Summary
The influence of the most beloved classic children’s and YA books of the 1980s has lived on into the present time, but there are a few truly underrated books of the ’80s that deserve to be read today.Most people know theclassic children’s books of the 1980s, such asMatilda,Hatchet, or the Ramona Quimby books. Other series, such as theSweet Valley Highseries, weren’t literary juggernauts but were wildly popular nonetheless.
While it’s true that someonce-popular 1980s kids' books have aged poorly, there are many more from the decade that haven’t gotten their proper due. Sometimes it’s because they were lesser-known books from the huge names of the era, their light overshadowed by the authors' truly iconic works. At other times, they were books from authors who didn’t quite reach the heights of prestige of their contemporaries. Either way,the books on this list are 1980s books for kids of all ages that are well worth a read today.
1 Of The Most Popular YA Book Series Of The 80s Has A Surprising Backstory
It’s not rare for pulpy book series to be handled by multiple writers, but one 1980s YA series took the idea to the extreme & found success doing it.
10The Saddle Club
Bonnie Bryant
Everyone knew at least one horse girl in school; perhaps those reading this were horse girls themselves.There’s something about living horses that comes as a rite of passage for certain girls, and Bonnie Bryant’sThe Saddle Clubseries knows this. Like many long-running children’s and teen book series of that era,The Saddle Clubhad several different ghostwriters writing it over the years, though Bryant wrote over 100 of the books herself.
The Saddle Clubseries had a simple premise. Three best friends - Carole, Stevie, and Lisa - grow up together loving horses and riding, and they encounter all the usual problems that preteen and young teen girls have. Naturally, it’s through their unshakable friendship and love of horses that their problems are resolved while teaching the reader about horses because, after all,horses solve everything.They may be simple and sweet, but they make the perfect stories for preteens, especially fellow horse girls.
9Homecoming
Cynthia Voigt
Cynthia Voigt was and is a prolific writer of children’s and YA literature,with her gaining particular praise for her Tillerman Cycle series.While the second story 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 story of the Tillerman children, who are abandoned by their mother 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 find their aunt in the first half of the book while the second details what happens after they find her.The book does a great job of underscoring Dicey’s resilienceand the necessity of growing up fast. Any kids who find themselves having to become adults too soon or dealing with neglectful parents will find much to relate to inHomecoming.
8Locked in Time
Lois Duncan
Lois Duncan and her books were beloved by teenagers in the 80s and 90s (and beyond),with her focus on suspense, thrillers, and Gothic horror making her a queen of supernatural stories for young people.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 movies it spawned, isI Know What You Did Last Summer.
ThoughLocked in Timeis not one of Duncan’s best-known novels, it’s an underrated supernatural gem in her bibliography. It tells the story of teenager Nore Roberts, who is still grieving the death of her mother when she leaves boarding school and travels to Louisiana to visit her dad and his new bride. She soon notices that things are off with her new family - they never age and haven’t for generations. It’s a spooky read steeped in the Gothic South. A recent 2011 republish updated parts of it for a modern audience,making it just as fun and relevant for modern teens as it was in the ’80s and ’90s.
10 Classic Kids Books From The 90s That Are Still Worth Reading
The 1990s saw the publication of enduring works of literature that remain classics to this day based on their popularity and notoriety.
7Girls of Canby Hall
Emily Chase
Emily Chase wasn’t quite as well-known as other contemporaries of her era, but her books are beloved by those who have read them. That said, the reason for her not being quite as well known is because she doesn’t exist. Instead,“Emily Chase” was a pseudonym used by a number of writersto ghostwrite “Emily Chase’s” most famous series,The Girls of Canby Hall.
The Girls of Canby Hall uses the usual trappings of that era: a group of teen friends and the trials and tribulations they face. The girls are students at a private boarding school, the titular Canby Hall. At first, Shelley, Faith, and Dana butt heads as roommates due to their different personalities. They eventually become best friends and overcome challenges together while growing up. The books are simple and not always deep, butthe characterization and most of the writing still hold 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, particularly for hisSerendipityseries. Cosgrove was strongly influenced by Aesop’s Fables and nature,and his books all tend to center around animal protagonists.Some of those animals are entirely fictional creatures, such as Morgan the unicorn and Serendipity the dragon, while others are real animals, like mice and bears.
