list. Both blew me away.

If you like novels by Sarah Dessen - especially The Truth about Forever - then you must read Swollen by Melissa Lion immediately.

This is the first of three entries I posted regarding Swollen and Melissa Lion. I had the opportunity to speak with Melissa Lion at length about her writing career. Read the interview. She then shared something that really struck me, and that she has permitted me to reprint here. A million thanks, Melissa.

Read an excerpt of Swollen at the Random House website. Note that this excerpt is from Chapter One, but the book opens with a brief, powerful untitled prologue, which I quoted at the beginning of this post.

Visit Melissa Lion's website.



Today is the fourth day of Recommendations Under the Radar, a week-long literature project. Radar Recommendations was dreamed up by Colleen of Chasing Ray, and many blogs are participating in an effort to attract new readers to stories that are worthy of more attention and discussion. Here's my schedule.

Thursday Round-Up
A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy: Friends for Life and Life Without Friends by Ellen Emerson White
Shaken & Stirred: The Changeover and Catalogue of the Universe by Margaret Mahy
Big A, little a: A interview with Helen Dunmore
Jen Robinson's Book Page: The Treasures of Weatherby by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Finding Wonderland: Lucy the Giant by Sherry L. Smith
Miss Erin: Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye by Kaza Kingsley
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Billie Standish Was Here by Nancy Crocker
Bildungsroman: Swollen by Melissa Lion, Interview: Melissa Lion, and Author Spotlight: Melissa Lion
Fuse #8: The Noisy Counting Book by Susan Schade
Chasing Ray: Juniper, Genetian and Rosemary by Pamela Dean
Lectitans: Who Pppplugged Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf
Writing and Ruminating: Hugging the Rock by Susan Taylor Brown
Semicolon: Overlooked Christian fiction

Today, my friend Emily told me about the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. I clicked into the website, then into the theatre listings, where I saw the word "Gatz." I thought, "That can't possibly mean what I think it means."

You see, Gatz, to me, means The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - one of my favorite books of all time. I say Gatz like I say Shakey for William Shakespeare or Charles for Mr. Dodgson - with an easy familiarity that is actually meant with reverence.

I clicked on the show entitled Gatz and discovered that it did mean exactly what I thought it meant.

I want to see this. I want to recite lines from the book under my breath while patiently sitting in the audience and wishing that I was on stage in a purple flapper dress dripping with fringe.

This show is not being performed in my neck of the woods at this time, but apparently, it is traveling and having a tremendous deal of success wherever it goes. Perhaps this production Gatz will come visit my city someday, even though I don't have a green light at the end of the dock. Or, maybe, just maybe, I will someday be able to stage or film a production of the book. I can't tell you how much I'd like to do that.

This is the first of many posts to come about plays and stage adaptations of books. I have some very exciting news that I'm gearing up to share with you all. Some of you already know. Some of you might be able to guess, since I'm hinting at it right now.

Emily of Whimsy Books has declared July 16th Tell An Author You Care Day.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the authors who have shared their stories with the world and, in doing so, touched mine.

I would have loved to have met and worked with many people who were gone before I existed, and it is to them I dedicate my next paragraph:

To Jack London, who is well-liked by my mother and whose controversial death raised the eyebrows of my third-grade teacher during my author biography report. To L.M. Montgomery and Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, who created characters who were intelligent, curious, and determined. To Michael Ende, whose story will never end. To F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose light at the end of the dock helped me to ignore my eleventh-grade classmates when they complained about my high grades.

I would like to thank the authors who have shared their time with me over the past few years. Thank you for the interviews, the words of encouragement, and the sweet and surprising letters and emails. I was reluctant to single out any modern authors, because that, as the phrase implies, leaves out others. I hope that the others know who they are and how much they are appreciated.

To all of the authors who have chosen little ol' me to design, run, and/or update their websites: Christopher Golden. Tom Sniegoski. Jennifer Lynn Barnes. The readergirlz divas: Justina Chen Headley, Lorie Ann Grover, Janet Lee Carey and Dia Calhoun. Kristen Tracy. Mitali Perkins. Sarah Miller. Liz Gallagher. Laurie Faria Stolarz. Micol Ostow. There are a few more folks who are incredibly busy with life/deadlines/manuscripts and want me to do their websites when they come up for air. Thank you in advance.

I simply must thank my Boston Boys.

To Thomas E. Sniegoski, the guy with the six-syllable name that's a tongue-twister to my customers, but to me is simply Tom. Dogs are to Tom as cats are to me. He knows that pets are family. Tom is also wicked funny. He makes me laugh so hard that I start crying, and I continue laughing so hard that I can't speak clearly. Ah, good times, good times. Thanks, boy-o.

To Christopher Golden, who makes me smile whenever he calls me Supergirl. This event is well-timed: Chris celebrated his birthday just yesterday. I can't believe that I've known him for ten years now! I may never had made his acquaintance nor had the online or real-life jobs that I had and that I still do if it weren't for the internet. I read his books, I liked his books, and I told him so online. Before I knew it, I had a job updating his website and doing online publicity for his books. More importantly, he became my friend. Thanks, Chris. You rock.

