(no subject)

[skygiants]

Today, I bring you: BOOKLOGGING FROM THE PAAAAST!

Okay, so when I was home most recently, I discovered a stack of index cards from elementary school with plot summaries of a bunch of books. I think this was from a project we did in fourth grade where we had a competition to see who could read the most books over a certain period of time, ending in some kind of prize; the dates of the books included seems to bear this out, since I think the most recent publication date of any book in the stack is 1995, when I was ten.

So: here's a list of books read in 1995 by ten-year-old Becca! Comment with a title, if you like, and I will provide a guaranteed accurate plot summary as generated by a fourth-grader. Except possibly for the ones written in crayon, because they're kind of illegible.


1. Talking to Dragons, Patricia C. Wrede
2. Tomorrow's Magic, Patricia F. Service
3. Only You Can Save Mankind, Terry Pratchett
4. The Adventurous Four, The Adventurous Four Again, and The Adventure of the Strange Ruby, Enid Blyton
5. Half Magic, Edward Eager
6. Archer's Goon, Diana Wynne Jones
7. Here Abide Monsters, Andre Norton
8. Zia, Scott O'Dell
9. The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Spear
10. Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell
11. Five Little Peppers And How They Grew, Margaret Sidney
12. Five Little Peppers Abroad, Margaret Sidney
13. A Haunting in Williamsburg, Lou Kassem
14. Seven-Day Magic, Edward Eager
15. Many Waters, Madeleine L'Engle
16. Follow My Leader, James B. Garfield
17. A Ring of Endless Light, Madeleine L'Engle
18. Five Little Peppers Midway, Margaret Sidney
19. The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley
20. Troubling a Star, Madeleine L'Engle
21. The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley
22. The Moon By Night, Madeleine L'Engle
23. Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself, Judy Blume
24. The Arm of the Starfish, Madeleine L'Engle
25. The Fairy Rebel, Lynn Reid Banks
26. Mystery of One Wish Pond, D. Regan
27. Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne
28. All the Weyrs of Pern, Anne McCaffrey
29. Mystery at Kickingbird Lake, D. Regan
30. The Enchanted Castle, E. Nesbit
31. The House of Arden, E. Nesbit
32. Martin the Warrior, Brian Jacques
33. Five Children and It, E. Nesbit
34. Mariel of Redwall, Brian Jacques
35. Mossflower, Brian Jacques
36. Redwall, Brian Jacques
37. The Carpet People, Terry Pratchett
38. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
39. Magic to Burn, Jean Fritz
40. The Golden Road, L.M. Montgomery
41. Wren to the Rescue, Sherwood Smith
42. Wren's Quest, Sherwood Smith
43. Wise Child, Monica Furlong
44. Juniper, Monica Furlong
45. Heart of Valor, L.J. Smith
46. The Chronicle of Pern - First Fall, Anne McCaffrey
47. Wren's War, Sherwood Smith
48. The Adventures of King Midas, Lynne Reid Banks
49. Dragonsdawn, Anne McCafrey
50. An Appropriate Time, Madeleine L'Engle
51. Over Sea, Under Stone, Susan Cooper
52. The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper
53. Ghosts I Have Been, Richareck
54. The Giver, Lois Lowry
55. Anne of the Island, L.M. Montgomery
56. Greenwitch, Susan Cooper
57. The Grey King, Susan Cooper
58. Magic for Marigold, L.M. Montgomery
59. Silver on the Tree, Susan Cooper
60. Anne of Windy Poplars, L.M. Montgomery
61. Anne's House of Dreams, L.M. Montgomery
62. Titus Groan, Mervn Peake
63. Anne of Ingleside, L.M. Montgomery
64. Rilla of Ingleside, L.M. Montgomery
65. Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death, Richard Peck
66. The Dreadful Future of Blossom Culp, Richard Peck
67. The Ghost Belonged To Me, Richard Peck
68. Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery
69. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
70. The Doll Hospital, James Duffy
71. The Homeward Bounders, Diana Wynne Jones
72. Outcast of Redwall, Brian Jacques
73. Wait Till Helen Comes, Mary Downing Hahn
74. The Island of Adventure, The Castle of Adventure, The Valley of Adventure, Enid Blyton
75. Mandy, Julie Edwards
76. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
77. The Flying Classroom, Erich Kastner
78. Libby on Wednesday, Zilpha Keatley Snyder
79. Winter of Magic's Return, Patricia F. Service
80. Night of the Solstice, L.J. Smith
81. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
82. The Harper Hall of Pern, Anne McCaffrey
83. A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Madeleine L'Engle
84. Wind in the Door, Madeleine L'Engle
85. Deep Wizardry, Diane Duane
86. So You Want To Be a Wizard, Diane Duane
87. Dealing With Dragons, Patricia C. Wrede
88. High Wizardry, Diane Duane
89. Calling On Dragons, Patricia C. Wrede
90. Searching For Dragons, Patricia C. Wrede
91. A Tale of Time City, Diana Wynne Jones
92. Castle in the Air, Diana Wynne Jones
93. Charmed Life, Diana Wynne Jones
94. The Mennyms in the Wilderness, Sylvia Waugh
95. Cart and Cwidder, Diana Wynne Jones
96. Drowned Ammet, Diana Wynne Jones
97. The Lives of Christopher Chant, Diana Wynne Jones
98. The Magicians of Caprona, Diana Wynne Jones
99. Dragons in the Waters, Madeleine L'Engle
100. Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Mary Norton
101. The Firelings, Carol Kendall
102. Anne of Avonlea, L.M. Montgomery
103. Rainbow Valley, L.M. Montgomery
104. The Gammage Cup, Carol Kendall
105. Dragon's Milk, Susan Fletcher
106. The Ramsay Scallop, Frances Temple
107. The Mennyms, Sylvia Waugh
108. Cheaper By the Dozen, Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth

