i devoured gary paulson and chris de Lacey. hatchet and tracker were my fav paulson. the fire within had a grip on me. though its fairly obscure as far as i can tell. its about a young man who sublets from a family of ceramics artists who produce sculptures of ceramic dragons, which containthe true spirit of a dragon. i also remember the candy shop wars quite fondly. but the book that really opened me up to appreciating literature was in high school my english teacher lent me his personal copy of candide by voltaire. im graduating with my undergrad in philosophy this semester, time flies.