The Friday Five: The book edition:

1. What were your favorite childhood stories?
When I was a kid, I read constantly. I'd spend my entire allowance on those Scholastic book order things. I loved the Nancy Drew books when I was really little and grew into the Judy Blume books.

2. What books from your childhood would you like to share with [your] children?
I don't have any children and don't plan to have any so it's a moot point.

3. Have you re-read any of those childhood stories and been surprised by anything?
I never have. I probably should go back and look at some of the stuff I used to read.

4. How old were you when you first learned to read?
I can't remember exactly. I do remember reading to my younger brother when he was like, 2 so that would have made me 5. I could already read when I started school. Thank you Sesame Street!

5. Do you remember the first 'grown-up' book you read? How old were you?
I remember that my friends Shari and Mary Lou and Eleah and I were always reading. We started reading more "adult" books probably around the 5th grade. We were 10 or 11 and reading "teenage" books. I remember one book in particular that I'd borrowed from Shari. It was a book about a teenage girls struggles to come out as a lesbian to her parents. My mother found it and hit the roof (nice huh? -- just ever so slightly homophobic). She told me that I wasn't like this and should read such a book and she marched me over to Shari's house and return it to her.

The first real "grown-up" book I remember reading was The Tuesday Blade. It was one of Shari's mum's books and we all took turns reading it (under the radar of course). Years later, I picked up a copy of the book at a used book fair and it turned out to be the same copy we'd read all those years ago.