8. The Witches by Roald Dahl

Dahl, Roald. The Witches. New York: Puffin, 1983.

The last time I read The Witches I was about 12. Needless to say, my memory of it doesn't match what I just read. In some ways, I think it's better than I remember. The action moves so fast that it is difficult to put down. The characters are universally fun full-fleshed creations without be saccharine like so many kid's book characters. The kids feel real. Real things happen to them. Parent's die. The future is uncertain. I find it refreshing.

However, I've also noticed that there is something appalling about the idea of kids reading Roald Dahl. Nothing overt, but his kid's books are almost as dark as his adult fiction. Almost as though Dahl creates his characters so realistically that they almost inherently become sinister. I didn't notice it when I was young so perhaps they don't either, but the ending of The Witches is not entirely happy and a little awful. Fun, but awful.