alisonwonderland's list

at first i had no clue what books i could pick that somehow represented me - and now i'm having a hard time keeping it to just five! these are the ones i've settled upon:

• Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  one of the few books i've read over and over, this classic non-fiction book was given to me by my mother after i had graduated from college and taken a job in another state. the issues Lindbergh explores are just as pertinent to women today as it was when it was first published in 1955.


• All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
  i am the oldest in a family of seven daughters and no sons, so i grew up in an "all of a kind family" like the one in this novel. i also think this children's book, read to my sisters and me by our mom, was the beginning of my interest in the Jewish culture.


• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
  i read this book a few years ago when it was required reading in my daughter's middle school English class. i immediately fell in love with this celebration of nonconformity. the girl called Stargirl is my hero!


• Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
  this young adult novel is a spin on the Cinderella story that takes place after Ella has been whisked off to the castle by the prince and she finds that both he and life as a princess are not all she had hoped. as a feminist, i believe that, like Ella, girls need to find out who they are as individuals before they become somebody's wife.


• Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker
  this classic novel is a recent discovery for me, and i decided to pick it partly because it's set in the Western United States - and i'm definitely a Western States girl. i also picked it because it is about a young woman growing up and figuring out who she is. (you can read my review of the book here.)

i guess there's a bit of a recurring theme there - but maybe that was the point!