The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster

This book is timeless, in pretty much every sense of the word. I read it way way back, in third or fourth grade, and it was wonderful then; when I spotted it in the bookstore I simply had to get it to reread it and it's still wonderful. And apparently it was written back in 1961! If you didn't know you'd never be able to tell.

The plot, of course, is very simple, but it was never meant to be a book full of twists and turns... at least, not plot twists and turns. Language twists and turns, very much so. It does the same kind of playing with English expressions as Un Lun Dun (remember that?) except... better, to put it bluntly. And first. And you know how I said it was timeless? I really hope English never grows out of the particular expressions the book uses, because then it would be more or less incomprehensible.

Now, the plot, such as it is, is mostly just a chain of lessons for Milo with some crazy experiences as buffer. But as much as I, reading it now, can look at it and think "Man, this is so transparently a book of lessons," the book disguises them so well that it was really easy to forget for a while as I was reading. It's just a great example of the whole head-fake thing(see: Randy Pausch for details). And you know what else? The lessons are still relevant. In fact, a few times while reading I had to stop and say to myself, "You know, the book is right, I really should[n't] be ____." And the lessons aren't all about how to grow up, or anything, nor are they about ignoring responsibility to have fun, or anything particularly kiddy. In fact it's one of the most well-rounded life-lessons books ever, especially with the perfect ending. Absolutely perfect.

I really can't praise this book enough. If you haven't read it since your childhood, you should seek it out and read it again. If you've never read it... find it immediately. You won't regret it.