Welcome to Fiction Flashback!

Welcome to Fiction Flashback! Let me introduce myself - I'm Amykat. Before we dive into reviewing, I'd like to give you a bit of background on myself and what this blog is all about.

These days, as with much of the western world, I am firmly attached to my electronics. I sometimes wonder how I got by without the internet, and I love to play video games and mess around on my computer. When I was a kid, however, I was an avid reader - I still am and enjoy reading a great deal, but actually I think "avid" is a serious understatement to describe my childhood love of reading. My parents have scores of pictures of me, hair in pigtails and face screwed up intently as I pored over the pages of a book, usually oblivious to the outside world. I devoured any book I could get my hands on - the longer, the better. The school librarians in elementary and middle school were some of my best friends, and I often spent recess browsing the shelves.

I can't quite recall what chapter books I read first, or when, but I do know that my first book series was the Oz books, and man, did I love them. These books developed in me a lifelong love of fantasy, mythology, and fairy tales that continues to inspire and drive me to this day. I remember my parents reading the first book, The Wizard of Oz, to me and my twin brother when we were about five years old. At some point I'm sure I saw the movie for the first time - I grew up watching it, as many people did. Unlike most people, however, I tracked down the rest of the Oz books and read them for myself. Many don't know that L. Frank Baum wrote fourteen full-length Oz books in all, but I certainly did, and I read each one multiple times. By the age of eight I had developed a child's near-obsession with the series - I came home from school talking like Dorothy ("Mother, I've had a simply dreadful day!") and I amused myself in class after finishing my schoolwork by scribbling ideas for an Oz theme park on a sheet of notebook paper, complete with cyclone ride. I even had a fairy princess Halloween costume of pale green satin and gauze, which I had decided was most definitely Princess Ozma.

As time passed, I graduated to other series, such as the Chronicles of Narnia, the Prydain Chronicles, and eventually fantasy series aimed more at adults. I discovered mythology and Shakespeare, and I went on to major in English as an undergraduate, focusing on such classes as classical mythology, creative writing, and Arthurian legends. My senior thesis was a novella that told the story of how King Arthur married Queen Guinevere, based on a semester of researching the earliest versions of the legends. Still, Oz has always retained a special place in my heart, and on my bookshelf. I recently came across a video review of the 1985 movie Return to Oz, and I was impressed that the reviewer actually knew that there were fourteen Oz books written by Baum. I don't know how many he'd read himself, but it occurred to me that many people are only aware of the movies based on classic books such as these. Sure, they might know that the movie was originally based on a book, but few have read the original or really know what was changed for the film. With that in mind, I've decided to take it upon myself to introduce you, dear reader, to the original novels behind many movies that are considered children's classics, and in many cases, that we ourselves grew up on.

I intend to leave some leeway for other types of reviews, but primarily we're going to focus on children's literature that has been brought to the silver screen, books that shaped my childhood in particular. I also plan to take a look at some books I haven't read before. You might see some reviews of books that were important to me as a child but have never been made into a movie, or have a film version few know about. Either way, this promises to be a lot of fun! We're going to start off our journey by traveling the yellow brick road, of course. The first few reviews will be about L. Frank Baum's Oz series, but don't worry, I'll be mixing things up with other books as well! Anyway, welcome, and I'm glad you've decided to come check things out. Please feel free to let me know what you think - comments, questions, and ideas are always welcome! I might experiment a bit with a few audio reviews, and maybe create some podcasts in addition to the written articles. We'll see what the future brings. No matter what though, I think this is going to be a fun and interesting experience, so thanks for joining me on this journey!