Trips to the beach, tennis lessons at the rec-department, and sacred weekly visits to the Lewiston Public Library...the holy triad of my childhood summers.

Why is it, we never know we're living the good life, until way after the fact?

For all of you who also got in trouble for staying up too late reading and were always the first to get your free pie in the PIZZA HUT BOOK IT Challenge, I'm sure you share memories of scouring young adult shelves, cleaning out all the titles from authors you adored, and searching for new ones. Judy Blume, Scott O'Dell, Louise Fitzhugh, Agatha Christie, Lois Lowry...I usually needed a bag or two for my borrowed bounty, which I'd take home to read in front of an oscillating fan for hours on end.

Well, this summer we are all in luck! In August, we can do a little reminiscing with Jezebel.com contributor and Avon author Lizzie Skurnick's delectable new title SHELF DISCOVERY. From Beverly Cleary to Lois Duncan to Judy Blume and back again, Lizzie offers witty essays on YA classics of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. With additional commentary from writers like Meg Cabot, SHELF DISCOVERY will make you laugh out loud as you air out the storage of your avid reader brain...


Here at Avon, we've been known to occasionally get wrapped up in discussing these "classics" during lunch breaks. (It always changes, but I think THE LONG SECRET and ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT'S ME MARGARET have stayed with me the longest)

What were some of your favorite childhood/teen summer reads?