For me, it was a book called ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E Hinton. It is known as a literary classic these days, but it was quite hard hitting when it was released back in the 1960s.
In a nut shell; It is about a group of semi-impoverished greaser friends growing up in 1960s Tulsa, Oklahoma, and all the life challenges they face, and how they react to prejudice against them whilst coping with family issues.
It was the first book that made me realise that some people in society don’t get it easy growing up, and I discovered what it meant to live on the ‘wrong side of town’ and what societal prejudice was. The outsiders was the first novel I read that brought up hard subjects like; domestic violence, alcoholism, street gang violence etc.
It was the first book to shatter my naive way of thinking about the world, at 13 years old! It is still one of my favourite stories to this day, and for all its slightly dark themes, I love the compassionate friendship and brotherhood that is displayed in this book!
It’s goofy but I read Cheaper by the Dozen as a kid and in the book the dad was sort of an efficiency expert. He would approach several tasks and the think about the most efficient way to accomplish them. I also approach things that way. It influenced where I live, proximity to work, and how I approach laundry and cooking etc.
Omg, I thought I was the only one to take that view of that book! I read it when I was probably in third grade? Ever since my approach to tasks is how to do it the most efficiently, without affecting quality, in the least amount of time.
The author of Cheaper by the Dozen will be taught in the first 3 weeks of any college management course…he WAS an efficiency expert and “known as an early advocate of scientific management and a pioneer of time and motion study” (wikipedia)
It’s funny, I read that book when I was about 10 and I remember thinking how that efficiency viewpoint must just take the fun out of everything. Of course, I was diagnosed later with ADHD, so it tracks.