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[jay-ell]

Nate Small reminded me of when I was young and would read the Three Investigators because I was too cool for the Hardy Boys

Oh, man, I thought I was the only kid who read these, but there's a whole website devoted to these books.  Several, in fact.

Did enough people read these books to warrant a split?

[AugustWest]

My daughter just found and old one of mine and read it.  Now she wants more.

She's also working on the completing the Nancy Drew series.  Wow.  Nancy's like the anti-Nate.

[AlohaDawg]

I read three investigators. Much more interesting then the Hardy Boys.

When I was like, 6 or something, I read these chapter books about the Bobbsey Twins. Anyone else experience that madness?

[jay-ell]

Sounds like enough for a split to me.  

I inherited my brother's copies of these books when my parents realized he didn't actually read.  I had almost a complete set, I think I was missing about a half-dozen titles but the majority of them were first printings.  In fact, the older ones might have originally been my uncles', since my brother was born in '69 and my uncle was about 15 at the time.  He would have been the right age to have purchased them when they came out in '64.  

I think I still have them somewhere; I'll have to see what I can do about completing my set before I have kids of my own.  They're great books.

Edit: PS HARDY BOYS BITE DICK

[St_Zartan]

When I was like, 6 or something, I read these chapter books about the Bobbsey Twins. Anyone else experience that madness?

I had only ever heard of the Bobbsey Twins as a cultural reference denoting inoffensive edutainment for girls, e.g. I can't believe this trash; whatever happened to the Bobbsey Twins

Working at the Public Library and having just completed a course in Literature for Youth I can assure you that there are like hundreds of chapter book series for girls and that they are all just retarded.

I read The Great Brain books and Encyclopedia Brown as a kid.

[AugustWest]

Oh holy crap,  Encyclopedia Brown!  Big fan.

I think Henry Reed was my all time favorite, though.  Henry and Midge, I guess they're grandparents by now...  I loved how he got that swimming pool liner into the hole in the ground.  

Good times.  Happy times.

[AlohaDawg]

When I was like, 6 or something, I read these chapter books about the Bobbsey Twins. Anyone else experience that madness?

I had only ever heard of the Bobbsey Twins as a cultural reference denoting inoffensive edutainment for girls, e.g. I can't believe this trash; whatever happened to the Bobbsey Twins

Working at the Public Library and having just completed a course in Literature for Youth I can assure you that there are like hundreds of chapter book series for girls and that they are all just retarded.

Curse my parents for giving me books meant for girls. That explains why I eventually actually read Judy Blume books (and why, to this day, I am a complete pervert).

I read The Great Brain books and Encyclopedia Brown as a kid.

Great Hopping Messiah! THe Great Brain! Crap! I LOVED those books! If I am thinking about the same ones, with the three brothers, sometime in America's Past  - point of view of the youngest brother? Those were awesome!

Does anyone remember a book series about this incredibly bizarre, eccentric family who had a dog named Zero?

[Choop]

Encyclopedia Brown totally jumped the shark with his Sports Almanac*.

How bad did a kid have to be to get locked up in that town? Jeebus, there must not have been any kind of truancy officers or Juvy Hall in their county.

Anybody ever see the HBO series based on it? What a terrible, terrible treatment.



*I still went ahead and read it.


EDIT: WHY CAN'T AMAZON SHOW ME MORE THAN TEN RESULTS PER PAGE?

EDIT EDIT: DAMMIT LINKS DON'T SHOW UP AS LINKS

[jay-ell]

Anyone else ever read the Encyclopedia Brown parodies over at Modern Humorist?  

They're awful and tasteless in some respects, but overall, generally funny.  And they have the literary style spot-on.

[Choop]

And they have the literary style spot-on.

Indeed - and also the illustrations seem almost lifted from pages of the venerable publications. It's been a while since I've seen these - thanks for the reminder!

[AugustWest]

Those Encyclopedia Brown parodies made my day.  Or my lunch.  Or something.  Anyway, I loved them.

[andalucia]

I was also all about the Great Brain and Encyclopedia Brown as a wee one.  However, as we are also talking about inoffensive chapter books for girls, I spent all of grades one through... three or so reading Baby Sitter's Club books...  dear lord.

[AlohaDawg]

As the one nearest to and therefore, potentially most able to remember your childhood, Andalucia, do kids still read

Henry Huggins books? (Dog named Ribsy, Beatrice and Ramona, etd.)
Frikkin' Judy Blume books?
Robert Cormier? (All I remember is "I am the Cheese") ??

[St_Zartan]

Henry Huggins books? (Dog named Ribsy, Beatrice and Ramona, etd.)
Frikkin' Judy Blume books?

Ramona Quimby and the rest of the Beverly Cleary books still circulate well. Same deal for the Judy Blume books - in fact, I re-read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge about a year ago, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they've held up. I still hand Tales to kids looking for "chapter books"; the thing about great fiction for and about children is that it doesn't painfully date the same way the young adult equivalent would.

Robert Cormier? (All I remember is "I am the Cheese") ??

Do not even get me started on Robert Cormier, or this thread will end up splitting like a motherfucker. Robert Cormier, and I Am The Cheese especially, both deeply informed and completely salvaged my extremely fucked-up childhood. Kids still read him, thank God. Cormier was one of those earthbound saints - for example, Amy's phone number in Cheese was actually his own phone number; he would talk, at length, with kids that called it out of curiosity, about anything, just because he was the unique sort of person that was capable of understanding and caring anyway. RIP.

[AugustWest]

In a way, I may be even closer.  I have a 12 year old reader in my house.  She reads Judy Blume, but at the moment she's somewhere between Superfudge and Wifey.  (SIDE NOTE:  Wifey was the second dirty book I read in Jr. Hi., shortly after Breakfast of Champions).  At the moment, she's more into the mystery side of things -- when she read the lone 3 Investigators book that appeared in a box of my stuff from my parents attic, she wanted more,more,more.

So, let's add a pracitcal dimension to this discussion.  Where can I find this series to purchase for my oldest.  Cheaply, of course.  I don't buy expensive books for myself, so damn if I'm gonna buy pricey pulp for her!

I Am the Cheese is simply a classic.  It shouldn't be restricted to the YA ghetto.  I ashamed to say I haven't read any other Cormier, but perhaps I will someday.

And Dammit, can't I get a little love for HENRY REED.  Come ON people.  Next thing you know you'll be dissin' Homer Price.  Or godferbid Charlotte's Web.