C is for (Books About) Children

For A to Z 2018, my theme is Books About ____. If you’re stopping by from your own A to Z blog, feel free to leave a link. If you need help with how to do that, you can look here.

If you’re someone looking to read a lot of great blogs, here’s the link for the A to Z challenge.

My list only contains books about kids for adults. Younger children as main characters add a whole different dimension to books for adults.

Me & Emma, by Elizabeth Flock (literary): This book was so unexpectedly good! It was one of those that someone gave me, and I had no idea what to expect. The narrator is 8-year-old Carrie, who lives in a bad situation and just wants to protect her younger sister, Emma. They decide to run away from home, which doesn’t go as plan. This book has a huge twist at the end that’s disturbing but makes for wonderful reading. You’ve been warned.

Firestarter, by Stephen King (horror): This has been one of my favorite books forever. The experiments that Charlie’s parents participated in, giving them psychic powers, seem like something that could have happened. Charlie has pyrokinesis, so of course, the government wants her. Stephen King is a master of horror, and in my mind, this is his masterpiece.

Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens (literary): I didn’t know what to expect before reading this, but it’s really good. I learned some things about Victorian London and got to read an entertaining story at the same time. Oliver is a great protagonist, and I enjoyed following him and seeing the events that happened through his eyes.

Lightning, by Dean Koontz (horror? thriller? romance? really, I never know how to classify Koontz books): I read that Koontz had a hard time selling this book, as the first section is the main character, Laura, as a child. The whole book isn’t like that; she grows up and we follow her from there. If you’re someone who likes books that don’t just do one thing, this one may be for you.

What’s your favorite non-children’s book about a child?

C is for Charlie

Hello, and welcome to Blogging A to Z 2017! Thanks for stopping by.

My theme this month is 26 of the Best Characters in Fiction.

Charlene “Charlie” McGee is a little girl with pyrokinesis in Stephen King’s Firestarter.

I read this book for the first time as a teenager, and it’s still one of my favorite Stephen King books.

First off, I love the idea of a kid who can create fire with her mind. Maybe one or two people have accused me of being a bit of a pyromaniac. I can’t help it! I love candles and fires.

Second, I love child protagonists in horror. Kids don’t react the same way as adults, and it’s interesting to see what they do. They’re more likely to believe in the unbelievable. Plus, people often underestimate kids. This kid is a force to be reckoned with.

Third, I almost never do this, but I associate her with the movie version of her, a young Drew Barrymore. I love Drew Barrymore, and I have to admit that probably is part of the reason for my love of this book. When I picture the character, I picture her.

Charlie is one of those characters who’s stayed with me. She was put in a bunch of horrible situations, but she kept moving forward, and she survived. At any point, she could have just quit, but that never happened. I’m sure the adult version of her would have scars, but I’d like to think she would still be doing her best to live and love.

Stephen King could have written her as unfeeling or numb to her situation, but even at the end of the book, she’s still got a wealth of empathy, even if she’s no longer emotionally a little girl anymore.

Are you a horror fan? If so, what’s your Stephen King book?

Firestarter- A Review

On Throwback Thursdays, I highlight a book that’s been around for awhile, and I tell you why you should read it now.

Firestarter by Stephen King, is a fascinating book, full of great characters, and still one of the scariest books/ movies ever.  It doesn’t rely on blood, gore, or non-human monsters.  The “monsters” are the humans, and a little girl is put into a position of having to be someone she doesn’t want to be, in order to survive.

I don’t know which came first for me: the book or movie.  I’ve always been a Drew Barrymore fan, and I’ve always been a Stephen King fan, so it really could have gone either way.

I love this book from beginning to end.  Charlie is born to parents who participated in an experiment in college.  Both Charlie’s parents got an extra ability from the experiment, but Charlie is pyrokinetic, and because she’s a kid.  A government agency is after both of them, but mostly Charlie, because they want to study them and their abilities.

If you like horror with a strong plot and interesting characters, this is a must read.