The entire bedroom was enclosed in a blanket of darkness. I could hear my sisters, Lillian and Angela, breathing lightly as sleep came across them. I edged my way to the little bookcase next to my bed and my hand fumbled across it; I felt my horse figurines, a few hairclips, and a notebook, but I didn’t need those things now. Finally, my hand located my mini yellow flashlight I had earned at that year’s summer reading program. Grasping it tightly, I retreated to my pillow and reached underneath and pulled out…Extra Credit.
I could relate to Abby, the main character; she couldn’t stand staying indoors and doing homework all the time. She fell so much behind on her homework that she had to complete an extra credit activity. I read well into …show more content…
The only time I could escape was when I snuggled down with a good book and let my imagination fly free with the Wicked Witch of the West, a horse called Misty, the book thief Liesel Meminger, and Lucy, the youngest of the Pevensies. However, as I grew older, I read less for enjoyment and more for school.
I’m not a book nerd--I don’t even think I’m a nerd at all. Take my older sister, Lillian. Now, she was the book nerd of the family. She finished the Anne of Green Gables series when she was eleven, praising them so highly that I just had to try them. I didn’t get past the second book.
Only some books pertained to me, ones filled with adventure, interesting characters, happy endings, but most importantly, ones that were easy to read. Most of the books I enjoyed were categorized by my mom as “junk books.” I explained to myself that if I had to stop after every sentence and locate a word in the dictionary, reading wouldn’t be very fun for me, a middle school girl. Both my mom and Lillian began urging me to read the classics, a category of books that I believed were 900 pages long, with boring characters who always either fell in love with each other or died. The first classic Lillian suggested to me was Pride and Prejudice (a very smart choice on her part; my family and I had already watched the movie and loved it immensely). I finished the third chapter before deciding that it was too complicated …show more content…
I was both lazy and intimidated. Of course, my mom refuted my excuses, saying that I wasn’t challenging myself and will never improve if I don’t start reading them. Besides, I still had some time to put off reading the classics, for I was only in seventh grade. Weighed down by all the pressure and the school work, I no longer had the time nor the energy to visit my fictional friends at night.
In eighth grade, I read Much Ado About Nothing, The Chosen, and To Kill A Mockingbird, but I was required to read them for an English class. It wasn’t until my freshman year in high school that I began reading classics in my leisure time. My instructor for AP U.S. History gave us the option to read American history related books for extra points. Every page counted for a point--it was irresistible.
I approached Lillian, and she suggested I start with a book about my favorite animal. I finished Seabiscuit: An American Legend in two weeks flat. Although it wasn’t a classic, it renewed my feelings for books. Books weren’t just for homework, they can also provide excitement and peace. Facing my fear of the classics, I tried The Scarlet Letter. I chose it because it was short in length, but I wanted to know how Nathaniel Hawthorne could make a story of a red letter interesting. The story was anything but simple. ___ Tree grows in
I could relate to Abby, the main character; she couldn’t stand staying indoors and doing homework all the time. She fell so much behind on her homework that she had to complete an extra credit activity. I read well into …show more content…
The only time I could escape was when I snuggled down with a good book and let my imagination fly free with the Wicked Witch of the West, a horse called Misty, the book thief Liesel Meminger, and Lucy, the youngest of the Pevensies. However, as I grew older, I read less for enjoyment and more for school.
I’m not a book nerd--I don’t even think I’m a nerd at all. Take my older sister, Lillian. Now, she was the book nerd of the family. She finished the Anne of Green Gables series when she was eleven, praising them so highly that I just had to try them. I didn’t get past the second book.
Only some books pertained to me, ones filled with adventure, interesting characters, happy endings, but most importantly, ones that were easy to read. Most of the books I enjoyed were categorized by my mom as “junk books.” I explained to myself that if I had to stop after every sentence and locate a word in the dictionary, reading wouldn’t be very fun for me, a middle school girl. Both my mom and Lillian began urging me to read the classics, a category of books that I believed were 900 pages long, with boring characters who always either fell in love with each other or died. The first classic Lillian suggested to me was Pride and Prejudice (a very smart choice on her part; my family and I had already watched the movie and loved it immensely). I finished the third chapter before deciding that it was too complicated …show more content…
I was both lazy and intimidated. Of course, my mom refuted my excuses, saying that I wasn’t challenging myself and will never improve if I don’t start reading them. Besides, I still had some time to put off reading the classics, for I was only in seventh grade. Weighed down by all the pressure and the school work, I no longer had the time nor the energy to visit my fictional friends at night.
In eighth grade, I read Much Ado About Nothing, The Chosen, and To Kill A Mockingbird, but I was required to read them for an English class. It wasn’t until my freshman year in high school that I began reading classics in my leisure time. My instructor for AP U.S. History gave us the option to read American history related books for extra points. Every page counted for a point--it was irresistible.
I approached Lillian, and she suggested I start with a book about my favorite animal. I finished Seabiscuit: An American Legend in two weeks flat. Although it wasn’t a classic, it renewed my feelings for books. Books weren’t just for homework, they can also provide excitement and peace. Facing my fear of the classics, I tried The Scarlet Letter. I chose it because it was short in length, but I wanted to know how Nathaniel Hawthorne could make a story of a red letter interesting. The story was anything but simple. ___ Tree grows in