Poor Henry, Jesse, Violet and Benny; wee little orphans, helplessly trying to get by… or are they? The Boxcar Children was one of the raddest, bomb-diggity children’s series, like, ever — totally. Who could forget foraging the school’s library trying to find every last title to live, at least vicariously, the fantastic lives of four kids living in a boxcar. Okay, it doesn’t sound that glamorous, but when you’re a kid dreading going to school, living in a boxcar sounds like a sweet deal! It’s one step up from a treehouse and one step closer to independence.
The siblings in this story also taught us what it meant to be family. In the original novel, which dates way, way back (seriously, like 1924 or some sh*t, but the books continued to be written through the years, which is why it’s so timeless!), the kids run away for fear that they’ll be separated. Not willing to live without one another, they settle for an abandoned boxcar in the middle of the forest. Bears and wild animals? Pssh, please. They had Watch, their faithful dog who kept all danger away. Eventually, though, author Gertrude Chandler Warner, did knock some sense into those kids, and us, by reminding us that we all need a friendly hand from an adult at some point. So, eventually, the kids’ grandfather comes to take them home. But, don’t worry. The boxcar goes with them, finding a snug home in their backyard!
4. Animorphs
“We can’t tell you who we are. Or where we live. It’s too risky, and we’ve got to be careful. But everyone is in danger. Yeah. Even you.”
Remember pretending you were a cat, or a dog, or an elephant when you were a kid? That was pretty fun. But what if you could actually become that animal whenever you wanted? That would have been the most amazing thing ever, in the whole world… ever! Animorphs was a wish fulfillment fantasy about a group of kids who can turn into any animal they touch. What made these books so epically page-turning was that these kids dealt with adolescent issues while fighting a life-or-death war against alien infiltrators! We wanted to be Cassie, because she had the most powerful morphing skills and all kinds of sexual tension with the hottie-mc-hott-hott lead Jake. Man, middle school would have been so much sweeter if there had been an alien invasion to focus on instead of grades and popularity and sh*t.
3. Fear Street 
Once you get past the age of needing to sleep with a nightlight on, it’s inevitable that your morbidly curious, thrillseeker side starts to emerge and you develop an interest in things that are scary. The Fear Street books were penned by R.L. Stine, who also wrote the campier Goosebumps series, only these books weren’t afraid to make with the gore. The books always followed different characters in a fictional ‘burb called Shadyside that was all kinds of haunted. As a result, ghostly encounters and weird, disturbing murders ensued. One such murder sticks in our minds when a cheerleader is scalded to death in the shower at school after practice. Yipes! These books kept you up at night in the most deliciously addicting way, and bridged the gap to watching horror movies with your gal pals, a staple of teendom.
2. The Babysitters Club
Kristy Thomas, Claudia Kishi, Mary Anne Spier, and Stacey McGill have won a special place in every female entrepreneur’s heart, (or they should, anyway) for being so enterprising as to start a babysitting business at the tender age of thirteen. Never mind the obvious absurdity of parents trusting 13 and 11-year-olds with their wee children’s lives; these gals were responsibility personified and even had fancy roles like Secretary, Treasurer, and Alternate Officer. Wait, Alternate Officer? Yeah, Dawn got kinda gipped with that b.s. title. But she was some blonde from California, after all. Then, when Mallory and Jessi entered the picture as Junior Members… sh*t was getting real. Not only did they have a brewing multi-national corporation on their hands, the BSC had a crack squad of elite babysitters/BFFs. Remember when you had, like, six best friends? As a grown-up, you’re lucky to have one or two true besties.
1. Judy Blume Books
Judy Blume tops our list because she’s the quintessential Young Adult author who captured puberty and growing up in an incomparable way. Many of her 
books came out in the ‘70s, but have remained in the YA canon for generations to enjoy… and learn about the dirty stuff our parents don’t want to deal with teaching us. Blume was kind of a BAMF, and dealt with censorship because of the controversial teen issues she tackled. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret taught girls about getting their first period, and Then Again, Maybe I Won’t taught guys about whacking off.
And who could forget Forever, the gripping tale of Katherine, who lost her virginity to Michael, the boyfriend she loved!
“I love you, Michael Wagner.”
“Forever?” he asked.
“Forever,” I said.
Swoon! No such heartfelt, lusty poetry has been written since Emily Dickinson’s “Heart, we will forget him!” You think it’s a stretch to compare Judy Blume to Emily Dickinson? Clearly you have no soul.
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