"Jennifer Sturman is the author of several mystery novels, including The Pact and The Jinx. After graduating from Harvard College, Jennifer earned her MBA from Harvard Business School. She now lives in New York City, a few blocks from Delia’s aunt Charley. She has no free time, but if she did she would probably spend it watching teen movie classics from the '80s. She's currently at work on her next novel."
What she wrote:
And Then Everything Unraveled
And Then I Found Out The Truth
Visit Jennifer Sturman: Website
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I was a bit – okay, more like incredibly – nerdy as a child. I don’t know how much of that was cause and how much was effect, but either way, being a compulsive reader was part of the equation. I read all of the usual suspects, but here are some authors/books that I adored and which were also slightly less mainstream (at least, they seemed that way when I was growing up in Ohio):
Noel Streatfield: Ballet Shoes, White Boots (also titled Skating Shoes), Theater Shoes, and just about all of the other “Shoes” books. Girls with amazing talents, doing amazing things.
Madeline L’Engle: Her science-fictiony books like A Wrinkle in Time are wonderful, but I also loved her other books, particularly the Vicky Austin series. And all of her characters are connected across her books – I used to spend hours puzzling out who was related to who and how.
Elizabeth George Speare: Probably my first taste of historical fiction. The Witch of Blackbird Pond was a fabulous read, but I especially liked Calico Captive.
Lois Duncan: Before all of the vampires and witches and werewolves and faeries people are writing about today, Lois Duncan was exploring the eerie and unnatural in books like Locked in Time and Down a Dark Hall. Her straight suspense/thrillers, like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Killing Mr. Griffin were also fun.
The Trixie Belden series: These books were seriously corny, but I devoured them, and they have a lot to do with why I write mysteries. Much better than Nancy Drew!
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteYay for old school YA like A Wrinkle in Time, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and Calico Captive! =D
In this age of Twilight, Linger, Paranormalcy and The Hunger Games, the "old school" titles are still read, if ever, only in schools. But they were what I read for fun and relaxation in my own youth, and I will always love them.
(I was more into Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine than Lois Duncan, though.)
And really, who wouldn't want to spend free time watching classic teen movies from the 80s? =P In case you haven't figured it out, this is a guest post after my own heart.
Oh, my these are some fabulous picks -- Killing Mr. Griffin brings back great library memories, and not to mention The Witch of Blackbird Pond, too!
ReplyDeleteStopping on by from Caroline Bookbinder's site!!