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ryanreactsHarriet the Spy
In the summer of 1996, my sister & I and at least two of our five cousins spent a month with Grandma & Granddad. They had recently gotten cable, so we watched a lot of Nickelodeon. This was their very first movie, so they promoted the hell out of it and made all four-or-was-it-seven of us excited to see it. I don't actually remember seeing it for the first time, but I do remember the aftermath. Everyone else enjoyed it, but I LOVED IT and wanted to be Harriet and spent the rest of the summer pretending that I was. Even though, you know, I didn't really have much to spy on other than my own family.
When the VHS was released, I begged my mom to buy it. She did, and I was thrilled to be able to watch it over and over and over. At some point I even took it to school. I was in a very small third-grade class, and all of them also got inspired to start keeping a notebook. I don't think any specific drama ever happened, but before it could our teacher made an announcement that we should not write anything that wasn't nice. So I stopped bringing my notebook to school, and looked forward to going home so I could write whatever I wanted. After all, what is the point of writing if you can't write the truth?
Obviously, the film is based on a book that was first published in 1964. I don't remember exactly when I first read it, but I was young enough that Harriet seemed wise and mature and worldly. She's eleven.
I also don't remember when I realized that it is My Favorite Book of All Time, but I do know that I can barely even imagine what my life would be like without it, and I still wish I could be Harriet.
Animorphs
My name is Ryan.
I think I was eleven when I read my first of these books --- #23, The Pretender. Before that I had seen them on display at Barnes & Noble many times. I presumed that there were a lot of Animorphs and each cover depicted one character who could only morph into that particular animal. Hahaha, WRONG.
Gosh, I really don't even know what to say about this series. Jake, Cassie, Marco, Ax, Tobias, and Rachel are some of my favorite fictional characters ever written. Some lines are burned into my brain forever.
"Fall down seven times, stand up eight."
"Evidently I am insane. May I go now?"
"Is it not time for cookies?"
"Please make every effort not to drop me!"
"Yellow is the color of warning. I do not know why."
"Live free or die!"
"I wondered if---"
Someday I will re-read all sixty-something books, and I hope someday comes sooner than later.
In the summer of 1996, my sister & I and at least two of our five cousins spent a month with Grandma & Granddad. They had recently gotten cable, so we watched a lot of Nickelodeon. This was their very first movie, so they promoted the hell out of it and made all four-or-was-it-seven of us excited to see it. I don't actually remember seeing it for the first time, but I do remember the aftermath. Everyone else enjoyed it, but I LOVED IT and wanted to be Harriet and spent the rest of the summer pretending that I was. Even though, you know, I didn't really have much to spy on other than my own family.
When the VHS was released, I begged my mom to buy it. She did, and I was thrilled to be able to watch it over and over and over. At some point I even took it to school. I was in a very small third-grade class, and all of them also got inspired to start keeping a notebook. I don't think any specific drama ever happened, but before it could our teacher made an announcement that we should not write anything that wasn't nice. So I stopped bringing my notebook to school, and looked forward to going home so I could write whatever I wanted. After all, what is the point of writing if you can't write the truth?
Obviously, the film is based on a book that was first published in 1964. I don't remember exactly when I first read it, but I was young enough that Harriet seemed wise and mature and worldly. She's eleven.
I also don't remember when I realized that it is My Favorite Book of All Time, but I do know that I can barely even imagine what my life would be like without it, and I still wish I could be Harriet.
Animorphs
My name is Ryan.
I think I was eleven when I read my first of these books --- #23, The Pretender. Before that I had seen them on display at Barnes & Noble many times. I presumed that there were a lot of Animorphs and each cover depicted one character who could only morph into that particular animal. Hahaha, WRONG.
Gosh, I really don't even know what to say about this series. Jake, Cassie, Marco, Ax, Tobias, and Rachel are some of my favorite fictional characters ever written. Some lines are burned into my brain forever.
"Fall down seven times, stand up eight."
"Evidently I am insane. May I go now?"
"Is it not time for cookies?"
"Please make every effort not to drop me!"
"Yellow is the color of warning. I do not know why."
"Live free or die!"
"I wondered if---"
Someday I will re-read all sixty-something books, and I hope someday comes sooner than later.
