Flowers in the Attic - V.C. Andrews

I cross the finish line with both fists pumping the air. I've made it! 10 books from my youth, read in the month of December, completing my Shelf Discovery Challenge! And what a way to finish my marathon, but to read probably the most scandalous book of my formative years, Flowers in the Attic.

First I must comment on the difficult of obtaining said book. I actually had the entire series in my possession until my daughter got her own room about five years ago, thus eliminating a bookshelf and forcing a book purge. So I ordered it from the library, but I was number 10 in line. What the hey???? So I tried the little used bookstore around the corner from my house, and the owner scratched her head and said six months ago she had 5 copies, but have all since been purchased. Unbelievably, I had to go out and buy the damn thing new at Borders (all the while, listening to the saleslady rant and rave at the placement of this book in YA...I know, it's just wrong.) Dare we attribute this mania to the book Shelf Discovery? Or just a rekindling of interest in incestuous relationships? It is a mystery to me.


So we all know the plot here right? I'm not going to spoil anything for you? If you REALLY don't know the plot, and are going to read this book someday, skip on down to the end. But who are we kidding? We all know that this is the book where the brother and sister do it. But just to refresh your memory of all the other ancillary details, allow me.

Beautiful blonde Dresden-dollish mother, father, son Chris, daughter Cathy, and twins Cory and Carrie live a charmed life. Until dad doesn't come home one day, killed in a car accident. Mother was a trophy wife, and can't pay the bills, so she tells the kids she must go beg forgiveness from her estranged and filthy rich parents. The mother's "transgressions" (the word of the day) yet to be disclosed, later to be revealed. Kids have to stay up in the attic until mom can woo her cranky and dying father to write her back into the will...apparently he will blow a gasket if he finds out there were spawns of the evil union between mom and the late great dad. After all, she tells the children, money makes the world go 'round, not love. Not to worry though, it will all be worth it, and will only be for a week or two at most.

Three and a half years later, the kids are still living in the attic. The truly nasty (the nastiest you can possibly imagine) grandmother brings them food daily, but has a list of rules, that scream religious repression, they must abide by. Failure to do so will result in starvation, whipping, and one particular incident with tar. Chris and Cathy come of age in the attic, and are forced to entertain and care for their young brother and sister, who are failing to thrive. And yes, due to close proximity and sexual awakening, there is a moment of weakness (ugh). As Chris and Cathy grow older, they realize they must escape to survive, and in the process of doing so, they discover some truths about their grandparents and their mother that are devastating.

Really, this is the stuff of trashy paperbacks. As adults, we utter an embarassed laugh and shake our heads at our youthful obsession over this series of books. But I must be brutally honest with you...I loved this book just as much now as I did back then. The hatred that I felt towards the grandmother never diminished. I cursed under my breath, willing Chris to bash her over the head with a chair (it is a clear case of self-defense!!!). I equally felt rage towards the self-absorbed, materialistic mother who wanted to be rich at the expense of her children. The heartbreaking truth, which is revealed at the end of the book, left me breathless and spent when I turned the last page. What I really wanted to do was race out that very minute and get the next book in the series. I have vague memories of what happens to Chris and Cathy, but nothing that is in the least bit satisfying. Not that I don't have a good solid fifty books in my short-term TBR, but I may just have to indulge at some point.

Granted, the whole thing between brother and sister is just gross, but in the spirit of this challenge and allowing myself to digress and go along for the ride, it is all a part of the tragedy and abuse wreaked on these children. I think as an adult and as a mother, it just heightened the horror of the entire plot. I'd like to say that it was totally unrealistic, but if you watch the news, sadly, we know it does happen.

Did you read this book as a teenager? Have you read of V.C. Andrews' other books?


4 out of 5 stars

Go Ask Alice - Anonymous

So far in my Shelf Discovery journey, it has been fun and games. The frivolity stopped here, at my ninth book in my Shelf Discovery Challenge Rampage Month. I read Go Ask Alice in high school, and like many of the Judy Blume books, it was underwear-drawer-worthy. One that you and all your friends had to read at all costs, but was like the hot potato that you didn't want to be holding when your parents took an interest.

