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Summary
The influence of the most beloved Hellenic children ’s and YA books of the 1980s has live on into the present time , but there are a few truly underrated books of the ' 80s that deserve to be read today . Most hoi polloi know theclassic children ’s books of the eighties , such asMatilda , Hatchet , or the Ramona Quimby books . Other series , such as theSweet Valley Highseries , were n’t literary juggernauts but were wildly pop all the same .
While it ’s true that someonce - popular eighties nipper ' book have maturate ill , there are many more from the tenner that have n’t gotten their proper due . Sometimes it ’s because they were lesser - known Quran from the immense names of the era , their brightness overshadowed by the authors ' rightfully iconic works . At other times , they were books from author who did n’t quite reach the heights of prestige of their coeval . Either way , the books on this list are 1980s Christian Bible for kids of all eld that are well deserving a read today .
It ’s not rarefied for pulpy book series to be handled by multiple author , but one 1980s YA series took the idea to the extreme & found succeeder doing it .
10The Saddle Club
Bonnie Bryant
Everyone hump at least one horse girl in shoal ; perhaps those reading this were horse girls themselves . There ’s something about living horse that come as a rite of passage for certain young lady , and Bonnie Bryant’sThe Saddle Clubseries know this . Like many long - running child ’s and teen Koran series of that epoch , The Saddle Clubhad several dissimilar ghostwriters writing it over the years , though Bryant write over 100 of the books herself .
The Saddle Clubseries had a simple assumption . Three best booster - Carole , Stevie , and Lisa - grow up together loving horses and riding , and they run into all the common problems that preadolescent and untested adolescent girls have . Naturally , it ’s through their steadfast friendship and love of horse that their problems are conclude while teaching the reviewer about horse because , after all , horse work out everything . They may be elementary and sweet , but they make the perfect narration for preteens , especially fellow horse daughter .
9Homecoming
Cynthia Voigt
Cynthia Voigt was and is a prolific author of tyke ’s and YA literature , with her gaining particular praise for her Tillerman Cycle series . While the 2nd history in the Tillerman Cycle , Dicey ’s Song , is the one that tends to get the most recognition ( and won the Newbery in 1983 ) the first book , Homecoming , deserves just as much praise . It ’s a long book at well over 400 pages , but worth the read .
Homecomingkicks off the history of the Tillerman children , who are vacate by their female parent in a shopping mall on their way to visit their Aunt Cilla . As the oldest , 13 - year - old Dicey decides to continue on their journey and see their auntie in the first one-half of the leger while the second detail what happens after they discover her . The playscript does a great chore of underline Dicey ’s resilienceand the requirement of growing up fast . Any Thomas Kid who see themselves make to become adults too soon or dealing with derelict parent will line up much to concern to inHomecoming .
8Locked in Time
Lois Duncan
Lois Duncan and her Book were beloved by teenagers in the eighty and 90s ( and beyond),with her focus on suspense , thrillers , and Gothic repugnance make her a queen of supernatural taradiddle for unseasoned citizenry . Multiple books by Duncan have been adapted as movies , such asSummer of Fear , which Wes Craven adapted in 1978 . Her most well - known work , thanks to the motion-picture show it spawned , isI Know What You Did Last Summer .
ThoughLocked in Timeis not one of Duncan ’s well - known novels , it ’s an underrated supernatural stone in her bibliography . It assure the story of teenager Nore Roberts , who is still aggrieve the death of her mother when she leaves boarding schooling and travels to Louisiana to shoot the breeze her pa and his new bride . She soon detect that things are off with her fresh syndicate - they never get on and have n’t for generations . It ’s a spooky read steeped in the Gothic South . A recent 2011 republish update parts of it for a mod consultation , making it just as fun and relevant for modern teenager as it was in the ' 80s and ' 90s .
The 1990s saw the publication of hold up works of lit that stay classic to this day found on their popularity and notoriety .
7Girls of Canby Hall
Emily Chase
Emily Chase was n’t quite as well - have intercourse as other contemporaries of her era , but her volume are beloved by those who have register them . That said , the reason for her not being quite as well known is because she does n’t exist . Instead,“Emily Chase " was a pseudonym used by a turn of writersto ghostwrite " Emily Chase ’s " most famous serial , The Girls of Canby Hall .
The Girls of Canby Hall uses the usual trappings of that epoch : a group of adolescent friends and the trials and tribulations they face . The girls are educatee at a private embarkment school day , the titular Canby Hall . At first , Shelley , Faith , and Dana buns heads as roommates due to their different personalities . They eventually become best protagonist and overcome challenge together while turn up . The Good Book are simple and not always cryptical , butthe characterization and most of the penning still harbour up today , making for stories that are still an entertaining read for young teens .
6Trapper
Stephen Cosgrove
Stephen Cosgrove ’s work was beloved by children of the ' 70s and ' 80s , especially for hisSerendipityseries . Cosgrove was strongly influence by Aesop ’s Fables and nature , and his books all tend to center around animate being protagonists . Some of those animal are all fictional creatures , such as Morgan the unicorn and Serendipity the dragon , while others are actual animals , like mice and bear .