One of those real creatures is Trapper, a baby harp seal whose life is upended when a strange monster (spoilers: it’s a human) captures all the other seals. As with many Stephen Cosgrove books,there is a strong theme of environmental responsibility told in a gentle way.In the end, of course, little Trapper teaches the human a valuable lesson about not being greedy and respecting nature. It’s geared toward younger readers, butTrapperand the entireSerendipityseries are great starter books to get kids thinking about responsibility, conscientiousness, and the creatures we interact with.
5The Dollhouse Murders
Betty Ren Wright
The 1980s were a timeripe with suspense and horror books for YA readers, especially teen girls,and Betty Ren Wright was right in the thick of it. While other writers leaned more into the realm of psychological thriller or Gothic suspense, Wright firmly planted her flag in the supernatural, with most of her books for young adults revolving around ghosts and spirits. Though she wasn’t a big award winner, her ghost stories were well-loved and served as the gateway for many young readers to spookier stuff.
Of her books,The Dollhouse Murdersis one of her better known. Teenager Amy finds an old dollhouse in her aunt’s house that is the exact replica of the house itself. It soon exhibits a strange phenomenon of the dolls moving by themselves, reenacting the horrific murder of Amy’s great-grandparents decades before. Amy, her intellectually disabled sister, Louann, and her best friend, Ellen, become obsessed with solving the murder and laying the spirits of their family members to rest. Wright pulls no punches:The Dollhouse Murdersis taut and suspenseful, threaded through with familial drama and relationships.
4Just As Long As We’re Together
Judy Blume
Few writers are comparable to Judy Blume,who is renowned and beloved for her classic children’s and young adult books. The author of 30 books ranging from children’s books to books for adults, 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 undoubtedly her most famous book among many famous books,Just As Long As We’re Togetherholds up against any of them. The companion piece to the later bookHere’s to You, Rachel Robinson,Just As Long As We’re Togetherestablishes the friendship between Rachel and narrator Stephanie Hirsch. Thirteen-year-old Stephanie’s life is thrown into turmoil when her parents separate, she moves to a new school, her period starts, and she discovers boys.The challenges she deals with are ones that any young teen can understand.
3Wait Till Helen Comes
Mary Downing Hahn
Like other writers on this list, Mary Downing Hahn is known for her supernatural and gothic works of fiction. Hahn is a prolific writer who is still publishing well into her 80s; her most recent book,The Ghost of Fulton Arms, was published just this year. 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-year-old Molly and her younger brother Michael suddenly find themselves thrust into an uncomfortable new life when their mother, Jean, remarries Dave. Dave’s seven-year-old daughter, Heather, resents her new stepsiblings and soon turns to Helen, the spirit of a young girl she befriends. Helen starts carrying out malicious acts against Molly and Michael, but Molly soon discovers the tortured ghost may have sinister intentions for Heather.The story gets quite dark as it also grapples with themes of death, guilt, and suicide,making it a gripping and poignant read.
2Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade
Barthe DeClements
Over her multi-decade career, Barthe DeClements has written over a dozen books for young readers. Like Emily Chase,she didn’t quite reach the heights of other children’s authors of the era,but her books still won several awards. Most were aimed squarely at middle-grade readers and the pre-teen years, and her stories are still in publication today.
Of her stories,Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Gradeis arguably her most celebrated and well-loved book.Published in 1981, it’s also her first. The story follows young Elsie, who is awkward and overweight, tries to fit in with her fifth-grade peers. Her awkwardness and troubled home life, however, create a challenging journey to find acceptance. Like others on this list,Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Gradehas recently gotten an update, but the themes of bullying, being ostracized, and traumatic family problems are timeless. Any kid who feels awkward, and even those who don’t, can see a bit of themselves in Elsie.
1Taming the Star Runner
S.E. Hinton
S.E. Hinton put herself on the map in the late 60s with the classic bookThe Outsiders, and her novels after that were all equally celebrated. Her last young adult novel,Taming the Star Runner, doesn’t have nearly the recognition of her previous YA books,which is also why it’s the only one that has never been adapted as a movie.Even so,Taming the Star Runneris still well worth a read.
The 1988 book follows 16-year-old Travis, whose borderline delinquent ways get him sent to live with his uncle in rural Oklahoma. He gets a job at a nearby horse ranch and falls for an older, more emotionally mature young woman. While there, Travis figures some things out about his abusive home life and himself in the only one of Hinton’s books to be written in the third person. It’s a quietly simple coming-of-age story, sharing a number of the same themes asThe Outsiders,but with the more layered, mature perspective that only time can provide.