Notes:
a.) the cards are not, sadly, in original archival order
b.) wait, I did read Rilla of Ingleside? Because I have NO MEMORY of that book
c.) WHO LET ME READ MERVYN PEAKE WHEN I WAS TEN NO WONDER THE NAME 'GORMENGHAST' SUMMONS UP PSYCHOLOGICAL HORRORS FOR ME

Comments

[nextian]

Omg, DRAGONSDAWN.

[skygiants]

Summarry: the colonists from Earth spend a happy eight years on Pern, bonding with the small dragonish fire-lizards and establish territory. After those eight years everything changes. Deadly spores that destroy everything in their path are falling from the Red Star, a stray planet in Pern's system. Then they come up with the idea of breeding huge fire-lizards to char the spores in the sky, and it works!

Apparently irrelevant to ten-year-old Becca: that whole INCREDIBLY DISTURBING subplot about the lady who marries a dude who is clearly gay or asexual, complains because he won't put out, and then gets kidnapped into outer space and has her feet sliced off while he weeps about how he never appreciated her. BUT ADULT BECCA REMEMBERS. THE NORTH REMEMBERS.

[kate_nepveu]

_Rilla_ is the one with WWI! It has a 100% success rate at reducing me to tears.

Wow, this is difficult. Okay: _Hero and the Crown_.

[nextian]

YES AND THEN HE CHANGES HIS NAME TO SOME WEIRD PORTMANTEAU OF HERS AND HIS AND THAT'S HOW TELGAR WEYR GOT STARTED. Holy ass, that plot was bizarre.

I like that ten year old Becca already knew that everything always changes when the fire nation attacks.

[skygiants]

So the index cards inform me! I have no idea why it has apparently vanished in its entirety from my brain. I remember all the others!

Summary: Aerin's mother was called a witchwoman whom enspelled the king into marrying her; it is said she turned her face to the wall and died of despair when she bore a daughter. Because of this, Aerin is despised by all except her cousin Tor and her father, King Arlbreth. But then she befriends the King's old warhorse, Talat. She kills Maur, the dreaded Black Dragon. Then she goes to Luthe, the Mage, and kills her evil uncle. She returns home victorious with the symbol of Damar, the lost Hero's Crown. She then marries Tor and becomes Queen.

For the record, the last sentence is nearly illegible and appears in incredibly tiny text, partly because I was running out of room, but also I think because I did not really care about Tor. But apparently more than I cared about Luthe!

[skygiants]

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

[musesfool]

The Arm of the Starfish!

[skygiants]

Summary: Adam Eddington is going to work with Dr. O'Keefe, a world-famous scientist who works with limb regeneration. On the way to Geae, where Dr. O'Keefe lives, he meets beautiful Carolyn. Carolyn's father says Dr. O'Keefe is evil. When Adam meets Dr. O'Keefe, he knows it's not true. Dr. O'Keefe has valuable papers that cannot fall in the wrong hands. Adam makes the mistake of trusting Carolyun, who almost steals the papers. She doesn't get them, but someone is killed in the saving of them.

I think I maybe was trying to avoid spoilers? Either that, or being needlessly dramatic. Poor Poly is also apparently Miss Not Appearing In This Summary.

