For my cousin's baby shower a few weeks ago they had people give books instead of cards. I was really sad when I couldn't find one of my old favorites anywhere-
There were several others, as well, throughout my childhood.
I know I'm probably forgetting something that I will be mad at myself for later....
When I was ten years old I read a book called The Sword of Shannara and was completely blown away. I loved pretty much every aspect of it: the writing, the characters and the story. Until I finished it, all I wanted to do was to read it. The funny thing is, that later I found out that it was really a total knock-off of The Lord of the Rings, but that doesn't change the amount of awesomeness it held during my preteen years. It's what got me into fantasy and I spent a ton of time looking for something that I would love as much. The closest candidates would probably be The Young Wizards series, the Time Machine and The Mistborn trilogy.
now i have an adult version too if you would like to read it....LOL
There were several others, as well, throughout my childhood.
I know I'm probably forgetting something that I will be mad at myself for later....
I don't like green eggs and ham :-))