#e. l. konigsburg

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Books on Film: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (aka The Hideaways) (1973)

Claudia has a vivid imagination, and she loves reading fantasy stories. But her parents wish she was more focused and practical.

For reasons she can’t fully express, she decides to run away from home and stay at one of her favorite places, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She invites her brother Jamie to come along, and they travel together to New York:

They spend a lot of time exploring the museum during the day …

Finding amazing beds to sleep in …

And exploring the museum more at night …

Soon, they stumble across a mystery: was the museum’s latest acquisition really made by Michelangelo?

This question leads them to do research at THE PUBLIC LIBRARY!

But ultimately, the person who’s most likely to know about the statue is its previous owner, the mysterious recluse Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler:

Mrs. Frankweiler knows more than she’s willing to share. But the more time she spends with Claudia and Jamie, the more they all start to share their secrets with each other.

Full disclosure: I read this book multiple times when I was a kid, but I never watched this movie until this year!

I got a big kick out of this interpretation of one of my favorite books, and I also enjoyed this time capsule of 1970s New York City. I thought that both of the kids were great naturalistic actors. And Ingrid Bergman was, as always, FANTASTIC.

Want to take a deeper dive and learn more about this book, this movie, and this museum? Check out these links!

NYPL

IMDB

Just Watch (Streaming)

The True Story Behind Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Her Mixed-Up Files

Explore the Met and Celebrate 50 Years of Mixed-Up Files

[ourbastardofsorrows]

i feel Revitalized about my career (<- i had an idea for a fun novel study project and now i want to get my endorsement for g/t education)

[josephconrads]

Title: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler

Author: E.L Konigsburg

Rating: 3 out of 5

Review: Hadn't read this for year so I forgot that the central plot of this is them investigating the statue. Enjoyed this through and through and once again it made me want to stay overnight at a museum. It's just a quick, fun, read and the little bit of mystery that it provides is entertaining.

[book--brackets]

Summaries under the cut

Emily by L. M. Montgomery

Emily Starr never knew what it was to be lonely—until her beloved father died. Now Emily's an orphan, and her mother's snobbish relatives are taking her to live with them at New Moon Farm. She's sure she won't be happy. Emily deals with stiff, stern Aunt Elizabeth and her malicious classmates by holding her head high and using her quick wit. Things begin to change when she makes friends: with Teddy, who does marvelous drawings; with Perry, who's sailed all over the world with his father yet has never been to school; and above all, with Ilse, a tomboy with a blazing temper. Amazingly, Emily finds New Moon beautiful and fascinating. With new friends and adventures, Emily might someday think of herself as Emily of New Moon.

Savvy by Ingrid Law

For generations, the Beaumont family has harbored a magical secret. They each possess a "savvy" -a special supernatural power that strikes when they turn thirteen. Grandpa Bomba moves mountains, her older brothers create hurricanes and spark electricity . . . and now it's the eve of Mibs's big day.

As if waiting weren't hard enough, the family gets scary news two days before Mibs's birthday: Poppa has been in a terrible accident. Mibs develops the singular mission to get to the hospital and prove that her new power can save her dad. So she sneaks onto a salesman's bus . . . only to find the bus heading in the opposite direction. Suddenly Mibs finds herself on an unforgettable odyssey that will force her to make sense of growing up-and of other people, who might also have a few secrets hidden just beneath the skin.

The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney

Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son and has been apprenticed to the local Spook. The job is hard, the Spook is distant and many apprentices have failed before Thomas. Somehow Thomas must learn how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches and bind boggarts. But when he is tricked into freeing Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the County, the horror begins...

The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg

How has Mrs. Olinski chosen her sixth-grade Academic Bowl team? She had a number of answers. But were any of them true? How had she really chosen Noah and Nadia and Ethan and Julian? And why did they make such a good team? It was a surprise to a lot of people when Mrs. Olinski's team won the sixth-grade Academic Bowl contest at Epiphany Middle School. It was an even bigger surprise when they beat the seventh grade and the eighth grade, too. And when they went on to even greater victories, everyone began to ask: How did it happen?

It happened at least partly because Noah had been the best man (quite by accident) at the wedding of Ethan's grandmother and Nadia's grandfather. It happened because Nadia discovered that she could not let a lot of baby turtles die. It happened when Ethan could not let Julian face disaster alone. And it happened because Julian valued something important in himself and saw in the other three something he also valued.

