The Reluctant Reader

When people ask for my story, many things come to mind, but a lot is forgotten among the highlights of events.

There are a few things you need to know about my youth. The quick run down involves two things that help you understand how I have become who I am today.

I never liked to read. I loathed it. After so many people told me I wasn’t good at reading, it made me not want to do it. I didn’t find books enjoyable and struggled in school with reading. Time and practice helped improve my skills, but a lot of the damage had already been done.

By the time I got into eighth grade, all the teachers I’d had so far accepted that I wouldn’t be doing much of the required reading, so they didn’t bother to encourage me. It was during this year that I was at the library with my mom that I found a book that sounded interesting. It wasn’t a thick book, and the back cover sounded interesting enough to cause me to check it out and read it.

One of my favorite quotes is

“There’s no such thing as a kid who hates reading. There are kids who love reading, and kids who are reading the wrong books.”
James Patterson

It wasn’t that I hated reading. I was reading the wrong books.

Reading this small book began my journey into loving to read and having a passion for books.
My eighth-grade English teacher was so shocked that I turned in all of my twelve book reports she announced it aloud in class. While I didn’t appreciate her actions or the fact that she made a big deal out of it, I was pleased with my accomplishment.

I’ve been a passionate reader ever since. There is something special about having a great book and reading until the early morning hours to discover what happens in the story.

This struggle of mine led to my determination to do whatever was needed to help my children become the best readers they could be. It hasn’t been easy, and I sometimes wanted to give up. I am thankful to say that all of my kids enjoy reading. A common problem we now have is running out of books to read 😊.
If you are a parent of a young person struggling to read, keep encouraging them by trying new books, reading books together, and reading books to them. Most important, don’t give up on them. The next book could be what starts them on their literary journey.

The second thing you need to know about me is that I love a good story. I can’t get enough of them. When I got the itch to write a book, it was like putting everything that had been going on in my head down on paper.

If you want to see how these two things come together, read Part 2 of My Story here.