I hope that you too will participate in Tell An Author You Care Day. Emily's suggestions include:
1. Write a letter or an email to a favorite author.
2. Write a positive book review.
3. Buy a book by a favorite author and give it to someone who will enjoy it.
4. Profile an author on your blog.

Related Posts:
Author Spotlights, Christopher Golden, Tom Sniegoski

The Bermudez Triangle: Too Cool for School?
A report by Little Willow
Sponsored in part by The Edge of the Forest, the number 3, Kelly H., Angela N., and readers/viewers like you.

On March 4th, 2007, in Oklahoma, a book challenge was submitted to the school board of Bartlesville Public Schools in Oklahoma. Someone felt that a book had "no moral fiber" and asked for it to be removed "at once."

The book in question: The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson, a bestselling young adult novel about three best friends whose once-balanced triumvirate tips and shifts when two of the teens start secretly dating each other.

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IN SUMMARY

The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson is being challenged/banned at a high school in Oklahoma because some people are claiming that the book is full of naughtiness and naked encounters. These claims are unfounded. There's only kissing, and even that is minimal. Furthermore, banning this particular book, let alone any book, makes little to no sense to me, and I do not believe they should prohibit people from reading this book. My review of the book, written years ago, closes with this: "Once you're in THE BERMUDEZ TRIANGLE, you won't want to leave."

Do yourself a favor, gentle readers. Read the book. Think for yourself. Do not let the negative opinions of others cloud your judgment or sway your vote.

For the latest news, please visit Maureen's blog within her website and look for entries tagged Bartlesville.

Maureen's posts make people not only laugh, but take action. Her coverage of The Battle of Bartlesville has inspired people to write posts of their own about the matter, to read the book, to give the book to friends, to speak up, to speak out, to think, to consider, to question - to do something.

I can only hope this post of mine encourages people to do the same.


FOOTNOTES AND CROOKED TOES

( 1 ) Clio, you're right up there too, but your book, Girl at Sea, doesn't come out until June 2007. I promise to give you plenty of airtime at that time because you are tres cool.

( 2 ) I met John once a year ago. I know he knows of me online, and that he knows me as Little Willow, but I do not know if he remembers having met me. There were lots of fangirls present at the time.

( 3 ) Referring to the form filed against this book, which is called A Citizen's Request for Removal of Instructional Materials.

( 4 ) You don't want to make me scream. I'm loud. Just ask those who have brought up The Battle of Bartlesville with me in the past month.

SIGN THE PETITION

If you are from outside of Bartlesville and wish to show your support for The Bermudez Triangle and Maureen Johnson, please sign this petition!

If you are actually from Bartlesville or neighboring communities, please sign the local petition!

UPDATE

I interviewed Maureen Johnson in June 2007. The night before we spoke, she'd received some interesting news. Here's the scoop, directly from Maureen:

I got a note from the local librarian -- the woman who brought all of this to light and who resigned her position over this mess. We've been waiting for weeks and weeks to hear what the committee recommended about the book. They finally decided -- after being pummeled with letters from around the world, and after they were caught violating public policy by exceeding their authority and pulling the book without telling the public -- that Bermudez belongs on the 'reserve shelf.' You'll need parental permission to check it out for 'classroom purposes.' Plus, they want to have some kind of day each year where the parents come in and monitor the library. (This part of their letter was written in a strange way and hard to understand.) This has a bad sound to me. They seem to be suggesting -- and this is just what I'm taking from this -- that parents should come in once a year and see what they approve of. It sounds like they want to put more on the naughty shelf.

I didn't think they could make it worse, but they did. So, the book isn't banned -- you just need a note to look at it. Until then, you can't even get at it.

My response:

I always want to accentuate the positive in life because silver linings are SHINY. I try not to be wholly negative. So - deep breath - this is not a solution, not an equal/even compromise, but at least the book has not been completely banned or removed.

However, by not allowing patrons to freely check out and read the book, the powers that be are causing another series of problems and lies. In sixth grade, my teacher* wouldn't allow students to read Stephen King books without expressed written permission from their parents, so kids simply forged notes. My teacher was so busy creating and enacting that 'permission necessary' rule for the King books that she forgot about the existence of other books and authors, and my classmates snickered as they freely passed around Christopher Pike books with the naughtier passages marked.

* It should be noted that this was the same teacher who refused to believe I read dozens of books every month and graded my book reports very harshly. Let's not talk about her anymore.

These are a few of my favorite things . . .

I cannot discover the identity of the creator of this meme. I found the meme at firstgold.

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
I like all three formats - their sizes, their weights, their look.
Since hardbacks are expensive, I rarely buy them. This means I do not own some of my favorite recent releases because they are not yet available in paperback.

Bookmark or dog-ear?
Bookmark. I do not fold pages in my books. Perish the thought.

Alphabetize by author, alphabetize by title, or random?
Alphabetize by author.

Keep, throw away, or sell?
Keep. Never throw away. Perish the thought.

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