I just read one of the best books of my life.
It is not the first book I ever read that made me think of the world and my actions differently, and I hope it won't be my last.
A book from my past....Over the last several years I have read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck aloud to my students. I read the voices with inflection and I wring laughter out of those students and make them cry and choke up too. I also do a good job of showing that life as a mentally challenged person is not easy, but of value. I am a good performer, but the key is I feel passionate about one of the themes. That sometimes out of love for another we must do hard things for their benefit. My understanding of George and Lenny has made an effect on choices I have made.
A book from my present....I just finished Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. It is a YA fictional book about teenage suicide and how people's actions affect other people and how simple it is to change the course of someone's life or death by your own actions. And it is an unbelievably compelling and touching novel.
I learned about this book and this author at the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Conference last weekend, but put off reading it until this morning. I heard a lot of hype about the book and I expected it to be so good, I would want to be able to concentrate and read it in one setting. No bookmarks needed! I was sick at the beginning of last week and busy at the end, so I waited. I am working on taking my time to enjoy things and experiences I feel I will cherish. It was worth it.
I've read the book. I get the hype. And I recommend it. It is not a happy read, but a necessary one. I have been blessed to read books that were perfect examples of what a book should be and what a book should leave you with. Thirteen Reasons Why gives that experience.
This isn't just a commercial for the book. I do hope you read it, but more importantly I hope you read something, sometime that speaks to you the way this book spoke to me. Something that makes you change. This ability to touch a reader and to cause the reader to change or revel or love is the power of great literature.
I am going this week to talk to high school students about being a writer. And I think the message or theme I want to realize about any job is try to find a career that you can be passionate about...a career that lets you use your skills to reach out and to literally make your life and the world a better place.
A book in my future...I hope and believe that I will one day write a book that can cause a person to feel the power of the message and have it change they way they live their life for better.
