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Reading In the 70s and 80s
Part of the resulting discussions from the Wall Street Journal Darkness Too Visible article is what Young Adult books were around “back when I was a teenager.” I’ve also read people comment that the existence of Young Adult books somehow prevents teens from reading non-young-adult books, that is, adult books.
I was born in the mid 1960s. So, that meant I was a “young adult” from the late 70s to the mid 80s. During that time, I read everything: children’s books, teen books, and adult books. I read old and new titles. I read classics and crap.
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I found what I read in bookstores (suburban New Jersey), such as Walden Books. There were some things in the library. The school libraries had an odd mix of books — just as odd as the books I liked reading! My high school library had Stephen King and Lenora Mattingly Weber.
Young adult authors and books that I read as a young adult. For some, such as Ellen Emerson White, I continued to look for and read books by her even when I got older.
Norma Klein. See her wikipedia article for the titles and dates. More on Klein here and here.
Ellen Emerson White. Wikipedia article for the titles and dates.
Grounding of Group 6 by Julian Thompson.
The Last of Eden by Stephanie S. Tolan.
Tell Me If the Lovers are Losers by Cynthia Voigt. Based on the date, it looks like I read this in college not high school.
It’s a week of 90s temperatures here, so that’s it for now! Check out this website, Cliquey Pizza 3, for a mix of middle grade and YA books from the 80s, with covers I recognize.
Were you a teen reading in the 1970s and 1980s? What YA books did you read? If you didn’t, do the books I mention (or others in the comments or links) ring a bell at all?
Edited to add: A few of us were talking about these books using the Twitter hashtag #80sYA. So, you can search/tweet there.
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About Elizabeth Burns
Looking for a place to talk about young adult books? Pull up a chair, have a cup of tea, and let's chat. I am a New Jersey librarian. My opinions do not reflect those of my employer, SLJ, YALSA, or anyone else. On Twitter I'm @LizB; my email is lizzy.burns@gmail.com.
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