Books That Shaped Me: Teenage Edition

 

Hello my lovely readers!

This is the second installment of the Books that Shaped Me series. Welcome to Naomi the teenager! I was your typical moody teenager, dealing with friends, secrets, crushes and everything else in between.

I also devoured any book I could get my hands on, but I particularly liked the "tragic" books filled with drama, drama, drama. I, myself, was not a dramatic person (outwardly), but in my head, I was always creating scenarios that were all about the drama. Here we go!

The Diary of a Young Girl

This is the book that started it all for me. I had learned about Anne Frank in middle school, but then I watched Anne Frank: The Whole Story over the summer in 2001. When I tell you, I was SHOOK. I was 12-years-old and you could not tell me Anne and I were not kindred souls.

I'd had a diary since I was six, but I took my diary writing much more seriously after learning about Anne. My diaries are the one place where I can be truly vulnerable, crazy, wacky, lovelorn and everything else in between. In some way, I have to thank Anne (and my mom for always buying me journals) for creating this love for writing.

Treacherous Love (but really all books "edited" by Beatrice Sparks)

Oh, Beatrice Sparks. How you had 13-year-old Naomi in a chokehold! She was responsible for "editing" the "diaries" of troubled teenagers. You've heard of Go Ask Alice, I'm sure. But Sparks had a list of diaries that she came across and published...Jay's Journal, Treacherous Love, Annie's Baby, Finding Kate, It Happened to Nancy, Almost Lost...and many others.

These diaries covered topics like: drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and homelessness. I'm pretty sure they were all written by Sparks though. There's no way all these teens with such dramatic lives decided to give their diaries to Sparks to edit them and publish them. There's a biography about Beatrice Sparks that I can't wait to read. I devoured these diaries.

The Notebook

From one Sparks to another Sparks! Listen, you think Beatrice Sparks had me in a chokehold? NICHOLAS SPARKS HAD MY EARLY 2000s IN A CHOKEHOLD. I was OBSESSED with his books and it started with The Notebook.  I remember I watched the movie in theaters about four times. Then I finally got my hands on the book. I couldn't put it down.

I specifically remember babysitting for these two kids and when I put them to bed, I whipped out this book and read it well into the night. I'd never been someone who was into romance, but Nicholas Sparks always brought the drama (read: the formula) in his novels. We all know how it goes: pretty White boy meets pretty White girl from a different class or social status, something threatens to tear them apart, handwritten letters are always included somehow the two lovers reunite years later and then someone dies. I got hip to Sparks' formula and eventually stopped reading his book. But I loved them!

Wasted

Here's another instance of teenage Naomi being a weird goober. I was extremely interested in eating disorders. Don't ask me why, but there was a period of time where I watched and read everything regarding anorexia and bulimia. I DID NOT have an eating disorder, but I sure was fascinated with them.

Marya Hornbacher's memoir on her struggle with anorexia was fascinating to me. I think this was the first book that showed me what great writing was all about. I could not put it down. Her story was so haunting and her follow-up memoir Madness was just as beautiful as this book was.

Native Son

Now we move on to high school Naomi. I read some pretty heavy stuff in high school, starting with this book.

This was my first introduction to Richard Wright. In my English class, we watched the 1980 film version of the book and I was amazed at the tragic story of Bigger Thomas. I picked up the book during Christmas break in 2005 and his story was even WORSE than the movie. He just made so many terrible decisions due to his first bad decision. This book broke my heart, but gave me insight to the world that was 1930s Southside Chicago.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

I've noticed that a lot of the books I read as a teenager were because I saw the movie first. Oops.

This was an exception, but around the time I read this there was the infamous Halle Berry TV film of this novel.  This was my first introduction to Zora Neale Hurston. Never had I read something so...different in my life, especially in terms of dialect/dialogue. I instantly felt like I was in the South thanks to the way Hurston wrote how Janie and TeaCake and all the other characters spoke.

I think I was a bit too immature to understand the seriousness of the novel, but I plan on re-reading it this year now that I'm an adult.

The Awakening

My A.P. English class really had us reading some deep novels.  Like most of the other authors in this post, I'll do an author spotlight on Kate Chopin as well. This book is a feminist read through and through. It was first published in 1899 and as a 16-year-old, I didn't know that there were feminism literary works during that time. 

It's hard to describe how this book impacted me as I was just a teenager reading this, but I'll never forget that ending. Another re-read for this year. I loved this book.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I'll always remember when and where I first read this book. 

I was visiting my grandparents in Florida for the summer and my grandmother chastised me for everything...reading too much, watching too much TV, staying cooped up in my room, I could not catch a break!

I was 15 going on 16 and brought this book with me. I remember sitting in my room reading it late at night and being so moved by Angelou's story. It felt good to read a more "adult" book by a Black woman and there were things in her story that I experienced as well, which is why I think it had such a profound impact on me.

Honorable Mention

A Lesson Before Dying