Childhood nostalgia poll

[rachelmanija]

Please reminisce, fondly or not, about any of these, or other books read in childhood, especially if they seem to have, deservedly or undeservedly, vanished from the shelves. I'd love to hear about non-US, non-British books, too.

[Poll #1720139]

Comments

[ejmam.livejournal.com]

Is this it? http://www.amazon.com/Between-Pitiful-Teachers-Splendid-Kids/dp/0380578026

I remember the book as well, but I can't tell if this is it.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Yes! That's it! The Amazon reviews are hilarious:

I've always remembered reading this book, a surreal and really rather sinister and apocalyptic tale of kids on the run in the name of individuality. The premise bears a lot of similarity to the 1998 movie Disturbing Behavior, with parents zombifying their kids in order to make them behave, but minus the "mature themes". If anything, one could say it was like Disturbing Behavior meets Logan's Run, written for sixth-graders.

...

Shark-infested rice pudding! Just like mom used to make! This book should be required reading.

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I read this book when I was a kid, and it's strange! I was unable to tell if it was a parody or just bizzare. I read it again recently, and what do you know? I still can't tell. But it did teach me that I'm worthwhile, and that I should always stand up for myself.

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[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

I remember this book! It was bizarrely depressing. Did you ever read Julian F. Thompson? He was kind of similar, only without the depressing.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I think I read some of his? There was one about a summer camp where parents sent their problem kids to be whacked? (I mean killed, not spanked.) I recall that they were also very strange, and feeling that most of the story was whizzing over my head. I also could never figure out what happened at the ends.