emilyyoung says:
I was obsessed with Sherlock Holmes when I was in third grade or so - I had this huge book with every Sherlock Holmes story in it and I read it through a few times in elementary school.

I loved books and read a lot before then, but that's the one that sticks out most in my mind...

tristiseye says:
Anne of Green Gables- the characters. I wanted to be Anne (so I could then marry Gilbert!)- who else wouldn't want to be an intelligent, spunky, and brave girl?

But the book that came to mind first was To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus's line "that you should never lie to children" still rings as clear in my head as when I first read that line.

yarnsome says:
Alice in Wonderland. I must have read it three times before moving on to the sequel, Through the Looking Glass which I also read several times. I imagined I was Alice, and made my own alternatives to her choices. I still love that book.

Khali says:
I remember several books from when I was a kid. I remember being terribly, terribly determined to march all the way through Born Free at age 7 (which I did!), and being horrified and fascinated by Anne Frank, but I think it was Jules Verne's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea that really cemented my love of books.

jayne1384 says:
I remember reading Lassie Come Home at a young age and loved it; however, the book that really got me reading was Crime and Punishment. I read it in the 11th grade as a class assignment. It was such an intriguing book--it started me on the path of being a mystery reader. Elizabeth George's Lynley Mysteries are my favorite.

LittleOne1964 says:
I have forgotten the authors name, but the first book that really touched me was called "What Color is Love". I read it when I was 8. It was a book that tried to explain how some people couldn't get along with others because of the color of their skin. The first boy who had a crush on me was black, and my 1st grade teacher gave it to me because I was struggling with the issue of race.

asavault says:
Hi. I am new here and I love this question. The book that fascinated my imagination the most was James Michener's The Drifters. Awesome. It had my mind going places and seeing things, at that time, unimaginable. I would recommend this book to everyone and only to mature kids/teens. I was mature. LOL.

MaggieH says:
@emilyyoung: The real question is whether or not Sherlock Holmes inspired an obsession with deerstalker hats!

@tristiseye: "You should never lie to children" is a powerful line indeed. I wondered how many books here might include an adolescent character--it seems to me that the combination of a young character and more adult themes make for books that, at the right period in our lives, can make a powerful impression upon us.

@Khali: Born Free at age 7! Very impressive. I too was fascinated by Anne Frank; her diary is probably one of the most common ways kids begin to learn about the history Holocaust. I imagine (and hope) it's one that sticks with a lot of people.

@LittleOne1964: Powerful stuff.

Others?

MaggieH says:
A book that really inspired me was a young adult book called Catherine Called Birdy. It's the fictional diary of a young noble girl living in a manor house in England in the middle ages. Catherine was smart and independent, and the story of her disappointments, learning experiences, and eventual triumph was one I read over and over again. Also, Catherine's family in the book is a kind of royalty, and I was still young enough to see "princess" as a viable career option, so that likely had something to do with my love of the book. But, it was mostly because Catherine was the smart, resourceful, thoughtful person I imagined myself to be and hope that I am now. In fact, I still have my worn but well-loved copy of the book

joelsanda says:
The Hobbit. Certainly not the first book I read but the first book I read I could put down. I ran down a flashlight battery reading it under the covers at night :-).

JAlover says:
When I was in the first grade, I read The Secret Garden. I was so entranced by a place that was all your own to love and care for that I kept reading to find that each book is quite like that; your own place where nothing can touch you and imagination is like a paintbrush that creates a world uniquey yours in every way.

Rhubarb says:
"The" book for me, that first one that set my imagination afire, was The Just-So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, in particular "The Elephant's Child" and "How the Alphabet was Made". Each story was like a visit to a different world, a different time, with unique and memorable characters. I wanted to write a story, too. Since then I've read it to my daughter and to many other children.

MaggieH says:
Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful answers! What a surprising and illuminating collection of books.

@joelsanda: I can certainly understand why you wore down those flashlight batteries. The Hobbit is such a whimsical yet adventurous story. I wondered if you were looking forward to, or dreading, the movie version?

@Rhubarb: Love the continuity of reading stories we loved as children to kids today. (Just-So Stories are on DailyLit, too, so if you ever feel like a trip down memory lane...)

I'll write some thoughts about this week's responses on the blog--check it out tomorrow. In the meantime, head over to answer this week's Question of the Week:
http://dailylit.com/forums/other/etc/2008/11/17/weekly-question-111708-where-would-you-go

MaggieH says:
All of the responses were so fascinating this week that I philosophized about our choices for "the one" on the DailyLit blog--check it out here (and then head over to check out *this* week's question):

http://blog.dailylit.com/2008/11/18/making-sense-of-the-ones-from-last-weeks-question-of-the-week/