First Lines
The Classics
That Nostalgia Factor
And the Award Goes To
The Book Was Better
100
This classic novel begins “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
What is Pride and Prejudice
100
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells the story of this fellow.
Who is Ichabod Crane
100
Following the pattern of the book, a mouse will typically ask for this after you give him a cookie.
What is some milk.
100
This incredibly popular 7 part children's series was never eligible to win a Newbery Medal, since it's author wasn't an American citizen.
What is Harry Potter
100
This titular Shakespeare character was portrayed on the big screen by Laurence Olivier in 1948, Mel Gibson in 1990, Kenneth Branagh in 1996, and Ethan Hawke in 2000.
Who is Hamlet
200
Scout tell us this, “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”
What is To Kill a Mockingbird
200
The phrase, ‘wear your heart on your sleeve’ was introduced by this classic wordsmith:
Who is William Shakespeare
200
This stowaway bear is discovered by the Brown family at the train station.
Who is Paddington
200
This author was the first ever to win all four of the major “speculative fiction” awards for their 2001 novel, American Gods.
Who is Neil Gaiman
200
A popular movie is based on this 1981 fantasy picture book by Chris Van Allsburg which features an enchanted board game that brings the action into reality.
What is Jumanji
300
This dystopian novel sets the tone early with this line: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen".
What is 1984
300
In The Lord of the Rings series, this many rings were given to the race of Men.
What is nine
300
This yucky food made Alexander's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day much worse.
What are Lima Beans
300
Ranked #98 of the 100 best books of the 21st century, Steig Larsson’s Millennium series, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, was originally published in this language.
What is Swedish
300
This teen comedy, set in California, is loosely based on Jane Austin’s 1815 novel Emma.
What is Clueless
400
A children's series warns us: "If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle."
What is A Series of Unfortunate Events
400
The Mock Turtle’s Story, Advice from a Cat, and Who Stole the Tarts are all chapters from this whimsical and wacky novel.
What is Alice in Wonderland
400
The fictional town of Stoneybrooke, Connecticut is the setting for this book series based on a group of girls that form a club.
What is The Baby-Sitters Club
400
Robert McCloskey won the Caldecott Medal in 1942 for this book that became so popularity that a bronze statue in Boston's Public Garden was created.
What is Make Way for Ducklings
400
'O Brother Where Art Thou?', a 2000's comedy directed by the Coen Brothers about three escaped convicts on the run in 1930s Mississippi, was loosely based on which classic poem from ancient times?
What is The Odyssey
500
A classic young adult novel begins like this: “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.”
What is The Outsiders
500
This oft-quoted Edgar Allan Poe poem was first publish in 1845.
What is The Raven
500
This 1963 monstrous picture book was originally about “wild horses,” until the author realized he couldn’t draw horses.
What is Where the Wild Things Are
500
This Colombian author, who was awarded the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature, was known for being an expert in magical realism, the literary genre in which the miraculous and the real converge.
Who was Gabriel Garcia Marquez
500
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" was the first work of Philip K. Dick's works to be adapted into a film, though it's title was changed to this instead.
What is Blade Runner