reconstructing my third/fourth grade bookshelf!!

chapter two page four ✧ 

Hi everyone, welcome back to Pages of Perfiction! I hope your summer has been going well!

I've been all over the country in the past few weeks, first in Virginia, then North Carolina and most recently Washington DC. It was while I was in DC that I met a girl named Tennessee (who is not actually from Tennessee). I like her name, and it brought back memories from when I was younger, specifically how I used to love a book featuring a girl named Louisiana. I hadn't thought about this book in years, but it had such a hold on me when I was younger. A quick Google Search found that the book I was remembering is Louisiana's Way Home, by Kate DiCamillo.

While in DC, I learned a lot about book banning and censorship. During my internet research dive on Louisiana's Way Home, I discovered another book by the same author, called Wishtree, was challenged/suspended in Virginia, Wisconsin, Texas, and Florida. Wishtree was honestly my favorite book when I was younger. It had altered my brain chemistry. Finding out that some parents were attempting to get it removed from bookshelves was shocking. The reasoning behind the challenges? The narrator "accepts diverse pronouns and describes itself as both male and female".  Mind you, the narrator is a TREE. A literal OAK TREE. I read this book in third grade and I didn't think anything of it.

Covid was such an influential time of my life. I remember when my mom told me that school was cancelled because of a virus. She was standing on this one step leading out into our garage. I didn't believe her. Covid happened while I was in third and fourth grade. I had always been a reader (my teacher would get frustrated at me because I would spend my lunches/recesses reading books on a bench as opposed to playing on the grass). Covid intensified this even more, because I would get hours to myself in front of a computer, meaning I had access to literally any book I wanted.

While my teacher would try to talk to me, I would be reading. I remember my platform of choice vividly. It was called Sora, a platform my school provided to me. I wouldn't need to pirate books at all (which is bad and illegal of course), my school district provided me with all I needed, a fact I am eternally grateful for. In high school, I don't get much time to read, but this was not a problem for younger me. I would devour several books a day, and all I would do was read.

It has been six years since that phase of my life, which is insane. Today, I really want to recreate my third grade bookshelf and find the books I used to read, especially my favorites. As someone with younger siblings, this will be helpful when giving them recommendations, and honestly, this list is also for me. Every book I read gave me memories and shaped me to who I am today. I've always wanted to make a collection of them and write them all down so that they don't slip away and be forgotten. I did this by googling small details I used to remember and searching through Sora's catalog until I found books that rang a bell.

I know that was a VERY long intro, longer than most of my blog posts, but let's get started!

list of books I used to read

This is loosely ordered by which ones I liked more, but I gave up on that because I liked all of them equally.

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

This cover was very nostalgic because I loved this book a lot yet do not remember anything else about it. Top 3 for sure.

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

This book was certainly in my top 5 Sora favs. I loved it.

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty

Another complete favorite! Do not remember the plot, just the impact it had on me. Top 3.

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan

Loved this one too, probably made me cry.

The One and Only Ivan by Kate DiCamillo

Kate DiCamillo was my favorite author back then. I'm pretty sure this book made me cry.

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

Oh my gosh Katherine Applegate and Kate DiCamillo are different people. Turns out One and Only Ivan was also written by Katherine Applegate. Well, they both were amazing authors. Crenshaw made me cry and was one of my favorites.

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

All I remember is that I read this twice and it altered my brain chemistry both times.

Redwood and Ponytail by K. A. Holt

I remember I read a book where two girls had intertwined pinkies on the cover, I googled it, and it turned out to be this one!

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

This was my friend's favorite book which she forced me to read.

Wings of Fire by Tui T Sutherland

I followed this series until the fourteenth installment, I think. Changed my life.

The Land of Stories / A Tale of Magic

These books were after fourth grade, but also had a huge hold on me, and were my favorite books.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

I remember this book was super thick and I was scared to read it but I really liked it.

To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitze

This was another nostalgic cover that made me feel so happy. It was letter format and I thought that was so cool.

Louisiana's Way Home and Raymie Nightingale

I cannot tell you what this book is about, it was just so good and I remember I loved it.

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

Again, can't recall the plot, just recall the impact it had.

Wishtree

The book that started it all!

honorable mentions!

I remember reading these too, I just ran out of energy to type up a bio:

• echo - really good
• save me a seat
• from the desk of zoe washington
• song for a whale - liked this
• story thieves - loved this so much
• other words for home - i read this in one sitting and it changed my life
• all the things we never said - made me sob and cry
• keeper of the lost cities - i started reading this in 3rd grade and gave up and then started reading it again and loved it the second time
• Spy School 
• Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library
• The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
• Wonder
• The Terrible Two
• Ungifted
• The Genius Files

conclusion

Making this list and finding all my old favorites from that Covid era was SO fun. Looking through all these books reminded me how much reading shaped who I was as a kid. Unfortunately, I don't read nearly as much anymore, but I'll recommend these novels to my siblings for sure and maybe they'll appreciate these books as much as I did.

one last thing

I just checked my blog email for the first time in a little bit (pagesofperfiction@gmail.com) and there's several authors who are looking for book reviews! I am certainly open for book review requests and would love to be an ARC/general reviewer of your story. If you are one of those authors, I'm grateful you chose to reach out! 

Bye all, have a great rest of your day. Until next time!