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[CCBC-Net] What book has changed your life?
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From: Olgy Gary <omgary>
Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 17:58:49 -0600
> Maybe it was a title that made you feel less alone as a
> child. Maybe it was a book that helped you understand
> something about the world in which you lived. Maybe it was a
As a young girl growing up in Cuba when Castro took over the island and the world I knew fell apart around me and our family was ostracized and persecuted and we lived through the ordeal of trying to leave the island of our hearts and come to the USA, "A Thousand and One Nights" ("Las Mil y Una Noches") did all of the above for me. I can go on and on as to how it gave me hope when there was no hope around me...how it empowered me to believe in magic and the impossible and then bring that power to work for me and my sisters in real life...how we used code words from the various stories there to play spy games that kept our family from going to jail...So yes, I could go on and on and that's exactly what I've done in the middle grade novel I'm just about finished with. :-)
> What books from your own childhood or young adulthood made a
Then we came to the USA the church that was sponsoring us gave us books families there no longer wanted. They were old and musty and well worn...The Heidi series, the entire collection. And I remember holding each book and thinking of them as the treasures they were. I taught myself to read English pretty much by struggling with each book with a dictionary alongside me. I knew they had stories to tell and I wanted to know their stories. So I persisted and read them and loved this little girl, Heidi, who chose to look at the world through rose-colored glasses and helped others see their world a bit more rosy than it'd been before she came into the picture.
> lucky enough to know of a book that has made a real
> difference in the life of a child or teen today, share that too!
For reluctant young adult readers I definitely recommend Herbert's Dune books, especially the first one, and also Zelazny's Amber chronicles. I worked with a bright young man who had a reading disability and just couldn't read that well. I saw him devour both series and I'll never forget this 6'4" tall young man holding "The Great Book of Amber" to his heart when finished and whispering "Oh Amber"...and wondering if ever he'd find another book that would hold his attention enough so it'd be worth the struggle to read it despite his reading disability.
Olgy
------------------------------------------- Olgy Gary, Gen'l Manager
"children come first...because they're our greatest treasure!" http://www.childrencomefirst.com
Received on Mon 22 May 2006 06:58:49 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 17:58:49 -0600
> Maybe it was a title that made you feel less alone as a
> child. Maybe it was a book that helped you understand
> something about the world in which you lived. Maybe it was a
As a young girl growing up in Cuba when Castro took over the island and the world I knew fell apart around me and our family was ostracized and persecuted and we lived through the ordeal of trying to leave the island of our hearts and come to the USA, "A Thousand and One Nights" ("Las Mil y Una Noches") did all of the above for me. I can go on and on as to how it gave me hope when there was no hope around me...how it empowered me to believe in magic and the impossible and then bring that power to work for me and my sisters in real life...how we used code words from the various stories there to play spy games that kept our family from going to jail...So yes, I could go on and on and that's exactly what I've done in the middle grade novel I'm just about finished with. :-)
> What books from your own childhood or young adulthood made a
Then we came to the USA the church that was sponsoring us gave us books families there no longer wanted. They were old and musty and well worn...The Heidi series, the entire collection. And I remember holding each book and thinking of them as the treasures they were. I taught myself to read English pretty much by struggling with each book with a dictionary alongside me. I knew they had stories to tell and I wanted to know their stories. So I persisted and read them and loved this little girl, Heidi, who chose to look at the world through rose-colored glasses and helped others see their world a bit more rosy than it'd been before she came into the picture.
> lucky enough to know of a book that has made a real
> difference in the life of a child or teen today, share that too!
For reluctant young adult readers I definitely recommend Herbert's Dune books, especially the first one, and also Zelazny's Amber chronicles. I worked with a bright young man who had a reading disability and just couldn't read that well. I saw him devour both series and I'll never forget this 6'4" tall young man holding "The Great Book of Amber" to his heart when finished and whispering "Oh Amber"...and wondering if ever he'd find another book that would hold his attention enough so it'd be worth the struggle to read it despite his reading disability.
Olgy
------------------------------------------- Olgy Gary, Gen'l Manager
"children come first...because they're our greatest treasure!" http://www.childrencomefirst.com
Received on Mon 22 May 2006 06:58:49 PM CDT
