Skeletons on my Bookshelves: Books Read During My High School Years (1994-1998)

Due to lapses in memory, this list is incomplete: I'm especially hazy as to what I was reading in the 9th grade. It's not exactly by order as well. Books marked with an * indicate that they were required school reading. I very rarely read the books I was assigned however, choosing instead to pursue my own literary tastes. Plays I read during this time period (mainly various works by William Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams and some of Arthur Miller's work, such as "The Crucible" and "Death of a Salesman"), along with works of poetry, are not listed here: not that I read all that much poetry back then.

During the 9th grade and for the first half of the 10th grade I mostly just read Star Wars novels. During the second semester of 10th grade I became obsessed with Tom Clancy, which later evolved into a very brief interest with Robert Ludlum. By the 11th grade my two favorite writers were John Grisham and, later, Anne Rice. In the 12th grade I briefly became interested in the books of Elmore Leonard, mainly because one of my favorite film directors, Quentin Tarantino, had adapted his novel "Rum Punch" that year. An interest in indie films that began during the last few months of my Senior year led me to become interested in the Beats, and during my Freshman year at college in the Fall of '98 I read "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs for the first time. And the rest, as they say, is history.

9th Grade (1994-1995)
---------------------

Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (Timothy Zahn)
Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (Timothy Zahn)
The Lost World (Michael Crichton)

Summer 1995
-----------

Star Wars: The Last Command (Timothy Zahn)
Star Wars: Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina (Various)
Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia (Dave Wolverton)

10th Grade (1995-1996)
----------------------

Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura (Kathy Tyers)
Star Wars: The Crystal Star (Vonda McIntyre)
Star Wars: Jedi Search (Kevin Anderson)
Star Wars: Dark Apprentice (Kevin Anderson)
Star Wars: Champions of the Force (Kevin Anderson)
Star Wars: Darksaber (Kevin Anderson) Christmas Gift!
Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck) *
The Old Man and the Sea (John Steinbeck) *
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens) *
The White Plague (Frank Herbert)
Goldeneye (John Gardner)
Patriot Games (Tom Clancy) Christmas Gift!
Without Remorse (Tom Clancy)
Debt of Honor (Tom Clancy)

Summer 1996
-----------

Executive Orders (Tom Clancy)

11th Grade (1996-1997)
----------------------

The Road to Gandolfo (Robert Ludlum)
The Apocalypse Watch (Robert Ludlum)
The Scorpio Illusion (Robert Ludlum)
Airframe (Michael Crichton) Christmas Gift!
The Sum of All Fears (Tom Clancy) [did not finish]
Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton) *
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne) * [did not finish]
The Runaway Jury (John Grisham)
The Pelican Brief (John Grisham)
The Chamber (John Grisham)
The Rainmaker (John Grisham)
The Dilbert Principle (Scott Adams)
The Partner (John Grisham)
Interview With the Vampire (Anne Rice)

Summer 1997
-----------

Pulp Fiction: screenplay (Quentin Tarantino)
Lord Foul's Bane (Stephen R. Donaldson)
Conversations With Anne Rice (Michael Riley)
The Vampire Lestat (Anne Rice) [did not finish]
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) *

12th Grade (1997-1998)
----------------------

The Illearth War (Stephen R. Donaldson) [did not finish]
Lord of the Flies (William Golding) *
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) *
Servant of the Bones (Anne Rice)
The Witching Hour (Anne Rice)
Lasher (Anne Rice) [did not finish]
The Street Lawyer (John Grisham)
Jackie Brown/Rum Punch (Elmore Leonard) Christmas Gift!
Out of Sight (Elmore Leonard)
Riding the Rap (Elmore Leonard)
Maximum Bob (Elmore Leonard)
Get Shorty (Elmore Leonard)
The Tenth Justice (Brad Meltzer)
Insomnia (Stephen King) [did not finish]

Summer 1998
-----------

I Shot Andy Warhol: screenplay (Mary Harron/Daniel Minahan)
Rainbow Six (Tom Clancy)

From the Vault: Snapshots From my Youth Pt. 1 (1980-1991)

This is a very young picture of me... I'm probably about a year old or thereabouts here. It kind of amazes me how happy I was during my childhood, and how often I'm smiling in many of these pictures. But then again, my childhood was happy, so what did I have to be depressed about?


I think I'm around two years old here. There's probably more body fat on my face in this picture than I have on my entire body today.


On the beach in 1982.


Holding my beloved Star Wars Rancor toy. Years later, when I was studying ventriloquism during my high school years, I would employ this same Rancor as a sort of ventriloquist's dummy, as it had a movable mouth.


