Opening Lines

Remember that feeling as a kid of walking up and down the candy aisle trying to pick just the right candy bar?  How you studied the different colors and shapes of the wrappers and analyzed the pros and cons of chocolate vs. caramel, hard vs. chewy, the tried and true vs. something crazy and new?  The choices were overwhelming and could take you in any number of directions.  In the end you would have settled for just about any one of them (except Almond Joy) but yet you agonized over just the right selection. 

Okay, that wasn’t me as a kid that was me last week at Walgreens.  But now that I am older, I also get that feeling when I am at the library.  I look at the book aisle and drool over the possibilities. I study the different colors and shapes on the covers and analyze the pros and cons of adventure vs. comedy, light vs. heavy, the tried and true vs. something crazy and new.  The choices are overwhelming and can take me in any number of directions.  In the end I would settle for just about any one of them (except Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret) but yet I agonize over just the right selection. 

The nice thing about books, unlike candy bars, is that you can open them up and peer inside before taking them home.  And that is exactly what I do.  I take a book off the shelf, pull back the cover and study the first line to see if it catches my attention.  

Some opening lines are like sweet milk chocolate and I know after the first taste it is right for me.  Others are as bitter as a stale lemon drop and go immediately back on the shelf.  It is that opening line that will make or break the deal.

So without further delay.  Here are my top five candy bars and opening lines of novels.

Number 5

                The Bit O’ Honey of my list: Chewy and long lasting.

                "I come from a family with a lot of dead people." 
                                                   Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

Number 4

                The Mars Bar with Almonds:  Nothing special up front but then you add the nuts and whamo!

               “All this happened, more or less.”
                                                   Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Number 3

               The 3 Musketeers:  Smooth, yet surprisingly good.

               "It was the day my grandmother exploded.” 
                                                  The Crow Road by Iain M. Banks

Number 2

                Jelly Beans!  Jelly Beans! Jelly Beans:  There is so much to love here.

                "Ma, a mouse has to do what a mouse has to do."
                                                  Ragweed by Avi

Number 1

                The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup:  Was there ever a doubt!

                “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.”
                                                  Feed by M.T. Anderson