Still Hunting

The one that started everything. Five kids, a dying Andalite, and a war nobody on Earth knows is happening.

The last one. I still haven't fully made peace with how it ended, and I was warned.

The origin story. Kristy gets the idea during a phone call and the whole series begins. I wanted to be Claudia.

Four siblings living alone in a boxcar, making do. I found this deeply aspirational. Would still read it in the original boxcar.

Sammy Keyes sees something through binoculars she wasn't supposed to see. The whole series is so sharp — Sammy is one of the best kid detectives ever written.

She carried a notebook everywhere. So did I, after reading this. The notebook habit stuck.

A girl so smart she develops telekinesis, a teacher who throws children by their pigtails, and a library that saves everything. My favorite Dahl.

Looking for an older edition with the original Joseph Schindelman illustrations if possible — they're stranger and better than what came later.

A boy escapes his horrible aunts inside an enormous magical peach with a crew of giant insects. Completely unhinged. Perfect.

Looking for an edition with the original John Tenniel illustrations — they're as much a part of the book as the text. The Cheshire Cat in particular.

The sequel that's somehow stranger than the original. Humpty Dumpty's logic is undefeated. Would like to find both volumes together.

Stanley Yelnats digs holes in the Texas desert at a camp for bad boys. Three timelines, one perfect plot, the Newbery Medal. One of the most structurally satisfying books ever written for any age.

The one that started it all. A family moves to a town where all the neighbors are dead. Classic setup, surprisingly effective.

Slappy. The scariest Goosebumps villain by a wide margin. He just keeps coming back.

A Halloween mask that won't come off. The concept is simple and it works completely.

Borrowed from the school library so many times — never owned it. Looking for an older edition with the original Feiffer illustrations.

My copy disappeared during a move in 2007 and I've been quietly grieving it ever since.

Looking for a good run of early BSC books. Any edition, any condition — these were read to pieces.

The one where we find out about Stacey's diabetes and her old NYC friends try to shut the BSC down. A formative book for the series.

Karen Brewer was chaotic in the best way. I think she was the first fictional character I found genuinely annoying and loved anyway.

The Aldens spend the summer on their own island. Again, aspirational.

Halloween mystery. Looking for several Sammy Keyes books — ideally the full run.

Looking for older editions — the revised 1959 versions are fine, but the original 1930 text is something else. Nancy was much more aggressive in the originals.

The ending is still controversial and I still think it's right. Quentin Blake's Grand High Witch illustration lived in my nightmares.

Big Friendly Giant who catches dreams and speaks in the most charming invented syntax. The Queen of England gets involved. As she should.

Danny and his father poach pheasants from a horrible landowner. Quieter than Dahl's usual, and somehow his most tender book.

Looking for this one — need to track down the exact author and edition. A cat on a ship named Thomas.

Dad's doing plant experiments in the basement and acting strange. One of the better ones.

Classic genie-wish logic taken to its mean conclusion. The ending stuck with me.

A family moves to the Florida swamp and something's out there at night. Better atmosphere than most in the series.

An amusement park where the rides might actually kill you. The premise is great and Stine commits to it.

Need to find this one. Details TBD.

Made me want to run away and live in a hollowed-out tree. Still a valid aspiration.

The whole series, ideally — I read them all but only vaguely remember which was which.

Chester the cricket and his improbable life in the Times Square subway station. A perfect book.

Kit Tyler in Puritan Connecticut. I think about this book more than I've ever admitted to anyone.

A haunted house mystery. Nancy Drew haunted house > most haunted house books.

Short, perfect, and genuinely funny. Three awful farmers versus one clever fox.

Green slime that keeps growing and makes things grow with it. A can of something you absolutely should not open.

A boy hatches a triceratops from an enormous egg. This is exactly as good as it sounds.