Opening presents on Christmas of 1984. Kermit the Frog was one of my childhood heroes. Though my favorite Muppet was Uncle Deadly, the Phantom of the Muppet Show. My very favorite episode of the Muppet Show was probably the Star Wars episode, followed by the show where Vincent Price guest starred.


My mother reading to me on Christmas of 1984.


Along with Rocky Point Amusement Park, Kings Castle Land (in Whitman, Massachusetts) was my other favorite amusement park, even though I think I only went there twice. I read somewhere once that the place closed down in 1993. Here I pose on top of a fallen giant.


Another picture of me at Kings Castle Land, posing next to a big frog. I seem to recall this amusement park also had two giant dragons that belched flames.


Stuff I received for my sixth birthday in June 1986. I can spot some Star Wars toys (including Jabba the Hutt and the Wampa snow monster), Gumby and Pokey toys, and the Madballs toy known as Oculus Orbus, which probably sparked my fascination with eyeballs.


Christmas 1986. On the television set is a manger, that my parents still set up every year during the holiday season. On the bookshelf behind me I can read a few of the titles my mother owned: The Exorcist, The Bell Jar, Carrie, and, uh, Dallas.


Graduating from kindergarten in 1986, posing with a nun, who I think was one of my teachers, though I forget her name. Was it she who taught me about death? For kindergarten my parents sent me to a Catholic school, but it was kind of expensive so the following year they enrolled me at Bernon Heights elementary school, a public school.


Me posing next to a large shark poster at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, sometime in the early-to-mid 1980's. As a child, I was obsessed with sharks, and owned many shark t-shirts and stuffed animals. My favorite stuffed animal was a shark hand puppet that I named "Shark Puppet." In this picture it looks like I'm about to start busting out some rap dance moves.


Smiling for the camera in June, 1987.


My 7th birthday party, on June 17th, 1987. Here I pose behind my cake, the infamous Stay Puft Marshmallow Man cake. The theme that year was Ghostbusters, which was one of my favorite films. Other films I enjoyed in my youth wereThe Dark Crystal, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Godzilla, and the Star Wars trilogy.


Opening presents at my 7th birthday party. In this picture, I'm unwrapping the Ghostbusters computer game for the Commodore 64, while my father and two of my brothers look on.


Posing with some of my birthday swag. For some reason I'm holding my two favorite stuffed animals in this picture, even though I had gotten them in a previous year.


More posing.


A close-up of the famous Stay Puft Marshmallow Man cake.


When I was a child, Halloween was, after Christmas, my favorite holiday. I just loved dressing up. My mother's a quilter, and she would often hand make costumes for my brothers and I. The above picture, taken on Halloween in 1987, showcases my favorite costume she made for me, that of a shark. It won second place in the school costume contest that day.


A side view of the shark costume.


Posing with my three younger brothers on Halloween. That year we apparently all dressed up as our favorite animals at that time.


June 17th, 1988: my eight birthday party. The theme that year was Pillsbury Doughboy, oddly enough.


Another picture from Mystic Aquarium, this one taken in 1988. This time I'm posing next to an actual shark, who doesn't look entirely pleased. As usual I'm holding my two favorite stuffed animals, Shark Puppet and Sammy.


October 1988. I'm in the backyard of our old house (my family and I moved into a new one the following year), showing off a praying mantis that had crawled onto my t-shirt. Aside from my obsession with sharks, I also had a huge interest in bugs and insect life in general, with the exception of bees.


This is me receiving First Communion on May 14, 1989, at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church (where I also had my Confirmation, in 1996). The priest in this picture was the church's pastor at that time, Father Bill. I think this is one of the only times in my life where I've ever worn a suit. Below is a certificate I got marking the occasion:




This picture was taken in December 1990, when I was in the fifth grade. During my grade school years, I acted in two plays. One of them was entitled The Giggling Goblin, where I played a supporting character named "Dr. Dracula." The second one was Old King Cole, where I played the lead (and titular) character. In this photo I'm seated in the center, clad in a black cape and wearing a crown that was probably made from construction paper. The only thing I can recall from the experience was a realization that I had no interest in pursuing acting.


This was taken in June of 1991. That's me holding my pet lizard, Spiky, who I ended up immortalizing in a short story I wrote for school the following year (a story I posted on this blog not too long ago: http://onyxglossary.blogspot.com/2011/05/from-vault-adventures-of-spiky.html)


Christmas 1991, holding up my notorious Steve Urkel t-shirt, which I actually wore in public. That might explain why I got picked on in school. I actually dressed as Steve Urkel for Halloween of that same year, but out of respect for the sanity of all right-thinking readers of this blog I won't post that picture.

To be continued...

