Go and read a book! That’s almost always every punishment many Ghanaian pupils were giving for misbehaving. And read we did.
Taking a jog down memory lane has led us down the book paths. There are many books which millennials look on and recall with fondness.
Textbooks, story books, novels and many more. These books hold a quiet or sometimes forgotten place in our hearts. Here’s to reminding you of the good times.
Here are 8 nostalgic books every Ghanaian millennial knows.
1. GAST Integrated Science Textbook.
This book with its detailed diagrams and science project activities is one of the most beloved books of many millenials back in the day. With it’s large black cover, this textbook was and may well still be a Godsend.
2. Great Illustrated Classics.
Remember all those classic fairy tales and novels? Gulliver Travels? The Count of Monte Cristo? Tom Sawyer? This collection of classics came in brown pages with beautifully-made illustrations. Truly a set greatly illustrates classics.
3. In The Chest of a Woman by Efo Kojo Mawugbe.
The English Literature tutor would not let you rest unless you’ve read this riveting and traditionally set Ghanaian novel. Inspiring discourse in feminism, customary leadership and inheritance, In The Chest of a Woman is a great book that totally rules.
4. Babysitters Club.
These books had all the girls by the chokehold. They all wanted one or owned some. The Babysitters Club was a serial collection of stories which followed a group of ingenious teenage girls who run a babysitting business while dealing with their own coming of age. Definitely a great reminder of our childhood.
5. Animorphs.
Yeerks! Andalites! Aliens and invasions. This sci-fi/horror book series was all the rage in the late 90s and early 2000s. Plus, it’s book covers were iconic. Each one had a drawing of a person gradually morphing into an animal. You started this just for the thrill but would stay reading because of the tale.
6. Goosebumps!
You’re in for a scare. Reader beware! Beware, indeed. The much-acclaimed horror series was a fixture in the formative lives of many millennials. Each book a different chilling story with monsters and curses making their rounds of main characters who, for the most part, should have just minded their business. This book series from R. L. Stein brings back great memories.
7. Flamingo Social Studies Textbook.
What book at all could introduce you to Orographic rainfall and then bounce about to what is an Ombudsman? You guessed right. It was the Flamingo Social Studies Textbook. This one was filled with a general ideas of beginner’s politics, history, environmental sciences and bits of geography to better your knowledge as an upstanding citizen of Ghana.
8. Afram English Course Book.
We saved the best for last. Remember Panyin and Kakra? Or Baby Jet? How about looking for snails after the rains? These English Comprehension coursebooks gave us some of the best stories from our childhood. And while most of them were didactic what mattered for us was that we were reading about people and places that were Ghanaian.