Student Email

I received an email from one of my students a week or so ago, and I never opened it, since I thought it would be drivel. Well I opened it, and I was mostly right. She asked me the following question, and it caught me. I had to reply.

" .... so what book are you reading now?its probibly a really good one.How do you pick really good books like that?"


Dear Jayde,

I am sorry I took SO LONG to respond. I did not realize this was a personal email with any real questions in it.

In regards to picking books, I have spent a lifetime getting to where I am now. As a wee lass, my mom used to read to me every day. All sorts of books, from Dr. Suess to Beatrix Potter, from simple nursery rhymes to complex ballad poetry such as "The Highwayman". When I was a pre-teen - your age - I read books by Paul Zindel and Judy Bloom. There was one book in particular by Judy Bloom called "Forever" that made me cry every time I read it. I never liked the Laura Ingalls Wilder books ("Little House On The Prairie" and such), and I avoided most of the L.M. Montgomery books, but there was one by Montgomery called "Blue Castle" that always choked me up as well. It was a great story, and to this day is one of my favourite stories. I also discovered J.R.R. Tolkien's book, "The Hobbit" around this time. I went through a phase of reading romance novels as well, as a young adult. Gah, I liked happy endings.

My son loves to read non-fiction books. My daughter is now working her way through the books by Nicholas Sparks, brought on by reading a book I had read with my reading buddy. I am into legal books more now, although I like human drama stories as well. I have friends who only like to read magazines - magazines with more stories than pictures that is, friends who read science fiction, and so on. My dad loves to read about true crime, especially murderers who were caught, although he also reads historical accounts.

The way I see it Jayde, we all like to read, we just like to read different things. The trick is to find out what kind of stories you like to read. Once you know that, you look for books that fit with that. In time, you will be a better reader, so you will be able to read more advanced books. Over time, what you like will change. I went from romance to Shakespeare to short stories (Saki is a GREAT writer) to mysteries to drama to criminal investigations to historical fantasy to courtroom dramas .... see how it goes? The progression is not quite that definite, but it is close enough.

My suggestion is to find out what you like to read, and persue that.

Ms. Bell