I remember when my classmates and I picked up our copy of this book on the last day of classes in 8th grade - it was summer reading. We all stood out on the sidewalk and checked and.... *gasp* there really were swear words in this book! And we were reading it for school! I think that alone was enough to get most people through the first few chapters.

I enjoyed this book at that age. I could sympathize with the feelings. I had a hard time, as a girl, understanding the urge to get drunk and hire prostitutes and the like. But I liked the first-person style that practically read like a diary. And it was much more interesting than the insipid girl's diaries they gave us to read in middle school.

I thought that Salinger did a great job getting us inside Holden's head. For example, it's pretty ridiculous that Holden wants to be a "catcher in the rye" as a job, but by the time you get to that point in the book and hear him say and explain that, it makes perfect sense. You don't just get to know Holden's desires and fears and why he does what he does, but you get to know his quirky personality and sense of humor. I loved that about the book.

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