Ray Bradbury is always thought of as a science fiction writer but I think he is so much more than that. He was an amazing short-story author and some of my favorite things of his is "A Sound of Thunder" which I used in a paper for college. I love "Dandelion Wine" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes" kept me up all night because I just had to finish it. I am so impressed by authors who can take a short story and actually have it be full of substance and makes you think when you've finished. I haven't read something of his that I haven't liked (of course, who can argue the impact of Fahrenheit 451 and all of its implications) and I would encourage everyone to try a little bit of Ray Bradbury. There's something out there for everyone.
My favorite book by Jean Craighead George is "My Side of the Mountain." I always loved books about kids who didn't have parents. Nothing at all against my parents but I loved the adventures that kids had without parental supervision. "Island of the Blue Dolphins, "The Boxcar Children," all great stories that were about these crazy independent kids who seemed to be just fine without parents. Even when Grandfather showed up in "The Boxcar Children," he pretty much stayed behind the scenes. That's why I didn't love the end of "My Side of the Mountain" when his parents and brothers and sisters showed up. I wanted to be best friends with Sam- to live in the tree house with him, be with Frightful and Baron Weasel and Jessie Coon James, to hike and live off the land, to explore and discover new things and of course, taste the pancakes made with acorn batter. I didn't love the other two (three, actually, but I've never read the last one....) as much but that first one got me hooked and I frequently reread it. Jean Craighead George has written over one hundred books and children everywhere are worse off because of her death.
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