[yldstrk]

I hated Catcher in the Rye

I hated Black Beauty because of the cruelty

I hated Old Yeller because he died.

my kids and I enjoyed the Lemony Snickett books and never thought Count Olaf was a good guy

[workerbee]

I loved Catcher in the Rye.

And Great Expectations, but only in retrospect.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was a favorite, too.

[FredZarguna]

Lemony Snicket's tale of the Baudelaire orphans does not belong on this list. Furthermore, claiming this series is worse than Pullman's His Dark Materials tells me that the author hasn't read the books.

His Dark Materials is nothing short of a Satanist screed. Although Pullman denies being one, in the final book, the child heroine sets all the souls "free" from Pullman's idea of "Heaven" (it's actually more like Limbo, which is part of Hell) where they're annihilated.

Meanwhile, the adult "heroes" make war on a senile, impotent old "God" who's on life support as his archangels terrorize the universe.

This is obviously intended to be offensive to Christians of all stripes -- as an agnostic I even found it offensive.

In any event, It's not in the same class as Lemony Snicket's books, which are written tongue firmly in cheek, and which intelligent kids who like to read will not be fooled for one second into thinking is about the iconic struggle between good and evil, anymore than are Dudley Doright's unending travails against Snidely Whiplash.