The story is in a diary format, written by an unnamed girl of 15, growing up in the '60's culture. At the opening of the book, she seems like the normal, dramatic, hyper-sensitive teen. She doesn't feel like she fits into the popular crowd, she has a crush on a boy who may or may not notice her, she hates her hair and is annoyed with her parents. But as she continues to document her life, we start to see issues with her weight (binging and starving), and wicked mood swings. Soon, in an effort to be accepted, starts to hang with the wrong crowd and begins using drugs - LSD, pot, uppers, and various injectible substances. During her drug trips, she allows boys to have sex with her. She bounces from friend to friend, boyfriend to boyfriend. She pushes drugs to younger children to earn money. She runs away, her life goes to hell, then runs back to her family, again and again.

This is an extremely disturbing account of what happens to kids who become lost. The books is, after all, aptly named after the famous Jefferson Airplane song about drug abuse. The girl comes from a good family, and when she is having a good day, she appreciates them and gushes her love for them. On a bad day, she hates them. It is frightening to witness how she can be on cloud 9 today, swearing she is going to turn her life around, and the next week she has run away to San Francisco, in dirty clothes, starving and high, hoping she isn't pregnant. You honestly don't know what girl you will find at the next journal entry. The book ends abruptly, and not in the way you think it will. As a parent, it breaks your heart. But in high school, it scared the living crap out of you.

Do I believe it really is a journal written by a real girl who was protected by her publishers? No, not really. I think that Anonymous thing is a gimmick. (Some claim the author is Beatrice Sparks, psychologist and Mormon youth counselor.) When we all read this book in high school though, we all talked about it as if it were absolutely true, with wide, frightened, reverent eyes. The author certainly has captured the essence of the troubled teen soul, and has accomplished what I am sure he/she set out to achieve: drug prevention at its finest.

4.5 out of 5

A Little Princess: The Story of Sara Crewe - Frances Hodgson Burnett

For my eighth book in my Shelf Discovery Challenge Rampage Month, I decided to read "A Little Princess". I did not read this book as a child, but my husband had very fond memories of reading it in Poland as a youth. I find this somewhat comical, because this novel seems so totally feminine. Apparently, his sister read the book first, and convinced him it was worth the effort just to bask in the deliciously horrid character of Miss Minchen. We have also always loved the movie, which is precious and magical.

The story is about a young girl named Sara Crewe, who was raised in India by her very wealthy father. Being motherless hasn't seemed to dampen this girl's spirits. In fact, she is a mature, joyful and well-adjusted child, who is loved by all. At the age of 7, her father takes her to a London school for girls, run by the brutal, money-mongering Miss Minchen. But money talks, and Sara lives well...she is given the largest room, a personal servant of her own, and the biggest birthday parties. Sara is not spoiled though. She speaks flawless French, is an excellent dancer, and has befriended most of the girls, even the backwards and difficult ones. Everyone calls her "Princess Sara", because she believes that every girl is a princess, no matter how poor or rich, how beautiful or plain.


On Sara's 11th birthday, however, she receives word that her father has died suddenly, and without a penny, due to a bad investment. The evil Minchen absconds of Sara's beautiful possessions, forces her into servitude, starves her, and provides a rat-infested attic in which to live. In Princess Sara style, she refuses to let her circumstances get her down. She finds beauty in the sunsets from the attic window, she befriends the resident rat, continues to entertain the other girls with fantastic stories, tells herself that she is still a princess, and holds fast to her dignity. Magical things start to happen when a family movies in next door, accompanied by a mysterious Indian gentleman. Who are they? And who sneaks into the attic while Sara is away, leaving food, comfortable bedding and books?

This is an amazing, charming, magical tale that envies Cinderella. I can see why children would be obsessed with it. The prose seemed a little simplistic and awkward at times, with the point of view erratically jumping all over the place. Still, it does not take away from the pleasure of reading this enchanted book of good versus evil.