One of those real creatures is Trapper , a baby harmonica seal of approval whose living is upend when a strange monster ( pamperer : it ’s a man ) capture all the other seals . As with many Stephen Cosgrove leger , there is a potent theme of environmental responsibleness told in a gentle fashion . In the end , of form , little Trapper teaches the man a valuable lesson about not being avid and value nature . It ’s geared toward untried readers , butTrapperand the entireSerendipityseries are great starter books to get kid thinking about responsibility , painstakingness , and the animate being we interact with .
5The Dollhouse Murders
Betty Ren Wright
The 1980s were a timeripe with suspense and repulsion Word for YA readers , especially teen fille , and Betty Ren Wright was correct in the thick of it . While other writers leaned more into the realm of psychological thriller or medieval suspense , Wright hard institute her signal flag in the supernatural , with most of her books for young adults revolving around ghosts and hard liquor . Though she was n’t a big award victor , her ghost stories were well - loved and do as the gateway for many young reviewer to flighty stuff .
Of her record book , The Dollhouse Murdersis one of her better known . Teenager Amy find an old doll’s house in her auntie ’s house that is the exact replica of the house itself . It soon exhibit a strange phenomenon of the dolls move by themselves , reenacting the horrific slaying of Amy ’s great - grandparents ten before . Amy , her intellectually disabled babe , Louann , and her better friend , Ellen , become obsessed with solving the execution and put down the spirit of their sept member to rest . Wright pulls no punches : The Dollhouse Murdersis taut and suspenseful , threaded through with genetic drama and relationships .
4Just As Long As We’re Together
Judy Blume
Few writers are like to Judy Blume , who is renowned and beloved for her classical kid ’s and untested grownup books . The source of 30 books ranging from children ’s playscript to books for adult , Judy Blume is about as celebrated as they come , winning almost 100 awards , including three lifetime achievement awards , being named to the Library of Congress ' Living Legends list , and being awarded the National Book Foundation ’s Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Medal .
While Are You There , God ? It ’s Me , Margaretis doubtless her most renowned book among many famous volume , Just As Long As We ’re Togetherholds up against any of them . The companion piece to the afterward bookHere ’s to You , Rachel Robinson , Just As Long As We ’re Togetherestablishes the friendship between Rachel and narrator Stephanie Hirsch . Thirteen - year - older Stephanie ’s life is thrown into excitement when her parent branch , she displace to a newfangled schooling , her period starts , and she discovers boys . The challenge she deals with are ones that any young adolescent can understand .
3Wait Till Helen Comes
Mary Downing Hahn
Like other writer on this list , Mary Downing Hahn is known for her supernatural and gothic works of fabrication . Hahn is a prolific author who is still publishing well into her 80s ; her most late Word of God , The Ghost of Fulton Arms , was published just this yr . Her work has been awarded at the state and national levelthanks to her blending of the supernatural with deeper , darker human themes . Wait Till Helen Comesis one of her most haunting stories – literally and figuratively .
Twelve - class - old Molly and her younger buddy Michael suddenly feel themselves throw into an uncomfortable new lifetime when their mother , Jean , remarries Dave . Dave ’s seven - twelvemonth - old daughter , Heather , resent her young stepsiblings and presently turns to Helen , the spirit of a untested fille she befriend . Helen start up carrying out malicious acts against Molly and Michael , but Molly soon see the tortured spectre may have forbidding intention for Heather . The story get quite dark as it also get by with themes of destruction , guilt , and suicide , making it a engrossing and poignant read .
2Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade
Barthe DeClements
Of her stories , Nothing ’s Fair in Fifth Gradeis arguably her most far-famed and well - loved book . Published in 1981 , it ’s also her first . The story travel along unseasoned Elsie , who is awkward and overweight , tries to go in with her 5th - tier peers . Her ineptness and troubled home life , however , make a challenging journey to find acceptance . Like others on this tilt , Nothing ’s Fair in Fifth Gradehas recently pay back an update , but the theme of bullying , being cast out , and traumatic family problem are timeless . Any nipper who feels awkward , and even those who do n’t , can see a bit of themselves in Elsie .
1Taming the Star Runner
S.E. Hinton
S.E. Hinton put herself on the mapping in the late 60s with the classic bookThe Outsiders , and her novel after that were all evenly celebrated . Her last young adult novel , Taming the Star Runner , does n’t have nearly the realization of her previous YA books , which is also why it ’s the only one that has never been adapted as a moving picture . Even so , Taming the Star Runneris still well deserving a read .
The 1988 al-Qur’an follows 16 - year - old Travis , whose borderline delinquent ways get him mail to live with his uncle in rural Oklahoma . He gets a job at a nearby horse ranch and fall for an older , more emotionally fledged young womanhood . While there , Travis figures some things out about his abusive home lifespan and himself in the only one of Hinton ’s book to be written in the third person . It ’s a quietly simple derive - of - age tarradiddle , sharing a number of the same composition asThe Outsiders , but with the more layered , mature perspective that only time can provide .
Cover illustration byMeredith Laxton
