Since early childhood, I’ve had a voracious love of reading. I’d dive into anything I could get my tiny hands on with reckless abandon, age level be damned. I’d ricochet between Jane Eyre one day and Goosebumps the next - and hey, some could argue that Eyre is in itself a horror story so maybe there is some consistency. I read The Phantom Tollbooth so many times, I’ve had to glue the cover back on twice. I could replace it with a new copy, but that history is what makes it so special.
In my now-aged state, I can trace a myriad of life lessons that shaped me all the way back to my childhood obsession with books:
Matilda taught me that being a quirky kid with strong interests and limited social interaction didn’t mean I had less of a voice than my peers. This long-time homeschooled kid still owes Roald Dahl a debt of gratitude.
The Baby-Sitter’s Club showed me that you can develop your entrepreneurial spirit at any age, which led me to selling handmade goods in a hobby store by 12 years old. Don’t let your dreams be dreams, kids.
Most influential of all was A Series of Unfortunate Events. Over the course of those thirteen books, I learned to keep moving when things go wrong, to see all the beauty between inevitable hardships, and to never underestimate the power of an extensive vocabulary - all of which has come in handy as I battle complex health problems.
I’m sure each and every one of us can trace back similar pathways. We can attribute persistence to The Hobbit and sacrifice to The Giver. We learned how magical chosen families can be from Harry Potter. Our curiosities were encouraged by Harriet the Spy. We all remember the bonding experience of staying up late with a best friend and traumatizing ourselves with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
I’ve kept my childhood copies of these books close to my heart, lugging them back and forth with each cross-country move. As adults, our free time is often so limited and it can be difficult to find opportune moments to read. I find myself prioritizing new-to-me novels rather than circling back around to my YA staples. That’s what inspired me to paint this Young Adult Nostalgia Book Stack. Now, every time I walk down my hallway, I am transported back into the feeling of what it was to be young, curious, and craving my next great literary adventure.
The Young Adult Nostalgia Book Stack Art Print will be available in my shop on Sunday, October 6th. To celebrate its release, my whole shop will be 10% until midnight on Monday, October 7th.