From the Vault: The Adventures of Spiky

What follows is a short story I wrote as a student in the sixth grade, during my first year at Woonsocket Junior High School. This story, which was written in January of 1992, consists of 8 pages of text (written out in cursive on lined paper) and 7 pages of illustrations (done in colored markers), along with a title page. Apparently the powers that be felt that my story was good enough to win me that year's "Young Author Award" for my grade. It was the second time I had received such an award, the first time being when I was in second grade, for a contemporary re-imagining of the Frosty the Snowman story. The story that won me an award in the sixth grade, and which I now reproduce here, is entitled The Adventures of Spiky. The setting is my parent's house (where I still live), and the hero is Spiky, who was my pet lizard at the time (see the notes following the story for more details on this). The supporting cast was also modeled after pets that shared our home at that time. So, without further ado, here then is the worldwide debut of The Adventures of Spiky... (click on the illustrations if you want to see them in greater detail)



The Adventures of Spiky
James Champagne

(January 1992: written in the sixth grade)

* * * *

It was a beautiful day in the Champagne house. The sun shone brightly on Spiky’s aquarium. Spiky was James Champagne’s lizard. He had gotten Spiky for his birthday. In Spiky’s aquarium, there was a heat rock, a water bowl, a false lizard toy, a glass dinosaur, and a big wooden stick.

Spiky had a tannish, brownish color. Around his neck was a black piece of skin. He also had a spiky tail.

James came in the room, holding a box of crickets. “Food time, Spiky!” he said. He gave Spiky two crickets. They were big.

“Hello!” said the crickets.

“Hello, lunch and dinner!” said Spiky, drooling.



“Wait! You can’t eat us! Not when there is a whole house to explore!” cried the crickets.

“What?” asked Spiky, climbing up his stick.

“Oh, you really should enjoy the house,” they agreed. “The next time James opens the aquarium door, hop out!” said the crickets.

“Well, okay, but just for this once!” said Spiky, uncertainly.

The next day, James walked up to Spiky’s aquarium with the box of crickets. He opened the little door. Jump! Spiky hopped out. “Hey, get back here, Spiky!” cried James, but Spiky was long gone.



“Wow, this place is huge!” said Spiky. He crawled to the kitchen. All the furniture loomed over him. He found a piece of yarn and climbed up to the counter. Then he hopped into a bowl of cold soup.

“Brrrr! It’s cold in here!” muttered Spiky. “Now, how will I get off the counter?”

Then he saw a spoon. He climbed on one end of the spoon, and threw a meatball on the other end. Spring! He got sprung into the cat’s food bowl. What bad timing! Two cats, Rusty and Panda appeared.

“I’m outta here!” cried Spiky. He ran away, but the cats were still chasing him. He ran into the den. The cats were still following him. He ran faster. Soon he was at Hamton’s (the family hamster) cage.



“Can I come in?” asked Spiky.

“Sure!” said Hampton. He opened his cage’s door, and Spiky ran in. The cats gave up and walked away.

“Who, may I ask, are you?” asked Hampton.

“I am Spiky, the lizard who lives in the parlor. I decided to have a vacation, and those cats started chasing me.”

“Well, you can stay here as long as you want,” said Hampton.

Spiky enjoyed it in Hampton’s cage. It reminded him of his own aquarium. Soon he was homesick. So he made a plan. “When everyone is asleep, I will sneak back into my aquarium,” he thought. Soon it was midnight. Everyone was asleep. “Here’s my chance!” said Spiky.



He sneaked out of Hampton’s cage and crawled away. He was back in the kitchen. Everything was dark and scary. “Gulp,” said Spiky. He edged into the hallway. Okay, now he was at the door to the bathroom. He was almost at the door to the parlor! Just a little more, a little more…

Boom! Peter, the big black dog, burst into the room! He ran at Spiky. “Grrrrr!” he said. Spiky scrambled down the hallway, but the dog was still following him. So he ran into the basement and shut the door. Phew! He was safe! He crawled down the stairs.

Then, Rusty and Panda appeared. Uh oh! Spiky had forgotten that Rusty and Panda slept down there at night. Spiky ran up onto the pool table. The cats followed, but they slipped on the balls.



Spiky ran into one of the pockets in the pool table. He turned and saw an 8 ball rolling at him! Spiky ran off the pool table and climbed on the boards on the roof.

“Phew!” said Spiky. He crawled along the roof. Suddenly, he stepped right into a spider web.

“Uh oh!” said Spiky as a big spider crawled at him. What could he do? He couldn’t move, and the spider was coming closer! There was just one thing he could do! So he hissed. “Hisssssssssss!” hissed Spiky. The spider was so startled he accidentally cut Spiky’s ropes. Spiky ran past the confused spider and hopped from the roof on to the stairs!



Poor Spiky was so tired when he got upstairs, he just wanted to get in his aquarium. Then, he felt dog breath on his neck again! It was Peter the dog!

