My memory re: my life experiences is nearly a total void; my memory re: what I read is almost page-perfect. (All things being considered, that's probably a good thing.) So it's weird to reread a series that overlaps those realms. That feeling of ur-fandom resonates, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's a contributor to my whole identifies-as-a-cat thing; I may not have liked that first Rachel book, but the cat morph set off a long series of !!!!!! in my mind. But I don't really have anticipatory feelings, and can't remember things like how I felt about characters/narrative/writing style when I was a kid.

It's been a lot of fun, regardless. I can see why the series came up on Tumblr so much—I think they hold up better than other series I can think of from my childhood. I can't imagine Nancy Drew or Goosebumps or Babysitters Club are quite this readable.