Mrs. Olinski, returning to teaching after having been injured in an automobile accident, found that her Academic Bowl team became her answer to finding confidence and success. What she did not know, at least at first, was that her team knew more than she did the answer to why they had been chosen.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

When Alyss Heart, newly orphaned heir to the Wonderland throne, flees through the Pool of Tears to escape her murderous Aunt Redd, she finds herself lost and alone in Victorian London. Befriended by an aspiring author named Lewis Carrol, Alyss tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Alyss trusts this author to tell the truth so that someone, somewhere will find her and bring her home. But he gets the story all wrong. He even spells her name incorrectly!

Fortunately, Royal Bodyguard Hatter Madigan knows all too well the awful truth of Alyss' story - and he's searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return her to Wonderland, to battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts.

Misty by Marguerite Henry

"You'll never catch the Phantom," says Grandpa. "That horse is fast as the wind. She's escaped from every roundup on the island!" But Paul and Maureen want the beautiful wild mare for their very own. "I'm going to capture her myself," says Paul.

When Paul finally overtakes the Phantom, he makes a surprising discovery. Running at her side is a brand-new, silvery-gray colt - Misty!

East by Edith Pattou

Rose has always been different.

Since the day she was born, it was clear she had a special fate. Her superstitious mother keeps the unusual circumstances of Rose's birth a secret, hoping to prevent her adventurous daughter from leaving home... but she can't suppress Rose's true nature forever.

So when an enormous white bear shows up one cold autumn evening and asks teenage Rose to come away with it--in exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family--she readily agrees.

Rose travels on the bear's broad back to a distant and empty castle, where she is nightly joined by a mysterious stranger. In discovering his identity, she loses her heart-- and finds her purpose--and realizes her journey has only just begun.

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman

The girl known only as Brat has no family, no home, and no future until she meets Jane the Midwife and becomes her apprentice. As she helps the sharp-tempered Jane deliver babies, Brat--who renames herself Alyce--gains knowledge, confidence, and the courage to want something from life: "A full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world." Medieval village life makes a lively backdrop for the funny, poignant story of how Alyce gets what she wants.

Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce

With her gift of weaving silk thread and creating light, Sandry is brought to the Winding Circle community. There she meets Briar, a former thief who has a way with plants; Daja, an outcast gifted at metalcraft; and Tris, whose connection with the weather unsettles everyone, including herself. At Winding Circle, the four misfits are taught how to use their magic - and to trust one another. But then disaster strikes their new home. Can Sandry weave together four kinds of magical power and save herself, her friends, and the one place where they've ever been accepted?

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Catherine feels trapped. Her father is determined to marry her off to a rich man--any rich man, no matter how awful.

But by wit, trickery, and luck, Catherine manages to send several would-be husbands packing. Then a shaggy-bearded suitor from the north comes to call--by far the oldest, ugliest, most revolting suitor of them all.

Unfortunately, he is also the richest.

Can a sharp-tongued, high-spirited, clever young maiden with a mind of her own actually lose the battle against an ill-mannered, piglike lord and an unimaginative, greedy toad of a father?

Deus! Not if Catherine has anything to say about it!

[e-b-reads]

@therefugeofbooks tagged me forever ago to make a poll with my five favorite books for others to vote on, and it's taken until now because choosing five favorites is so hard!

seen several of these lately so I'm not sure who has and hasn't done this! Non-obligatory tags (and of course you all may also have already done this): @beardedbookdragon, @gardenforsparrows, @tinynavajoreads

Plus as always, if I didn't tag you and you want to do it, make a poll anyway and tag me so I see it!

[colorfulraven]

My 25 Most Reread Books

thanks to @francesderwent for starting this, and @cakeyouareoh for typing up rules so i could just copy them

rules: everything on the list is fiction. the books listed are not necessarily my favorites, they’re the ones i’ve reread most often. some of them i haven’t read in decades, but i read them over and over as a kid. mine are not ranked, and are in random order. i chose one most-read book by each favorite author. i will add more clues if needed, and update the list as i go with the answers.

anne of green gables by l. m. montgomery - reading this feels like coming home. despite the pain, there is always hope and wonder if you look for it. (dr hq)

the murderbot diaries (yes the entire series) by martha wells - redacted (@drharleyquinn-medicinewoman and @cakeyouareoh)

pride and prejudice by jane austen - the most perfect couple isn't even the main one in this story. but the main one is perfect to me. (drharleyquinn-medicinewoman and @cakeyouareoh)

fruits basket by natsuki takaya -sentient calendar falls in love with a girl. the calendar is multiple people, and the book is a manga series. (cake)

jane eyre by charlotte brontë - proving goth was never just a phase. also he's terrible idk why i reread this book so much. (dr hq and cakeyouareoh)

