I especially remember The Origins of Fear Street being awesome (and vaguely historical novelish) and the Cheerleaders trilogy.

I loved the Origin of Fear Street books. (There were two, weren't there? Or am I just remembering two Sweet Valley Saga books and assuming that all the "historical backstory" books that came out around then had two volumes?)

I also read just about everything by Lois Duncan and Diane Hoh.

There was a period around third grade or so where my parents tried to say I couldn't read horror books, because I kept not being able to sleep or waking up with nightmares. They were terrible at restricting reading material, though -- they were just so invested in "must make sure kids love reading" that they couldn't take a book away from a kid. They finally did say no horror movies, but that didn't help at all with the not-sleeping -- horror movies didn't scare me, they made me interested in figuring out how the special effects worked, and figuring out how they made it seem creepy with the lights and music. When I read a book, my brain created a fully-formed world that seemed like it could be real.

Incognito Mosquito - Private Insective: I gotta check this one out. Encyclopedia Brown is a forgotten character? Nooo! Better buy a copy for the nephew.

How about the Great Brain books? Those were really funny, plus illustrated by Mercer Mayer.

Lois Duncan was one of my favorites. Especially "Killing Mr. Griffin" cause my math teacher pissed me off.

Incognito Mosquito - Private Insective: I gotta check this one out.

I think it might have been a series; I don't remember a lot of details except for one scene where he goes to a bar and orders a milk. And when he gets suspicious looks, he adds, "Put it in a dirty glass!"

Anyone else read the McGirk mysteries and the Ghost Squad books by E.W. Hildick?

Another author I read a lot was Edward Eager. Half Magic, Seven-Day Magic, Knight's Castle...

Lois Duncan was one of my favorites. Especially "Killing Mr. Griffin" cause my math teacher pissed me off.

Yeah, I read several of hers. And Joan Lowery Nixon.

I loved Edward Eager. In the wake of Harry Potter, many of his books are now back in print.

I loved the Origin of Fear Street books. (There were two, weren't there? Or am I just remembering two Sweet Valley Saga books and assuming that all the "historical backstory" books that came out around then had two volumes?)

That one was actually a trilogy. The 2nd one was the best though. Wow. I really do remember all of these. I even remember the cover.

Encycloperdia Brown is still popular at the library. same with Edward Eager.

I want to get the Edward Eager books, especially "Half Magic," but I would like to have them as the sixties vintage hardbacks I used to check out from the library. Today's paperback editions just don't have the cachet of well-handled old paper.

And the "Chronicles of Narnia," too. There are so many editions out there with extremely poor reproduction of the delicate black and white illustrations. It's so sad to see the pictures all muddy.

Anyone else see the Onion's Encyclopedia Brown obituary last fall? I laughed a lot.

I want to get the Edward Eager books, especially "Half Magic," but I would like to have them as the sixties vintage hardbacks I used to check out from the library.

Ooh, yeah, I'm definitely like that about books. I want to collect the Pike books, but with the cover art I grew up with, not these bizarre reissues with generic photos on them.