1. “If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.”

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

2. “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis

3. “Not every 13-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty.”

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

4. “‘Where’s Papa going with that axe?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.”

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

5. “There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.”

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

6. “On the morning I was scheduled to die, a large barefoot man with a bushy red beard waddled past my house.”

Seven Wonders Book 1: The Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis

7. “Ba-room, ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, baripity, baripity—Good.”

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

8. “Johnny never knew for certain why he started seeing the dead.”

Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett

9. “Thunder crashed, louder than anything Hollyleaf had heard before.”

Warriors: The Untold Stories by Erin Hunter

10. “How five crows managed to lift a twenty-pound baby boy into the air was beyond Prue, but that was certainly the least of her worries.”

Wildwood by Colin Meloy

11. “The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world.”

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

12. “I didn’t know how long I had been in the king’s prison.”

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

13. “Sophie had waited all her life to be kidnapped.”

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

14. “Marley was dead, to begin with.”

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

15. “Sometimes there’s no warning.”

Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #5: Oath Breaker by Michelle Paver

16. “It certainly seemed like it was going to be another normal evening at Amelia Bedelia’s house.”

Amelia Bedelia Chapter Book #2: Amelia Bedelia Unleashed by Herman Parish