BUT (this is a seriously big but), it was to my great disadvantage to have seen the movie first. I loved that movie. I've seen it dozens of times. But someone took the written word and completely bastardized it. In case you haven't seen the movie, I won't go into details, but let's just say that they Hollywooded it to freaking death, and totally changed the story. And I had no idea until I finished the book one night. It was almost a book-throwing situation. I raged to my husband the next morning over our orange juice. "What the hell was THAT?", I asked. "How dare they?", I screamed. He stood there open-mouthed for a few seconds, then said "Well it isn't the author's fault!". I replied, "Yes, I know that. But I couldn't separate the two, and it ruined it for me!".

So this is a perfect example of how the movie can ruin the book. If you've never experienced either, I think you will love the book. If you've seen the movie first, just be prepared for a whole different plot, and proceed with caution and no expectations!

3 out of 5 stars

Wifey - Judy Blume

For my seventh book in my Shelf Discovery Challenge Rampage Month, I chose Judy Blume's "Wifey". I have strong memories of the cover that I've pictured below, but I can't be sure if I actually read it. I seriously hope not. I either saw it on my mom's bookshelf, or coveted it at the bookstore, but I really had no business turning past the first page until I was at least voting age, maybe even drinking age. If I did read it at an early age, I must have blocked it out as a result of sever trauma to my formative mind.

If "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret" pushed the envelope for fifth graders, and "Forever" was written to provide edgy and explicit sex education to teenagers, then this little puppy was written for the adult ladies. In a nutshell, this is really a Jackie Collins-esque, smut-tastic, laughter-inducing trash novel, packaged in Blume's easy-reading prose that she is famous for.


Enter Sandy Pressman, stay-at-home mother of two, wife of Norman Pressman for twelve years. She makes chicken on Wednesdays, pot roast on Thursdays, and provides Norm with his weekly romp on Saturdays (never mind that he sprays room freshener and gargles afterwards). Every Tuesday, a helmeted man rides his motorcycle into her backyard and is (ahem) the Master of His Domain in full view, then waves goodbye to her. Her husband is a stuffed shirt that criticizes Sandy's every move, and desperately wants her to learn to play tennis and golf at The Club so they can properly live as esteemed upper class (never mind that she hates all sports).

Her best friend is a swinger, her neighbors' husbands hit on her, and her mother-in-law is a bigot.

As you can imagine, Sandy isn't happy. Frankly, she's bored, and she's starting to have a full-blown mid-life crisis. She can't stop thinking about "the one who got away" - her bad boy crush that she had before she settled and married safe Norm. She fantasizes about the bad boy, about the cabana boy, about the plumber who used to sleep with her sister...

You can probably take it from here. Every four letter word signifying a private part, every sex act (with or without a partner), STDs, pot-smoking, we got it all covered folks. It was the seventies, after all! Is there an underlying message? I'm not sure. Maybe. Who cares? We're not solving world hunger here, we're just taking a couple of days to throw caution to the wind, laugh until we pee, and love Blume for taking us there.

4 out of 5 stars

Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder

I don't think there is a kid that grew up in the '70's and '80's that wasn't at least aware of The Little House on the Prairie ala the TV show. I came home from school every day as a kid and watched these episodes (along with The Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island and Batman). I grew up with freckle-faced, buck-toothed Laura and prissy, perfect Mary. I laughed whenever Nellie made an ass of herself, and cried when Mary went blind. Because of the TV shows, I was compelled to read all the books as well. I loved them all, but the first one is my sentimental favorite, and earned it's place as my sixth read for my Shelf Discovery Challenge Rampage Month.

As a kid, I remember being totally charmed by the story of Laura Ingalls, and her life on a farm in Wisconsin in the late 1800's. Sure, they didn't have much money and had to work hard for everything they had. You butcher the animals you raise, you have to defend yourself against wild creatures, and you take pleasures in the little things in life...visiting neighbors, a warm fire, and real sugar. Curling up with this book was always my comfort read.