uglies by scott westerfeld - maybe she's born with it. maybe it's mandatory. there was a movie made about it recently. (fran)

curses, inc. by vivian vande velde - fantasy short story compilation from my youth. it’s by an author i asked cate and cake about. (cake)

the locked tomb series by tamsyn muir- spooky scary skeletons (@sparrowposting)

the lunar chronicles by marissa meyer - what if the real fairy tales are the friends we made along the way ( @cakeyouareoh )

twilight by stephenie meyer - it makes no damn sense. compels me though. takes place in the pacific northwest, mostly. (cake)

if we were villains by m. l. rio - theatre kids scare the living shit outta me. (@sparrowposting)

elantris by brandon sanderson - i recognize it makes no sense, but i still think she should have chosen the priest instead of the god. (@justanawesomeowl)

she was an artist girl, he was a biker boy

"surely *i* can mess around with forces i don't know anything about, because i know everything" says the main character

humanity is always with us, but perhaps it's also learned. 3rd in a series that I highly recommend.

enders game by orson scott card - what if up is sideways? you need to rethink your assumptions. (@ontheedgeofgreatness and @snailthimbles)

redwell by brian jacques - local monk becomes hero and is kicked out of his order. he’s still an integral part of the community, though. (fran)

harry potter by hatsune miku - whoops, my millennial is showing. i very much dressed up for midnight book releases as a kid. also movies as a teen/young adult. (@scrunchie-face and cake)

the hobbit by jrrt - the heroes journey. and then unjourney. (fran)

the hunger games by suzanne collins - the film adaptation was very much life imitating art. (cake)

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone - star crossed lovers in spacetime (@sparrowposting)

what happens when you get your doctorate in architecture, but don't have to study humanities. alternatively: a clock hand cures asthma.

the mediator series by meg cabot - what if melinda gordon were a teenager? written by author whose other series was turned into a much beloved movie. (dr hq)

from the mixed-up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler by e. l. konigsburg - siblings take the ultimate field trip. Also learn clerical work. ( @ontheedgeofgreatness )

contraband diary at a dig site. If you’re reading this, I already hate you.

[siena-sevenwits]

I'm attempting to assemble some "buffet" lists for my 2025 reading. I don't mean to get through any of the lists, but to use the lists as limited inspiration pools. It would be rather a long list to put in one post, so I'll do it by category.

Children's Literature

The Gawgon and the Boy by Lloyd Alexander (Great Depression)

The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes (the high seas)

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry (modern day)

Greenglass House by Kate Milford (1930's fantasy)

The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope (New York State with visits from Revolutionary era ghosts)

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (re-read) (Edwardian England)

The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski (fantasy)

The Guests of War Trilogy by Kit Pearson (WWII Canada)

St. Winifred's by Frederic W. Farrar (Victorian English public school)

The Box of Delights by John Masefield (1930's England)

The Feud at Fennell's by John Mowbray (1930's English public school)

I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (Renaissance Madrid)

Twilight Robbery by Frances Hardinge (re-read) (fantasy)

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (14th century England)

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E. L. Konigsburg (Twelfth Century England)

A Circle of Silver by Maxine Trottier (War of 1812 Canada)

The Ramsay Scallop by Frances Temple (14th Century Europe)

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham (18th century America and the seas)

Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones (fantasy England)

The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit (Edwardian English fantasy)

The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill (fantasy)

The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (Interbellum NYC)

Race to the Bottom of the Sea by Lindsay Eagar (fantasy)

The Girl Who Kept the Castle by Ryan Gaudin (fantasy)

The History of the Hobbit edited by John D. Rateliff (soooort of children's literature) (Fantasy sort of)

[healerqueen]

reading game, 6!

6. Biggest surprise Thanks for the ask!

Looking at my reading list, I see a couple of surprises... All of them are books I was not expecting to enjoy so much. I was surprised by how much I LOVED The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg. It's a story about four smart kids and their teacher and their community, and the unexpected connections between them. I can see why it won a Newbery, but it's also simply enjoyable and entertaining. I also LOVED Princess Academy when I reread it for the first time in 10+ years. It became a favorite this time, when I merely liked it before. It's exactly the sort of book I want to read and write, with adventure, family, a coming-of-age story, and excellent themes and characters. Another book I was unexpectedly obsessed with was Bandit's Moon by Sid Fleischman. I was really compelled by the central character of the book--the titular bandit leader--and I was very interested in the history behind the book. I was also really riveted as I wondered how the book would end and what the fate of that character would be.

