The other day I finally moved into a home that was big enough for me to haul my old book collection out of my mom’s basement. As I was excitedly looking through the boxes I keep telling my husband, “This book was the best! I loved this book!” Then he started asking me things back like, “Cool, what was it about.” Aaaannnnd . . . that’s when I realized that my memory of these books was pretty dismal, actually. I remember liking them, but I can barely remember what actually happened in them. It’s more like I recognize and love the covers, but can’t remember anything that was in-between the covers. Does anyone else have this problem?
So, I thought it might be a fun idea to write a blog where I describe the books based on my dismal memory of them, and you try to guess what they are. I graduated from high school in 2010 and generally read above my grade level, so, you’ll probably do the best if you were in school during the 2000s. Here it goes:
Try to Guess These 10 Popular Books from my Childhood Based on my Abysmal Memory of What Happened In Them
- I literally only remember this book series being like a slightly less amazing version of Harry Potter. There’s a boy, his name is Charlie. He gets sent to some sort of school or home. There’s some sort of magical powers and something significantly special about him. His last name is Bone. Something happens at midnight (I think).
- Okay, this book series is literally the biggest disappointment of any book series that I can remember reading in my entire life. There’s four or five of them I believe, and the covers are these super rad and amazing pictures of dragons. Obviously, I bought them on based on that fact alone. I settled down, excited to read my awesome new dragon books, and what was it actually about? Squirrels. I kid you not. It was horrible. Squirrels and a weird guy talking to some mini clay dragons, I think. 0/1000 do not recommend. Unless you hate dragons and love squirrels. (Don’t say it. Don’t say that line about not judging a book by it’s cover. I was a child.)
- You know how some book series give you bits and pieces as you go along so that usually by the end of the thirteenth book you have some idea about what’s been going on the entire time? Not this series. Nah. This author trolled us all so hard. Poor Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. You deserved answers. As did I. As did Uncle Monty. The Reptile Room was the best book in the series, obviously.
- This boy was a not-so-good genius with a huge bodyguard who, in hindsight, probably really hated that his entire job was figuring out how not to die and get out of all the crap the boy got them in to. Now, my memories of this book may be swayed slightly by a very bad movie adaptation that was somewhat recently done. Anyway, this boy kind of plots to use the fairies or fairy technology for his own good, but then basically ends up helping them out because he’s smarter than everyone and they need him. His name is Artemis Fowl. I think there’s a line in there somewhere about his parents hating him and that’s why they named him Artemis?
- This book series was basically the Magic School Bus, but in Tree House form. That’s it.
- This book was a mandatory read that I had to buy as well because I thought it would make me look classy. It’s a love story and one of the two main lovers never ages due to a yummy spring in the woods. In fact, one could say that he’s everlasting. Anyway, there’s some family drama thrown into the mix too, of course. And an evil guy who wants the spring for himself. Pretty sure they don’t end up together in the end, which is probably a good thing because I’m pretty sure he’s a lot older than her and that she was a literal child.
- This book was one of my absolute favorite books. It’s a Cinderella story, but in this version Ella is cursed and must do whatever anyone tells her to do. She can’t say no. I loved this story because it explained why Cinderella would’ve put up with all the crap from her step sisters without just telling them to shove it. Anyway, there’s a kingdom to save, a prince to fall in love with, and a curse to break. It was all very moving. I also may have read this book so many times that I remember it stopped being fun because I basically had the entire book memorized.
- I probably shouldn’t include two books from the same author on this list, but she was my absolute favorite author growing up. So in this book, there are two princesses who are complete opposites. One is brave and wants to save the kingdom by whatever means necessary. The other is not brave and would like to stay safe in the castle. Unfortunately, the brave sister catches what is basically like the plague, and the only way the unbrave sister can save her is if she faces her fears and takes on the quest instead. She’s helped by the castle wizard and there’s a pretty awesome dragon at one point.
- This book I bought just to upset my mother, then couldn’t understand why everyone was in such a tizzy about it. These children have animal companions, which are basically their souls, and an evil organization is taking orphaned and unloved children and experimenting on them. I think there are some religious undertones, but as a kid all I cared about were the animal companions. I still want one.
- This book is one that my teacher absolutely adored, so being the little suck up that I was, I bought it, but it wasn’t really the book for me. If I remember correctly, it’s about a boy who is on a quest to survive. I think I remember him being chased by bad guys for some reason. He has very minimal items, one of which I believe is a hatchet. Pretty sure he survives, but I also feel like I have strong memories of lots of chapped lip descriptions?
Alright, do you think you know what books I’ve been talking about? I feel like I gave most of them away. But here’s a list of the answers below if you’re not sure about a couple.
- Charlie Bone Series by Jenny Nimmo
- The Fire Within by Chris D’Lacey
- A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
- Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer
- The Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne
- Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
- Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
- The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
- The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
- Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
So how’d you do? Are you able to better remember your favorite childhood books than I am? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy reading,