As an adult, I found my reaction to be a little less mild. How was I not horrified at the idea of blowing up a butchered pig's bladder and playing with it like a balloon? Or butchering a small calf to extract its stomach lining to make cheese? Ewww. The book reads like a farmer's handbook on how to survive in the middle of nowhere...how to make bullets, how to make maple syrup, how to make butter and how to thresh wheat. At this stage in my life, I read this and shake my head at the idea of having to braid little threads of wheat to make a hat.

Another knee-jerk reaction I had was how I incredibly irritated I became with Mary. She stayed clean, she sat ladylike at Sunday dinner, never got into trouble, showcased her golden curls, and constantly rubbed Laura's nose in it! What a b*tch! Poor Laura. Listening to this passage, I wondered how the little thing didn't end up in therapy:

The storekeeper said to Pa and Ma, "That's a pretty little girl you've got there," and he admired Mary's golden curls. But he did not say anything about Laura, or about her curls. They were ugly and brown.

The illustrations in the book were as familiar to me as my own face. I must have studied them countless times as a child.








If I didn't have a few hundred books on my TBR list, I think I might read the entire series again. Because we all know, this book is only the very beginning of so much more fun and drama!

4 out of 5 stars

Ghosts I Have Been - Richard Peck

Until I browsed through Lizzie Skurnick's book "Shelf Discovery" in preparing for the reading challenge and saw this book cover, I'd completely forgotten that this was one of my favorites back in middle school. Anything written about ghosts were my "thing" back then. Really, Peck has all his bases covered on this one...ghosts, the supernatural, and the Titanic. What's not to love? This book represents my fifth in my Shelf Discovery Challenge Rampage Month.







Blossom Culp is a plucky, middle school aged girl living in a small town in 1913. She is dirt poor, with no father and a mother who is a toothless fruitcake who claims to have the Second Sight. This doesn't seem to bother Blossom a bit, however. She survives by her wits and her cunning. Through a bit of mischief, a chain of events are unleashed which change Blossom's life. She learns that she, too, has the Second Sight. She can see ghosts, she can see events that have happened in the past, and can see things that will happen in the future. She makes quite a name for herself in her small town. But her biggest coup, one that makes her an international sensation, occurs when she slips through a crack in time and finds herself on the Titanic, in the room of a small boy who is left to drown by his socialite parents. And when Blossom pops back into the current day, she brings with her a tragic story and a Titanic blanket that makes her famous beyond her wildest dreams.

Beyond the appeal of everything supernatural, it is hard not to fall in love with Blossom. She refuses to let life get her down, and despite the horrors that her gift brings (she sees a future of devastating wars in one of her visions), she stays upbeat and full of piss and vinegar. She even picks up a boyfriend in the process.

There are two quirks in the writing that got under my skin, ever so slightly. First, Blossom has pretty bad grammar. I realize that is all a part of her persona, but it bugs me nevertheless. Second, Blossom has a bad habit of over-dramatizing the events to come. As in "But of course that was not an end. It was only a bare beginning. Nor was it the last time I was to see the inside of the Principal's office". Small quibbles, I'll admit. Overall, I found Blossom and the story every bit as charming now as I did when I was 12.

4 out of 5 stars

Forever - Judy Blume

Right behind "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret" in the memory department is this little treasure "Forever". I don't think I read it as many times, probably because I was scared of getting caught with it. (Are you loving the cover that I've uploaded? This was the one I originally owned.) While Margaret was fairly innocent, this was fully loaded for a high school kid. I couldn't wait to see if it was as scandalous as an adult as it was back then, so I quickly added it to my list of Shelf Discovery Challenge books.

Katherine meets Michael at a fondue party during their senior year, their eyes meet, and the hormones fly. They immediately start dating, find in each other that something special, and are confronted with that important question faced by teenagers everywhere...to do it, or not to do it. Eventually, the inevitable happens (this is not a spoiler people), and along the way we become well-acquainted with all the other accouterments that accompany first love and first sexual experiences: birth control, finding secluded spots for intimacy, the physical pain of separation, orgasm and jealousy. We raise our eyebrows when Katherine's progressive grandmother sends her pamphlets from Planned Parenthood. We roll our eyes at the now infamous scene where Michael declares his private part to be named "Ralph".