[bensbooks]

Books 173-178 of 2024

The Boy Who Steals Houses by C. G. Drews

Shooting Stars by Brian Falkner

After by Sue Lawson

Silent to the Bone by E. L. Konigsburg

Variant by Robison Wells

The Kings of Nowhere by C. G. Drews

[middlegradeeveryday]

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

Summary: In Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a fourth grader fights back when From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library. Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don’t mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books that will make you laugh and pump your fists as they start a secret banned books locker library, make up ridiculous reasons to ban every single book in the library to make a point, and take a stand against censorship.  Ban This Book is a stirring defense against censorship that’s perfect for middle grade readers. Let kids know that they can make a difference in their schools, communities, and lives!

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Book Type: Novel

[newberyandchai]

The View From Saturday (1997)

This was a short book, so I’ll (hopefully) keep this a short review. I enjoyed it a lot (much, much more than the author’s previous book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler) but you’ll have to skip to the end for my rating. (Fun fact: E. L. Konigsburg is one of only a handful of authors to win the Newbery Medal twice.)

What I especially liked about this book was that it did a good job communicating that the decisions you might think are relatively unimportant can be very nuanced and meaningful to others in the smallest ways. The story begins with a pretty long explanation of how a teacher came to choose four particular sixth graders to be on the school’s academic team. It then explores the backgrounds of the students in question and how they’re all connected to one another while they’re participating in an important Academic Bowl.

It’s a Breakfast Club-type story in that kids who wouldn’t normally be close are brought together and maintain a bond that extends beyond their social lives at school:

The fact was that Mrs. Olinski did not know how she had chosen her team, and the further fact was that she didn’t know that she didn’t know until she did know. Of course, that is true of most things: you do not know up to and including the very last second before you do. … They called themselves The Souls. They told Mrs. Olinski that they were The Souls long before they were a team, but she told them that they were a team as soon as they became The Souls.

It also had a bit of a Slumdog Millionaire-esque feel because as each question is asked at the competition, the book breaks into personal stories told in first person that explain why each character knows the answer to the question — Noah answers a question about calligraphy, Nadia answers a question about seaweed, and so on. One of the stories introduces the new (weird) kid at school, Julian, who is responsible for starting The Souls: he slips secret notes to the three other kids and invites them to a tea party at his new house, where his father is starting a bed and breakfast. They begin to meet regularly:

Something in Sillington House gave me permission to do things I had never done before. Never even thought of doing. Something there triggered the unfolding of those parts that had been incubating. … I told jokes I had never told before. I asked questions I had never asked before.

Outside of the tea parties, no one speaks to or acts like they’re friends with one another. However, the only part of the book I didn’t like involved them coming together at the end to prevent Nadia’s dog, Ginger, from being drugged during a school stage production of Annie so some other kid’s dog could take her place. It was pretty gross: “…laxatives and tranquilizers and those four little legs will buckle, and those little bowels won’t hold…”

… Did they really need the laxatives? On top of the sedatives? (Really?)

But I’ll end on a bit of a less gross, more bittersweet note: I resonated with this small passage after rereading it for this blog post in ways I didn’t when encountering it for the first time just a few months ago. The team has [spoiler, as you may have guessed] just won the Academic Bowl:

Mrs. Olinski felt a strange sense of loss. … She drove for miles worrying about it. Finally, almost involuntarily, she said out loud, “Win some, lose some.” She glanced at Mr. Singh and laughed. “Why did I say that?” Mr. Singh replied, “Because it is how you feel at this moment, Mrs. Olinski.” “I am happy that we won, Mr. Singh, But I don’t understand why I feel a sense of loss. This is not like my accident when my loss was overwhelming. Why, after this wonderful victory, do I feel that something is missing?” “Because something is.” Miles hummed past before his voice floated back to her. “For many months now, you have been in a state of perpetual preparation and excitement. Each victory was a preparation for the next. You are missing future victories. … Now you must put down anchor, look around, enjoy this port of call. Your stay will be brief. You must do it, Mrs. Olinski.”

Something-something about aging, the ephemeral nature of existence, the danger of losing yourself to the past, recognizing the present as always transient, each moment is fleeting, something-something… I already have too many gray hairs for this.

“Victories” isn’t exactly the word I would use when talking about this scene in a wider context, but comparing different points of your life to a ship coming in, staying a while, and inevitably setting sail once again for a different destination is a lovely, tranquil thought. The focus isn’t on the end of the stay, but always on each new beginning — on that first step off the gangplank, onto the sands of an unfamiliar shore...

This feels like a true 7, but because that number is still banned, I’ll go with 8/10, Recommendable.

