I might have been younger, actually. I can't remember. But I remember really loving her books, and while they are easy to read they are not pandering or childish while still being age-appropriate and relevant.

My favorites were Walk Two Moons (won a Newberry Medal, I think), which is about a girl on a cross-country trip with her grandparents. Bloomability, which is about a girl from New Mexico or Kentucky who goes to a fancy boarding school in Switzerland, and The Wanderer, which is about a girl who goes on a trans-Atlantic boat ride (it's set in the modern day) with her uncles and cousins.

Good stuff!!