The Reluctant Reader (Me)
I started learning to read when I was around three or four, and honestly, I hated it.
Sitting down with my mom and sounding out letters in order to create words felt like a cruel and unusual form of torture to my little self.
So, I fought back (in my childish ways).
I’d hide the books my mom was using to teach me how to read, find ways to distract her, or even hide myself away.
Anything to avoid my lessons.
But as much as I hated learning to read, I still loved stories.
The Workarounds
When I was alone, I’d flip through the colorful picture books and make up my own narratives based on the drawings I saw on the pages.
We also had a cassette player, and a ton of audiobooks on cassette tapes, so I listened to a lot of stories that way.
(Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume and Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub by Jamie Gilson were two of my favorites.)
While I found plenty of ways to satisfy my hunger for stories, most of the time I’d just beg my mother to read to me—which, now that I think about it, may be the reason why she started teaching me how to read so early in the first place.
I’d probably want my child to learn how to read for herself too if she kept shoving picture books in my face while I was trying to work, eat, or have even a moment to myself…
Either way, I found myself in the odd predicament of loving books, but hating the work that it took to learn how to read them.
The Freedom of Surrender
I’m sure some other parents would have given up when their child cried and stubbornly refused to cooperate, but my mom was determined to teach me.
Whether she tricked me into learning by letting me watch educational shows and play educational computer games, or sat me down and practiced with me herself, she kept trying.
And eventually, it worked.
I don’t remember the exact day or time that I realized I could read by myself, but I do remember how I felt.
It was as if something clicked inside my brain, and a whole new world opened up to me.
I was free. Free to enter fictional worlds and explore them—without begging my mother for help.
The library became my second home after that.
We’d go at least once (if not twice) a week, and all the librarians knew my name.
You’d rarely see me without my face in a book…
Learning & Growing
For the longest time I only thought of reading as entertainment.
But when I got to high school and started writing more and more essays and reports, I realized that it’s far more than that.
Reading is a skill.
It can be used to gain information, understand other people or cultures, expand your vocabulary, and so much more.
Now, I realize that if you know how to read, you can learn how to do literally anything.
Writing For Younger Me
These days I’ve been reading more nonfiction than fiction (for worldbuilding purposes), but I’ll never forget the stories that solidified my love of reading as a child, and ultimately led to become an author.
Those memories are part of the reason I decided to make my first published books a YA fantasy trilogy.
I remember being thirteen and struggling to find books that interested me, but that my mother would also approve of.
So I wrote The Librarian’s Ruse, A Traitor’s Vow, and An Ambassador’s Ploy for teen girls who are running into the same problems I did at that age.
Even though I don’t plan to only write YA fiction, I have a lot of younger cousins who are growing up fast, and my hope is that I can write some stories that will help spark their love of reading, just like the authors who kindled mine.
Before You Go…
Do you enjoy reading? If so, which books inspired that love?
Let me know down in the comments!