A post was trending on Twitter: "Nobody understands the bond between a girl and the mediocre book she read when she was 13 years old."

Several people mentioned my books (mainly my Cirque Du Freak and Demonata series), which was lovely, but I do bristle at that word MEDIOCRE.

I get what she means -- sometimes a book can play a huge part in your life when you're a teenager, and if you try to read it again as an adult it doesn't have the same impact on you, and can even seem a bit (maybe a LOT) lame in retrospect. But I think it's crucial to bear in mind that it's YOU that has changed, not the book.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with leaving the world of children's books and YA books behind and moving on to the world of books that are written for adults. Indeed, that's a path I'd encourage ANY and EVERY reader to take. I've always had a soft spot for children's literature, and still read several every year, and while I rarely enjoy them as much as I would have 40 years ago, they do still hit a sweet spot for me. They're not a major part of my reading habits, any more than horror or fantasy or sci-fi are major parts of my reading habits these days -- I read a very wide variety of books. But they do still work for me, and I continue to read them for pleasure.

I suspect I'm in a minority on that one, and most adults don't read an awful lots of kids' books, unless reading them to or with their own children. And that's perfectly fine and absolutely natural -- if I had to choose, and could only read books for adults or children, I'd pick books for adults.

But I think it's a pity if we lose sight of the fact that there are GOOD children's books and BAD (or MEDIOCRE) children's books. I've always been an avid reader, and I've forgotten most books I read as a child and teenager -- while I might have enjoyed them at the time, they haven't lived with me in my memories, so I suspect they weren't that strong. But other books HAVE remained with me -- The Secret Garden... Rebecca's World... The Machine Gunners... The Chocolate War... The Belgariad. These rocked my world back then, and I still remember them fondly all these years later. OK, they might not stoke my fires as strongly if I read them again now (although I'm sure at least some of them still would), but that in no way reduces them as brilliant books. I have changed. I've gotten older. I've branched out. I've explored more literary paths and niches. That in no way means that any of those books are lesser joys now than they were back then.

If you remember a childhood book fondly, please don't cheapen it by casting any MEDIOCRE light upon it. If it lives on within you, that's because it was a GOOD book. You don't have to blush with embarrassment if you're mentioning it to anyone, or laugh away your love for it by mocking it -- "Oh, yeah, Cirque Du Freak... it's awful, I know, but I loved it when I was a kid. Children, eh? What do they know?!?"

They know LOTS, is my short, concise answer. And no matter how wise and informed an adult you might have turned out, you shouldn't forget that those books you read and loved in your younger years helped shape you as a wise, informed adult... and if you mock them now and turn your back on them snobbishly, perhaps you're not as wise and informed as you might think you are...