on Fiction University:

Quick—what’s your favorite book from your childhood?

The first novel I remember sweeping me away and capturing my imagination was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I don’t remember how old I was, but probably around ten or so. It was magical, filled with adventure and mystery and characters I cared about. It’s a story I love to this day.

Other novels came after that—A Wrinkle in Time, The Black Stallion, Earth Times Two, The Haunted Cove, Trumpet of the Swans. All novels I loved as a child, and these were the first titles I thought of when writing this post. They’ve stayed with me for decades.

The best stories are the ones that come alive in a reader’s imagination. They pull them into the story world and sweep them away in the struggles and dreams of the characters.

Bring a book to life for them, and you’ll keep that reader forever.