Growing up in the ’80s, if there was anything I liked as much as writing stories, it was reading books. With my love of reading and writing, you would think that I would have enjoyed school. However, this was not the case. The only class I enjoyed was gym. I suppose the problem was that I wanted to read and write what I wanted to and when I wanted to, and not be told what to do.

Anyway, the only thing I liked about school was gym, and the last day before summer vacation. Oh, and there was one I other thing I liked. My heart leaped with joy once a month when the teacher passed one of these out:

I would love reading each book description, and then decide which ones I wanted. And then I would get excited on the day that the teacher gave us the books we ordered. I built up a nice sized bookshelf with these books. Here are a couple that I remember getting (that has pictures online):

I could not get enough of The Empire Strikes Back when it came out. I can’t even begin to count how many times I saw the movie. I also collected The Empire Strikes Back Topps Trading Cards. I also bought this book as soon as I saw it. There were great color pictures throughout the book to go along with the story itself. Later on I got a magazine from the order form, and there was an article in it debating whether Darth Vader was really Luke’s father or not. And this article was the first time that I heard about the possibility that Luke and Princess Leia were brother and sister. Oh yeah, when Luke cut out of his training early, and Yoda told Obi-Wan that “there is another”, I would never have guessed that he was talking about Leia. I mean they freakin’ made out, so it couldn’t possibly be true! That’s impossible! But, after searching my feelings (and seeing Return of the Jedi), I knew this to be true.

Barney and the UFO was another book I really enjoyed. I read this many, many times. Here is a description of the book:

Barney has been moved around so much, he doesn’t want to get close to his new foster family because he’ll probably just have to leave again. His younger brother fits right in, and it’s clear their “parents” like him better than Barney anyway. Then, on a foggy night, Barney meets Tibbo, an alien boy from another planet. He and Barney become friends, and when Tibbo offers to take Barney back to his homeworld with him, at first it sounds like a good idea. But Barney is putting down roots without even knowing it, and soon he will have to choose between his new friend and his new family.

It was a great story, had some great humor in it, as well as action. If I still had it, I would probably read through it again to see if I still like it.

So, do any of you remember ordering these Scholastic/Troll books? Do you remember what you ordered?