When I was younger, I hated reading. I mean really hated reading. I thought it was boring, took up too much time and I never found anything I was completely interested in. I hated it so much that every summer when my mom made me do a summer reading program through the library, I would pretend to read the books I had chosen. I would sit for a few hours with the book open and just flip through the pages, maybe catching a few sentences here and there. Once, my dad had gotten a bunch of Encyclopedia Brown books for me to read. Well, guess what? I actually read the last chapter of those books, and it’s a good thing, too. He would ask me about the book, and then I’d just tell him all about the last chapter.
So, what was the first book that got me reading? The Clique by Lisi Harrison. The series started in 2004 (man, do I feel old) but I can’t exactly remember if I started them that year. Regardless, that series somehow stole my attention. It ended in 2011 when I was 15 and a sophomore in high school. Even though I was out of the age range of those novels by that time, I had to finish the last book. I’d been through all of the drama and the romance stories, so I had to know how it ended.
Somewhere in between all 14 novels of The Clique, there came the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. The first novel in this series came out in 2006 when I was about 10 years old. Unlike The Clique, the last book of the Gallagher Girls series came out in 2013. Not only was I graduating high school, but so where the girls in the book. It felt like I had grown up with the girls in the books.
I could go on and on with all reasons why I loved these novels growing up, but that would take too long. Whether it’s a book about a group of girls and their life drama or a group of girls who go to a secret school for spies, I believe there is a book out there for everyone. You just have to find the right one.
Sure there is the occasional “book slump,” and I feel like I don’t want to read, but I will always come back for a new adventure. Books have the power to create nonfiction issues or lessons in world full of fiction. In other words, they hide truths. Books allow us to admire or feel connected to fictional characters and stories. We can learn from any genre we read. We can escape our own reality when we open up our fictional world that’s full of possibilities.
To be able to do any of those things is truly a remarkable gift we can create. Are there times where I don’t like a book? Sure there are, but I can still appreciate the hard work and time that was required for it to come to life. The point is, there are lots of people who will enjoy a book you don’t. We all have different tastes.
Maybe when I was younger I hadn’t found my taste in books yet. For someone who hated and dreaded reading, it sure is funny to see the 200 books now scattered around my room. So, thank you, Lisi Harrison and Ally Carter, for getting me into reading. It was your novels that made me excited to get home and pick up a book. You are an important part of my reading journey.