Spiky quickly jumped on the dog. He grappled the dog’s collar with his claws. The dog got all riled up and ran toward the basement. Spiky let go of the collar and crawled on the dog’s face. The dog went into a frenzy. Spiky hung on for dear life. The dog ran up the stairs, into Mom and Dad’s room. “Who’s there!” asked Dad. “It’s the dog!” cried Mom. “And Spiky’s on top of him! James will be so happy!” So they put Spiky into his aquarium.

The next morning, James woke up and walked downstairs. There, to his amazement, he saw Spiky in his aquarium. “Spiky, I’m so glad to see you!” Then he called Mom, Dad, and his three brothers, Tommy, Billy, and Andrew. They all had a small party. That night, comfortable in his cage again, Spiky walked over to the crickets.

“Did you have a good vacation?” they asked.

“Gulp!” went Spiky. Now those troublesome crickets were in his stomach! He happily fell asleep.


* * * *

NOTES:

Re-reading this story after all these years was a somewhat bittersweet experience for me, seeing as how all of the animals depicted within, such as my beloved cat Rusty, died many years ago. I find it odd that I decided to use Peter the dog as the story's antagonist, as in real-life Peter was perhaps one of the gentlest and easy-going dogs I've ever encountered (to this day, my mother often refers to him as "St. Peter" in fact). I wish I had spent more time on the illustrations: I was taking advanced art classes at the time, though you wouldn't know it from looking at the drawings (the rendition of the spider web in particular is painfully crude). Having said that, I like the drawing that showcases Spiky launching himself into the air via spoon and meatball, quite MacGyver that.

Sadly, poor Spiky passed away a few months after this story was written. His decline and death were hard for me as, unlike the cats and dogs of the house, he was my own personal pet. My mother and I tried to get him back to health by force-feeding him crickets (a confession: I never did quite feel comfortable feeding him live crickets in general, but that's the only thing he would eat), and during his last days I would spend hours sitting by his aquarium just to be by his side. When he died, my family actually sent me a sympathy card in the mail (though really, I suppose they could have just given it to me), telling me what a good friend I had been to Spiky and how he would always be with me in spirit. I had totally forgotten about this card until I found it a few days ago in one of my old shoe boxes that I use to house personal belongings. In any events, Spiky's memory lives on. Below is a picture of him:

Spiky and me.

From the Vault: My 1992 Summer Reading List!

1. How to eat Fried Worms (Thomas Rockwell)
2. Batman Returns (movie novelization)
3. Chicken Trek (Stephen Manes)
4. The Fright Face Contest (Stephen Mooser)
5. Rats (Pat Hutchins)
6. Slim Down Camp (Stephen Manes)
7. Revenge of the Nerd (John McNamara)
8. Wally (Judre Walkoff)
9. Be an Interplanetary Spy (Seth McEvoy)
10. Make Four Million Dollars by Next Thursday (Stephen Manes)
11. The Curse of the Egyptian Mummy (Pat Hutchins)
12. Monster of the Year (Stephen Mooser)
13. The Pink Panther Adventures in Z Land (David L. Harrison)
14. Star Wars: the Glove of Darth Vader (Paul Davids)
15. Doors to Doom (Bill McCay)
16. Koopa Capers (Bill McCay)
17. Pipe Down! (Clyde Bosco)
18. Unjust Desserts (Matt Wayne)
19. The Crystal Trap (Matt Wayne)
20. Brain Drain (Matt Wayne)
21. Leaping Lizards (Clyde Bosco)
22. Flown the Koopa (Matt Wayne)
23. Star Wars: Zorba the Hutt's Revenge (Paul Davids)
24. Star Wars: the Lost City of the Jedi (Paul Davids)
25. Hollywood Dinosaur (Daniel Cohen)
26. Honey I Blew up the Kid (Todd Shasser)
27. The Escape of the Plant That ate Dirty Socks (Nancy McArthur)
28. Steve Urkel's Super-Cool Guide to Success (Billy Aronson)
29. Monster Mix-up (Bill McCay)
30. The Shadow Prince (Matt Wayne)
31. Monster Maker (Nicholas Fish)
32. Crazy Mixed-up Valentines (Stephen Mooser)

-The spellings of the last names of a few of these authors might be incorrect.

-Entries #15-22, along with #30, were from the Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda "choose your own adventures" series.

-I seem to recall really loving "The Curse of the Egyptian Mummy," to the extent that I just ordered a used copy of it off Amazon a few minutes ago, though I forget most of the content. "Chicken Trek" was pretty good also as I recall.

-Six years after this list and I'd be reading "Naked Lunch." Proof that it's a thin line that separates "Steve Urkel's Super-Cool Guide to Success" with avant-garde counter-cultural fiction.