When I was a kid, young adult literature wasn’t called YA. It was called Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret. Thank god for Judy Blume — I’m pretty sure I read everything she wrote (and, thanks to Deenie, lived in fear of failing the scoliosis test and spending high school in a back brace). But since YA wasn’t a thing, with all the marketing and shiny, neon-colored covers that go along with it, I also read a lot of stuff that might or might not have been written with teens in mind — and certainly hadn’t been vetted (unless you count the town librarian’s withering glare at the check-out desk). So here are four inappropriate books that I read, and maybe shouldn’t have read, and loved even though they really confused me. 1) Go Ask Alice: The first awesome thing about this novel was that it was supposedly anonymously written. And supposedly “a real diary,” as the book’s cover boasted. This was before Oprah old off James Frey for his fake memoir. The Go Ask Alice author was, in fact, the late Beatrice Sparks, who was born in 1917 and was a Mormon.

I suspect, in retrospect, the book was meant as a moralistic after-school special of sorts, but it didn’t have that affect on me. Because it was ALL ABOUT DRUGS! And it was set in the 1960s! I was so all in. I don’t even know how many times I read that book and fantasized about running off the San Francisco and doing god knows what. I was never all that clear on what drugs the nameless character was taking (it’s possible that the author didn’t, either). But I was convinced that drugs were cool and fun. 2) Still Life with Woodpecker: This is a book about a terrorist who hooks up with a teenager. It’s racy and fantastic and, honestly, you probably need to be a teenager to really like it. I tried reading Tom Robbins again as I got older and either I’d already gone through his best work, or I just couldn’t relate to it anymore. The colorful bizarreness and surreal characters alluded to a world of reading way more exciting than The Scarlet Letter ** or whatever. There was philosophy and art and sex.

Plus, the book cover looked like a pack of Camel cigarettes, so. 3) And I Don’t Want to Live This Life: The subtitle is “A Mother’s Story of Her Daughter’s Murder,” which sounds really horrible, but this is the memoir by Nancy Spungen’s mother, Deborah, about her daughter’s relationship with Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols. I was obsessed with everything punk. I wore a Sex Pistols t-shirt like, all the time. I inhaled this book, every gorey detail. The drugs, the violence, the skinny black jeans and the Chelsea Hotel. Best Air Cleaner Iron 883Really, the jeans and the New York City scene of the late 1970s intrigued me far more than heroin, which seemed seedy and painful. Bathroom Vessel Sinks ClearanceBut this book sparked my imagination (not necessarily in the best way) such that I’ve worked it into multiple pieces of my own writing.Afghan Puppies For Sale In Florida

4) Faith and the Good Thing: And now for something completely different. I read this novel by Charles Johnson in my freshman year of college. Actually, my English teacher read passages of it aloud in class and I was hooked. The writing is strange and otherworldly. It feels like voodoo and danger, but also like a revealing dream in which the dreamer who can cross the woods at night and walk the hot coals will come through cleansed and enhanced with magical vision. It’s about the journey from youth to wisdom, from passing through childhood into some deeper understanding of life. I’ve since given this book as a gift to people I really liked. I’ve never heard from anyone who received it from me that they were as enchanted as I was. **The Scarlet Letter is actually a dark and wonderful book. Just not when being read under duress for 10th grade English class. We hope you enjoy these quotes, they have been collected from a range of sources, and if you have any to add, please post at the bottom!

There is more, much more, to being a redhead than the color of one’s hair. (G. Adam Stanislav, red-haired photographer) Redheads are less than 1% of the world’s population. Now that is a minority! And, I thought, one that should qualify me for school scholarships or something like that. Redheads are like other women – only more so. You’d find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair, people who haven’t red hair don’t know what trouble is – Anne of Green Gables My husband said he wanted to have a relationship with a redhead, so I dyed my hair. Redheaded women are either violent or false, and usually are both – French Proverb There was never a saint with red hair – Russian proverbAnd queens of copp! – ‘ode to redheads’ Tom Robbins’ Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall in love with a gorgeous redhead – Lucille Ball It is observed that the red-haried of both sexes are more libidinous and mischievous than the rest, whom yet they much exceed in strength and activity – Gullivers travels, Jonathan Swift

When redheaded people are above a certain social grade their hair is auburn – a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s court – Mark Twain Quotes From ‘Unknown Sources’ — If you’ve dated a redhead raise your glass, if not . . . raise your standards Blondes are wild, brunettes are true, but you never know just what a redhead will do! My hair is pretty dark red… And of course, it catches fire in the sunlight. A great time to bring out a redhead’s coloring is right before sunset, when rose-colored clouds and golden light begin to streak across the sky. I used to hate my red hair, but now I love the attention I get with it. I think that very smart, daring men love red hair, and I love that in a man. They are probably the worst people to date. They are demanding and obsessive and they can’t make up their minds about anything, so they are very difficult to figure out. But I still love them. Redheads have been nicknamed demons by my associates and I because of what they can do to the human heart.

Best thing that’s hit the Earth, ever. Never had too much luck with them though. The sun on a brunette’s hair looks red. The sun on a redhead’s hair looks like Heaven on Earth. Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but it takes a real man to handle a redhead. A face without freckles is like a night without stars. Blondes may have more fun but redheads are remembered. A trucker will slow down for a blonde, stop for a brunette, but he’ll back up 500 yards for a redhead! I am always asked where I got my bright auburn-red hair from, seeing as both my parents have a very dark almost black hair. My father, being 60 when I was born, always answered, rust in the pipes. If you want trouble… find yourself a redhead. Beat you like a red-headed step-child. (Seen as a derogatory statement) Blondes are noticed but redheads are never forgotten. I do believe my redheadedness plays a huge part in who I am. If I were a blonde or brunette, I would be an entirely different person.