[musesfool]

But you got the most important part, which is Joshua being killed. *sobs*

[skygiants]

. . . hilariously, until you said that, Current Becca had totally forgotten Joshua's existence. I thought Canon Tallis was the one who died!

(I remember Canon Tallis mostly because he had no eyebrows.)

[hebethen]

Haha, what did bb!Becca (bbcca?) make of Small Gods?

[opusculasedfera]

Wren's Quest!

(10 year old me is delighted by this list and how well it matches to many of her favourites.)

[hafl]

I would say all the L.M.Montgomery books, but if I have to choose one, then Anne of Ingleside.

[skygiants]

This is one of the ones written in crayon! But to the best of my abilities to make it out:

Summary: Brutha is a simple novice. Then one day the Great God Om spoke to him. It had lost it's power and needed Brutha to help it. In the end, there is an uprising and Brutha becomes the Great Prophet.

INCISIVE ANALYSIS, tiny Becca.

[skygiants]

Wren is taking her basics test in magic when someone knocks the teacher unsconsious. Aided by Prince Conner, who has been also having problems, she sets out on a quest to find her relatives, for she's an orphan. In the meantime, Tyron the journey-mage has been turned into a dog of his own free will to help guard Princess Teressa gets captured! It's no mistake that all the people who helped rescue Teressa before are having problems, and in the end they defeat the magician and Wren finds her relatives.

NO MISTAKE, INDEED.

(Hee! My roommate just looked at this list and said, "Becca, you are SO PREDICTABLE.")

[skygiants]

Summary: Anne Shirley is married to Gilbert BLythe and lives in a house called Ingleside. She has 7 children. Jem, Walter, Nan & Di, Shirley and Rilla are their names. They get into every scrape imaginable. Jem waits up all night for his parents. Walter is scared Anne will die. Nan makes bargains with God. Di continually makes friends with no-good liars. Shirley doesn't do anything, and Rilla refuses to carry a cake. Even Anne makes a mistake when she thinks Gilbert doesn't love her anymore. Altogether, though, they're a happy, lovable family.

. . . apparently my past self did not know how to count to six.

[surexit]

NUMBER THIRTY-SEVEN.

I UNIRONICALLY LOVE THAT BOOK.

[skygiants]

BECAUSE IT'S GREAT

The Munrungs are a tribe of people who live in the Carpet. When Fraykes a carpet hair fall and smash their village, they set out for Ware, the chief city of the Damii kingdom. Along the way they are often beset by Mouls and the Snargs they ride, and make many friends. They meet some wights, beings who can see in the future, and gain the help of Coraina, a very special wight who can see all possibilities. Eventually they win over the mouls and get a friend made emporer after which they all live happily ever after.

[shark_hat]

Any of the Enid Blytons. Or the Susan Coopers.

[opusculasedfera]

Everyone is just having some problems, as you do.

I remember 10 year old me being so impressed that Wren finds her relatives and they aren't fancy and exciting and special; they're just really nice people with perfectly good reasons for not previously knowing she existed. Subverting a cliche? 10 year old me had never heard of such a thing before!

[brownbetty]

I am curious about "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew", because I'm pretty sure I read that in about fourth grade too, and my memories of it are fuzzy.

[skygiants]

OK, you get the Island Of/Castle Of/Valley Of Adventure!

Sumarry: In the first book, Philip and Dinah, who live with their aunt and uncle, make friends with Jack and Lucy-Ann. They uncover a bunch of forgers. In the second book all four go to visit an old castle and get captured by a network of spys. In the third book the children get on the wrong plane and are trapped in a valley of treasure. In all of the books, their friend Bill Smugs, a government detective, saves the day.

Bill Smugs? BILL SMUGS? Also, what a cop-out! Everyone knows kids are supposed to save the day in books titled "Of Adventure." I am indignant on ten-year-old Becca's behalf.

[agonistes]

I want two!!! (Or three really but I will stick with two!!) GREENWITCH AND WAIT TILL HELEN COMES

[skygiants]

I've actually been thinking about rereading this one!

Summary: Ben, Polly, Joel, Davie and Phronsie Pepper are five children. Their father is dead and they have no money. They suffer many misfortunes, such as the measles and the old black stove, but they also have many good times. Then they meet a new friend called Jasper King; he and his grandfather invite them all to live at his huge mansion with them and their cousins, the Whitneys, and they live happily ever after.

So basically it's a book in the classic genre of Suffering But Worthy Poor Luck Out, MANSIONS FOR EVERYONE!

[skygiants]

I still need to read the long-delayed fourth one! I have it on my Kindle, but I keep waffling on whether it is absolutely necessary to reread the first three first.