Nostalgia, in simple terms, is a feeling of warmth and longing due to perhaps an old memory or emotion we felt long ago. Or it can simply just be a feeling in general. 2020, a year I’m sure we all remember well, made time appear to speed up. It seems like just yesterday my friends and I were lying on my trampoline in the crisp fall air with a hint of breeze blowing through.
Now that same trampoline is rusted and broken, and I forgot completely about Fall. Yes, 2020 made time fly.
While it’s never a good thing to stay focused in the past for very long, sometimes holding on to a nostalgic feeling can bring back memories of simpler times, and that is never a bad thing. So, while the future remains unknown, and time refuses to cease it’s slow, and life marches on to a silent symphony, let’s put a pause to our daily responsibilities and expectations, and remember those small, but important, nostalgic memories.
In this issue of Nostalgic I wish to focus on three childhood books that I’m sure that we all remember at least one of them.
- The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler
While not super popular, Emily Windsnap was a book directed at middle school readers, which was accurate for me when I first picked up and read the book back in fifth grade. The book focused on a half-mermaid half-human girl named Emily Windsnap and her adventures, or tales, as stated in the title. It was a nine-book series with the first book published in 2003 and the last known book in the series published in March of, coincidently, 2020. While the series gained popularity gradually and a bit slowly than others, it did become a beloved book for many middle school readers. Usually appearing in book fairs and libraries in the middle-grade readers’ section or young teens, Emily Windsnap’s story may not have reached major popularity, but it did become a relatively adored book series. Many are hoping to receive a book ten to continue the series that was last published in 2020.
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
If you have not read it, I guarantee that you have at least heard of the name Percy Jackson from either the many books of his, the movie adaptations, the musical, or even the new Disney TV series.
Percy Jackson was originally directed to ages twelve and up, but quickly became well known and loved by all ages, kids, teens, adults, and older. Percy Jackson’s story begins with the very first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Lightning Thief. It begins with the infamous line of “Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.” It then goes on to twelve-year-old Percy’s narration of finding out he is a demigod (half-god, half-mortal) and the Son of Poseidon, making him a part of great prophecy that will both begin and end on his sixteenth birthday, which creates the series finale of Percy Jackson and the Olympians -The Battle of Manhattan in the five-book series. The Lightning Thief itself focused on Zeus, accusing Percy of stealing the Master Bolt, his main weapon. This causes Percy to retrieve the stolen weapon and find the true thief before the gods begin a war among each other in anger. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is the first series consisting of five books. The second series is called The Heroes of Olympus, also with five books. Rick Riordan has written many other series, surrounding Percy and other demigods, Greek and other. Like Magnus Chase, which is Norse mythology, and another series focusing on Egyptian mythology. Besides those and many other books and series Rick Riordan has written, the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians series was completed with the final book released in 2009.
- Restart by Gordon Korman.
Most of us probably read this book back in middle school, or even elementary school. Gordon Korman is well known for this book as well as a few others that perhaps you’ve heard of or read. Restart is a standalone book; it is not part of a series that can be read without any other knowledge of Korman’s other books. Restart follows the character Chase Ambrose from the moment he wakes up in the hospital to being diagnosed with amnesia. Chase can’t remember anything except a brief image of a painting of a girl in a blue dress. The book follows Chase as he struggles to not just try and get back the memory he lost, but also to regain his footing in his old role in his friend groups and clubs. The book is a heartwarming tale with a bit of mystery as Chase tries to remember who the painting girl is and why he remembers it and nothing else. The book keeps many wondering what the next chapter will bring, especially with the twist that Chase Ambrose may not have been such a good person before the accident. How does he plan to change that with a blank mind and an obliviousness to the things the past him had done? If he were to get his memory back, would he remain the good person he is now, or would fall back to old patterns from before the amnesia? All in all, Restart was not just a popular book, but a favorite to many younger readers when first read either in school or in their spare time.
While these books are not necessarily old or “classics” by any standards, they do bring back memories of times when cutting the crust of PB&J sandwiches was our biggest worry. Maybe these books don’t give you the same feeling of Nostalgia others may feel from them. That’s alright too; the point is to take a moment or two and just remember the happy feelings and memories childish things brought us. After all, it’s never a bad thing to give into a nostalgic feeling.