[ourbastardofsorrows]

i can’t believe i forgot how comfortably jewish e. l. konigsburg’s books are

[starfieldcanvas]

In The View From Saturday, (a middle-grade book about quiz bowl by the same author who wrote the more famous The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler) an answer given by the main characters' team is that both "tip" and "posh" are acronyms— "to insure promptness" and "port out, starboard home" respectively—so for decades I believed both of those, because it was in a book! A book about knowing more facts than other people, even!

I looked them up just now because of this post, and both folk etymologies are myths. E. L. Konigsburg, how could you do this to me?!

I was today years old when I realized "Acronym" stood for "Anyone Can Rationalize Obvious Nonsense You Moron"

[book--brackets]

Summaries under the cut

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth, and what follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there’s still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly. This coming-of-age true story is sure to resonate with anyone who has ever been in middle school, and especially those who have ever had a bit of their own dental drama.

Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Maximum Ride by James Patterson

Six unforgettable kids — with no families, no homes — are running for their lives. Max Ride and her best friends have the ability to fly. And that's just the beginning of their amazing powers. But they don't know where they come from, who's hunting them, why they are different from all other humans... and if they're meant to save mankind — or destroy it.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

When Claudia decided to run away, she planned very carefully. She would be gone just long enough to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation. And she would go in comfort - she would live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She saved her money, and she invited her brother Jamie to go, mostly because he was a miser and would have money.

Claudia was a good organizer and Jamie had some ideas, too; so the two took up residence at the museum right on schedule. But once the fun of settling in was over, Claudia had two unexpected problems: She felt just the same, and she wanted to feel different; and she found a statue at the Museum so beautiful she could not go home until she had discovered its maker, a question that baffled the experts, too.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

For more than a century, The Wind in the Willows and its endearing protagonists—Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and, of course, the incorrigible Toad—have enchanted children of all ages. Whether the four friends are setting forth on an exciting adventure, engaging in a comic caper, or simply relaxing by the River Thames, their stories will surprise and captivate you.

Hailed as one of the most enduringly popular works of the twentieth century, this story is a classic of magical fancy and enchanting wit. Penned in lyrical prose, the adventures and misadventures of the book’s intrepid quartet of heroes raise fantasy to the level of myth. Reflecting the freshness of childhood wonder, it still offers adults endless sophistication, substance, and depth.

Abhorsen by Garth Nix

Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger—and a possible murderer—to inherit his vast fortune, one thing's for sure: Sam Westing may be dead ... but that won't stop him from playing one last game!

Gone by Michael Grant

In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young.

There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day. It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your 15th birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Little orphan Heidi goes to live high in the Alps with her gruff grandfather and brings happiness to all who know her on the mountain. When Heidi goes to Frankfurt to work in a wealthy household, she dreams of returning to the mountains and meadows, her friend Peter, and her beloved grandfather.

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

The story begins with a lonely boy named Bastian and the strange book that draws him into the beautiful but doomed world of Fantastica. Only a human can save this enchanted place by giving its ruler, the Childlike Empress, a new name. But the journey to her tower leads through lands of dragons, giants, monsters, and magic, and once Bastian begins his quest, he may never return. As he is drawn deeper into Fantastica, he must find the courage to face unspeakable foes and the mysteries of his own heart.

[bbigmood]

i picked up the hunger games when i was in the 5th-6th grades (imo, the ideal reader age) and loved it so much i pleaded my friends to read it with me but they were disinterested with the genre and waved me off. i even skipped school to see the movie premiere with just my mom

then i reached middle and high school, and slowwwwly as the franchise blew up, my peers began reading it. by then of course, i’d totally aged out of the series, but it was kinda cool to see a book series you read as a kid gain popularity

then i made the unfortunate decision to crack open the books again in college and oh my god. i know i was like 11 the first time i read these, but jeez. the narrative is seldom deeper than “i shot the arrow. my hair is black. the government sucks!” it’s a nice story, i enjoyed it when i was a kid, but i can’t read this as an adult and take it seriously. i LOVE kid’s books too, but i think authors like e l konigsburg and louis sachar are much better at creating meaningful stories that don’t feel borderline condescending to read

typically with media this shallow, any headcanons or theories are more playing with a universe and characters rather than actually reading into the meaning of the source material (see harry potter) so it’s easy for me to brush it off. but when i see something i want to disagree with, the only opinions i have are the ones i formed when i was still learning slope notation let alone how to read into a book well

so when i try to make a claim about thg and someone (usually younger than me, who was in the reading range for these books way more recently than i) asks me to back my claim up, im like. idk. i haven’t touched the book in over a decade. couldn’t pay me to do so. there’s nothing in the book that would matter to me anyways. but my opinions still matter!!!