Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

I follow a great blog called Bookshelvers Anonymous which had a great post asking what places from books affected you so much, that you would like to visit them.

Here's a link to the original post if you want to see it:
http://shelversanon.blogspot.com.au/2...

I thought it was such a great question that I would set up a discussion to see what our members have to say.

To get the ball rolling...

I'd love to go to Hogwarts and wander through the amazing corridors, see the room of requirements, the great hall, and of course, Hagrid's shack .... as well as Diagon Alley, Platform 9 3/4s ..... on and on and on.

While not YA or middle-grade fiction, I'd have to say Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover. I spent a long time imagining myself in that world when I was younger.

Hogsmead would definitely be on my list. Neverland always fascinated me, as well. And there were many places in Narnia that I wished I could visit. Oh, and what about Rivendell--I'd have followed Bilbo in a heartbeat.

I always loved the idea of being able to go exploring with my friends or siblings, so places like Gone-Away Lake appealed to me.

I, like everyone else, want to go to Hogwarts. Has anyone been to the amusement park?

I would also add: I would love to to to the land of the Borrowers.

Why is it that being tiny has some appeal? You know, like in Honey I shrunk the kids. What is the appeal of dollhouses?

I would love to visit the fantasy garden that is from this book:

Rebecca and the Strangest Garden on Earth

My niece, who is quite the artist, filled several pages of her sketchbook up with drawings as we read this book together. She loved recreating the garden as she saw it in her mind! Very cool, IMO.

E.S. wrote: "I, like everyone else, want to go to Hogwarts. Has anyone been to the amusement park?"

I've been to the HP World in Orlando. I admit, I nearly forgot to go to the rest of the park because I was having so much fun being a wizard.

Speaking of gardens, what about Secret Garden?

There are a lot of stories about tiny people, and dollhouses, etc., aren't there, E.S.? I'm not sure I can define the appeal, but it seems to hit boys and girls, big kids and little ones.... The Indian in the Cupboard, The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail.

V.K. wrote: "E.S. wrote: "I, like everyone else, want to go to Hogwarts. Has anyone been to the amusement park?"

I've been to the HP World in Orlando. I admit, I nearly forgot to go to the rest of the park bec..."

Glad to know it will be worth it when we finally manage to get there! There is so much to do in Orlando, I'm not quite sure how we'll plan it.

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "There are a lot of stories about tiny people, and dollhouses, etc., aren't there, E.S.? I'm not sure I can define the appeal, but it seems to hit boys and girls, big kids and little ones.... The I..."

Yes, there are. One of my favorites was a book my mom had when she was little.



I haven't read The End of the Beginning. I'll have to give it a try!

Definitely the Wonka Chocolate Factory.

Oh what a great topic! The Secret Garden is definitely a place I'd love to go. And Lyra's Oxford in the Golden Compass.

E.S. wrote: "Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "There are a lot of stories about tiny people, and dollhouses, etc., aren't there, E.S.? I'm not sure I can define the appeal, but it seems to hit boys and girls, big kids a..."

You might like this book

The Candymakers I read it on the recommendation of Reads4tweens.com. It's really cute, but I found that the description of so many sweets left me with a virtual tummy-ache. One of my most vivid memories was being baffled by my grandmother and her sister complaining that a dessert was "too rich." I couldn't imagine how anything could be too sweet, but now I know what their talking about! :)

As a kid I desperately wanted to get into Narnia, and later Middle Earth. Most of my favorite books made me want to go and join the characters, my new best friends.

And which ones do I still want to go visit? I'd still go to Middle Earth or Narnia in a blink. I'm pretty sure there are others, too, but I can't think of them right now. I read a lot of historical fiction and though there are good reasons to stay in the present, I would love to visit many of those periods.

When I was a kid I wanted to go to Wonderland with Alice and the White Rabbit, how I loved that story. And now, I would like to go to Hogwards with my children.

When I was a kid, I wanted to go to the junkyard in The Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators stories. I even changed Bob's name to Beth when I was reading it, so I could pretend to be her. How awesome would it be to have a hideout in a forgotten trailer, buried under piles of junk with only secret tunnels for access.

Wow I love all of these, I am going to have to agree with a couple of you on Hogwarts and Narnia, but I'm also going to throw in Camp-Half blood from the Percy Jackson books. Oh man it's a three-way tie!

Ooh, Krystalyn, I loved the junkyard too! And all the neat places from a Wrinkle in Time.

My boys and I have been loving seeing history through Mike Dunbar's newest book in The Castleton Series, Lost Crew. We are currently in Carthage and it is pretty awesome (as in large, powerful, and a bit scary; not necessarily super cool!) Looking forward to where those boys take us next!

E.S. wrote: "I, like everyone else, want to go to Hogwarts. Has anyone been to the amusement park?

Who wouldn't want to go to Hogwarts? =)

We took the kids to Orlando just after the Harry Potter attraction opened. It was, by far, everyone's favorite part of the park.

Mary

M.E. wrote: "E.S. wrote: "I, like everyone else, want to go to Hogwarts. Has anyone been to the amusement park?

Who wouldn't want to go to Hogwarts? =)

We took the kids to Orlando just after the Harry Potter ..."
Me managed to get there this summer! We agree - it was the kids favorite park. We stayed after close and were the last people in front of the castle - got some really cool pictures. :)

Out of the blue last night my ten year old told me that if he could live in any fictional book world it would be REDWALL -- because the food all sounded so good!

Good point, MG. Those feasts. . .

I just read The Adventures of Mabel - very old, but perfectly readable and lots of fun. I'd like to live with her and her Grandma and be able to ride a horse and talk to all her animal friends and, though only 6, be in such a safe area that I could spend the entire morning exploring way out of earshot.

(In my review I'm going to say that the book would be a lot better if Mabel were 9/10 instead of 5/6. It would be more believable, too, despite the talking animals and other magical elements. :)

I always wanted to visit Boston and see the Swan Boats that are mentioned in The Trumpet of the Swan...I was so excited when we did finally visit Boston a few years ago and finally got to see them. My husband just couldn't understand it - he hadn't read the book and to him, they were just cheesy paddleboats with big swan moulds on either side! ;-)