For everyone, or not for everyone: the bible-- whether i adhered to every word of the Word or not, or had my doubts/critiques-- the way i think, how my morals and perspectives for life have developed, and how they will continue to develop-- it is all in some way, shape, or form influenced by the words in that book.
Other than that i have multiple books i would totally read again:
"The Walled City" by Ryan Graudin was the first action young adult book i read that was no cheese, no messy love triangle/over-emphasis on romance, or supposed "strong female lead", but it was a raw story told from the perspectives of three young people trying to survive and escape an corrupt, overcrowded, almost dystopian city: a street kid with only a knife to protect her who's trying to find her sister, a prostitute(the sister) dreaming of life outside, and a convict trying to find his way home. The city is based off the former real life Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong that was demolished and replaced with a park. Another plus was that main characters were asian, like me, which was something i really appreciated since most of the popular young adult books in my school library featured main characters who were white at the time.
"The Land of Elyon" book series, the "Narnia" book series, the "City of Ember" series, and "The Series of Unfortunate Events" book series made me appreciate family and gave me smart, resourceful young women/young people in general to look up to.
The ending of "series of unfortunate events" book series still infuriates me to this day but it made sense, following the "mysterious" style of the author. Speaking of mystery, "The Name of this Book is a Secret" series by Psudonymous Bosch(a legend) was another one that made me think and gave me good role models.