It is a story as old as dirt, and not all that original either. But Blume's writing style makes you feel, deep down in your heart where the crumbs of adolescence still reside, that angst and longing you once knew. Yes, the story IS as scandalous now as it was then (especially with a daughter on the brink of puberty). For Pete's sake, in my library book, the best passages were underlined in INK! With little smiley faces drawn in the margins! The book truly could be entitled "How to Lose Your Virginity 101".

I finished the book feeling just a tad nostalgic for that fleeting, innocent, once-in-a-lifetime moment when your view of the world is baggage-free, heartbreak-free, and uncynical. Unfortunately, we are too young and silly at that moment to appreciate it!

5 out of 5 stars

Then Again, Maybe I Won't - Judy Blume

If "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret" was the answer to edgma-cating young girls about growing up, then I suppose "Then Again, Maybe I Won't" is the answer to boys. While I read this one in my youth as well, it made a slightly less impression on me because it was about BOY ISSUES! Gross! Still, I couldn't wait to read it as a continuation of my Shelf Discovery Challenge Rampage Month.

Tony Miglione is moving to a new home over the summer before his 7th grade year. His dad has struck it rich on one of his electrical inventions, and has been hired on as an executive for the company that purchased it. Gone are the days of wishing for a new bike and working a paper delivery route for spending money. In are the days of a big house with five bathrooms, a live-in maid, a new car and rich neighbors.


Tony quickly makes new friends, particularly with his neighbor, who just happens to be a shoplifter and has a hot sixteen-year-old sister who dresses with her blinds open (which brings on the ever-notorious wet dreams and unexpected/inconvenient moments of "excitement"). His mother starts to become a social-climber, his big brother gives up his dream as a teacher to work with his father and make the big bucks, and Tony doesn't like it a bit. It takes a health issue for Tony to realize that his worries are important, and must be faced down.

Like Margaret, this book was incredibly easy to read, and brought back the memories. I remember my friend Tiffany and I reading this, and giggling in horrid fascination at all the boy problems, and learning that we should always remember to shut our blinds while dressing! For a tween-aged kid, it is a little edgy. Tony and his dad have the required uncomfortable sex talk, there is the wet dream/erection obsession, Tony gets drunk for the first time with his neighbor and throws up in the bushes, and of course he uses his binoculars to watch the neighbor girl get naked. There are great lessons here, though. I suppose if my daughter were a boy, I'd let her read it. Like any book of this nature, it would just need some advance discussion.

This was another great trip back in time. Now, I move on to some heavier, juicier Blume...Forever.

4 out of 5 stars

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle

About six months ago, I saw this book at Target and picked it up with the intention of reading it to my kids. I knew somewhere in my foggy memory of youth I read it, and it did win a Newberry after all. Time to give my lover of Leonardo DiCaprio and my lover of video games some culture. It was sort of a no-brainer that I would review it as a part of my Shelf Discovery Challenge Rampage Month.

I suppose summarizing this book is a moot point, but for those that missed out, here is the gist. Meg, a tween-aged ugly duckling with fly-away hair and braces, her brilliant little brother Charles Wallace, and popular brainiac Calvin O' Keefe all run into each other one night, and go on an adventure to rescue Meg and Charles' scientist father. He's been missing for a number of years - the townspeople think he ran off with the village tramp, but his family knows it must have something to do with his "work", whatever that is. Meg, Charles and Calvin are whisked off through time and space to another universe with the assistance of some questionable old ladies named Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which and the Happy Medium.


It seems that a dark force has gained control or attempting to gain control over everything in the cosmos, including Earth. The kids risk their lives to battle IT, which specializes in mind control, and free father from its clutches. Meg learns some great lessons like fighting your fears, and that her humanity can conquer more than she ever imagined.

With the exception of two things, I remember almost nothing about this book. I'm thinking that it went right over my head when I read it in my younger days. The two things that made an impression on my wee mind and my current older one was "the man with the red eyes" (a pretty scary evil minion of IT) and "Aunt Beast" (a maternal alien with tentacles and good-smelling fur). As an adult, I realize there is a very strong overtone of conformity and uniformity in the story - the whole Big Brother and Communism paranoia that was running rampant in the '60's.

