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My name is in a book?
When I was a small child, my mother ordered customized children's books for me. These books told a story about me and my family. The book even knew I lived in Indiana! Even though I couldn't read, I enjoyed being the main character all the same. -
You Better Recognize
This is about the time I started attending The Learning Twig, a head-start for children aged three to six. At the Learning Twig, I was taught to recognize words. Of course, they were simple words such as STOP, GO, YES, NO etc. Imagine how surprised my mother was when I could "read" a stop sign at that age. What a hoot! -
We're Authors
One-day, my aunt Stefanie and myself decided to write a book. We based the book on Yogi the Bear and his cohorts. Stefanie gathered the pictures, and I colored them. She wrote the text, but of course, it had to be entertaining to me. Once all of the pages were approved, Stefanie bound them together using hair ribbons. It was such a pretty book. -
Archie and Veronica Anyone?
Every week, my dad gave me an allowance. I spent the money on the usual kid stuff: candy. Sometimes though, I would buy Archie comic books. I loved reading about Veronica and Betty fighting over Archie. I used to think teenagers were so crazy! -
What Does AP Mean?
When I was in the fourth grade, I was placed in an advanced reading class. I really loved reading books from a very young age, so this was no surprise. Every day, at a designated time, I and a few classmates would go to another classroom for instruction. I always felt special during this time as this was something that only a few got to do. -
Especially For Girls
When I entered adolescence, my love for books was only rivaled by my love of music. My book lust was as strong as ever. In the 1980s my mother signed me up for a book club named Especially For Girls. It was a monthly book subscription. The books were about usual teen situations. Babysittig and boys was the norm. I really enjoyed reading these books as a teen. -
Meet Dame Agatha
My mother is an avid reader such as myself. One day I noticed that she had been reading a lot of novels by an author named Agatha Christie. I was immediately interested as my mother usually read good books that challenged me. I think the first book I read by her was 10 Little Indians, but it definitely was not the last. -
Ms. Fraley, You're the Best
In ninth grade, I had a teacher named Ms. Fraley. She was my AP English teacher. This was the first year that I read The Odyssey by Homer. I will never forget how I felt when reading the mythological book for the first time. I did not know that such books could exist. Layer upon layer of detail. The text vividly came to life in my mind. Wow! -
Enter Donald Goines
One day while flipping through our extensive collection, I stumbled across a blaxploitation book titled "Black Girl Lost" by Donald Goines. I was completely blown away. I did not know people could write this type of content legally. Needless to say, I was hooked from that day forward. I'm sure I read every book by this author within the next two years. Now I listen to them on Audible. -
I Don't Like the Ending
In eleventh grade AP English class, we had to read The Fixer by Bernard Malamud. I really enjoyed this classic book. I kept rooting for the main character, hoping he would be released from jail as we knew he was innocent. I couldn't believe that we spent all that time reading the book, just to not know if he was set free or not. His injustices hit home for me, even though I was still a child.
