About me: I work in a public library as a Children’s Programmer and Sr. Library Assistant. I’m a mom of one wonderful 10 year old boy and married to an amazing man who is also my very best friend.
I’ve been blogging for nearly 8 months, at Lost in the Library, and I love it. It’s become a way for me to share what I’m passionate about with others and I’ve been so fortunate to meet some fabulous people while doing it. You can also find me on Twitter, @librarygalreads or email me at librarygal [at] hotmail [dot] ca
Post:
As a tween, reading was my most favourite activity. I went to the library every week-sometimes twice and would check out a huge stack and just read and read and read. I went through a few different genre phases during this time-
There was my classics phase where I devoured anything by Dickens, Bronte or Austen.
I had a Lurlene McDaniel phase, where every book I read had someone with cancer or someone dying as a result of a horrible accident.
My science fiction phase -that I never really outgrew
I also had a “books that scare me to death” phase and that is where the author Joan Lowery Nixon came in.
Joan is skilled at writing thrillers that have you holding your breath until you turn the page (especially if you’re 11 or 12). The Other Side of the Dark was one that I read over and over again. It was first published in 1986 by Laurel-Leaf Publications.
original cover (this is the copy I have)
New-more contemporary cover
Summary from GoodReads Stacy wakes up in a room that's not hers, in a body she doesn't recognize, to discover she's been in a coma for four years. Her mother is dead--—murdered--—and Stacy, recovering from a gunshot wound, is the only eyewitness to her mother's murder. She can recall only a shadowy face, so far. But the killer is not about to let her reveal his identity...
This was a plot driven book that kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I did not predict the ending at all, although that might have been different if I were to read it now. One scene which has completely stuck with me is a part in the story where Stacy and her best friend are getting ready for a party. She does her hair and makeup and picks out her outfit which is a red silk blouse and jeans (which she first shrinks in the dryer) and then she struggles for 10 minutes just to get into them.
At 12, I thought this would be a fantastic outfit and had my mom buy me new jeans (which I shrank) and a lovely red blouse (though as I recall it was closer to orange) and it was silk of course. I am very glad that there are no pictures to document this glamourous fashion statement, though it is burned into my mind. (at least no one else can see)
I haven’t re-read the book since my teen years and though it’s sitting on my bookshelf downstairs as I write, I’m not sure if I’ll ever read it again. I’d really like to preserve the memory of how I feel about it through those ‘tween’ eyes.
Thank you so much Jennifer! I definitely went through a Joan Lowry Nixon phase, so this brings back all kinds of memories!
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