Call me dense, but I just couldn't get into it. Go ahead, throw tomatoes at me! This was a 200-ish page read, and it took me SIX days to read it! The characters were one-dimensional, the story convoluted to the point where things just made no sense (maybe this was the point? who knows...), and frankly I was bored. I'm sure this is why I have little recollection of reading it at an early age, but years did not provide a seasoned insight or affection for it. There are a handful of books that follow A Wrinkle of Time in a series, justifying a family tree diagram in the first few pages. I will not be reading them, however.

2 out of 5 stars

Are You There God, It's Me Margaret

There aren't too many girls that grew up in America in the '80's that didn't learn at least a little bit of the birds and the bees from Are You There God, It's Me Margaret. I read it so many times, and it was passed around to so many of my friends, that it is by far the most influential book I read in my youth. I even still have my original copy, although it is worse for wear (see my pictures below!). For this reason, that I am starting my Shelf Discovery Challenge Rampage Month with this book.




Margaret is the new girl in town, moving from NYC to New Jersey suburbia. She instantly makes friends with three other girls as they all start sixth grade and begin the business of growing up. They all get bras, keep a "Boy Book", participate in exercises to make their breasts grow, worry about who would get their period first, worry about body odor, practice kissing on a pillow, and crush on the cute boy in class. All very important, end-of-the-world stuff to a 12 year old.


At the same time, Margaret struggles emotionally with the reality of living in a home with no religion. Because her father was raised Jewish, and her mother was raised in a Christian home, all hell broke loose when they were married, and have made the decision to let Margaret choose her own faith when she is an adult. Margaret talks to God on a daily basis, confiding in Him when she is happy or confused, angry or sad. She just doesn't know to which God she is speaking. She begins a journey to try to make sense of it all, going to Temple with her grandmother, and to church with her friends. With this plot line, Blume provides a wonderful balance between the light, sweet and humorous, and a very grown-up issue.


When I read this book, I am completely transported back in time. To this day, the words are so familiar to me, if I didn't know better, I'd think they were my own memories. I suspect that no other book in this challenge will touch me quite the same. As an adult, the story did not lose its lustre, did not feel dumbed down or corny. Gro-Bras, Teenage Softies, and Moose Freed will be forever imprinted on my inner tween heart.

5 out of 5 stars

A Challenge Honoring My Youth!

It IS the rule that if I finish a challenge, I get to start a new one. And I have kicked a few challenges to the curb lately, I have! Well, these days we are rolling in a wealth of new challenge "opportunities". What the heck am I going to do in January????? A perfect example of the latest temptation is the Shelf Discovery Challenge, hosted by Julie at Booking Mama.

Shelf Discovery is a recently-published book that seems to have taken the reading world (especially a demographic of women who were teens in the '80's) by storm. All those delicious books that formed our young, malleable minds...you know the ones...are all listed and honored in this publication. The pisser for me is that I have not yet even read the darned thing, but I've done enough research to know what nostalgic trips I'd like to take. It didn't take me long to come up with a list of 10 that I need to read between now and April 30, 2010. Here they are:

1. Are You There God, It's Me Margaret - Judy Blume

2. Wifey - Judy Blume

3. Forever - Judy Blume

4. Go Ask Alice - Anonymous

5. Then Again Maybe I Won't - Judy Blume

6. A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett

7. Little House on the Praire - Laura Ingalls Wilder

8. Summer of My German Soldier - Bette Greene

9. Flowers in the Attic - V.C. Andrews

10. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle


It will be interesting to see if the books measure up to the big, larger-than-life monstrosities that live in my memories. My mom did recently discover my ORIGINAL Margaret book, with the back cover torn off from being passed around to all my friends, with yellowed pages. I read it, then my daughter read it, and it was absolutely wonderful. I knew the thing, even this many years later, almost line by line. For this purpose, though, I will read it again.

I need this challenge like I need the swine flu, but I just can't pass it up. Come on, join me on this one. Grab your flashlights and read under the covers. It will be just like old times!