Genesis Quinones
Professor Corrine Shearer
Fairytales and Re-writings 10105
20 December 2023
“I Told you so!”
From a very young age, I detested reading. I was never the person to pick up a book. My attention was on Monster High dolls, Ever After High Dolls, and Winx Club. When my parents got me books,
I never picked them up from where they sat on my shelves. Reading just seemed so boring to me. I conjured up this ideology of reading because of my experience in elementary school. I went to a public school for elementary school that was and is managed by the Department of Education. Being that the school was only funded by the DOE, we the students only got resources the school could afford. The books that the school possessed weren’t interesting to read. They were insanely old, and the only time my teachers would ask for new books was when they were for curriculum. For example, Number the Stars by Louis Lowry was the center for my fifth-grade English curriculum and my teacher requested and received a whole new order of books. Being that the only books that I was able to read at school were old, boring, or unappealing to a child like me, I refused to ever do it in my free time. Why would I waste my time on something so boring when I can feed my interests with dolls, toys, and whatnot? I disliked it even more because it was something my parents wanted me to do. They insisted heavily that I do it because I already didn’t like it, I grew agitated and developed a hatred for the topic on that alone. My parents were very disappointed that I didn’t take after my sister. My sister is the biggest bookworm ever, She had a vast library and she had to frequently purchase shelves for all her new purchases. Reading was like a warm bed on a cold, winter night for my sister; she reveled in it. I, however, hated that she loved it because as a result, my parents were so insistent that I too became a reader. I never wanted to be like my sister. I wanted to be my own person. Why did I need to change?
That was the attitude I maintained until I turned 11. This was the period I went to middle school for the first time. I grew out of my doll faze and toy faze, as did many kids at that time. My toys and dolls began to gather dust in one of my big plastic bins. During this period, unlike many of my other 6th-grade counterparts, I didn’t own a phone at the time. I didn’t have a segway into another form of steady entertainment. I couldn’t watch TV all the time, because eventually, I found myself uninterested after watching shows hour after hour. I couldn’t stand my boredom any longer and it came time to ask my sister for advice on what I should busy myself with. She, like the bookworm she is, pointed out reading as a possibility. I expected this from her, gave her a look, and walked away. Little did she know that I didn’t completely shut down on the idea. I let her know I would think about it. She was pleased because this was the first time that I ever entertained the idea of reading.
After a few days of sleeping on it, I decided to take the plunge. I went to my sister and asked her if I could borrow a book. She was ecstatic. I asked her if she could choose. She chose what she deemed to be a classic: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. She said that it would be perfect for a beginner and was a cult classic. I took her word for it. I stared at the book, trying to find the desire to read, but it never arrived. I lay there on my bed, just looking at the book for an hour, and later gave up. It wasn’t until the next day that I decided to sit down and pick up the book. At first, it was a slow start, I was struggling to turn the pages, but as soon as I got a little bit further into the book, the Twilight universe sucked me in. I couldn’t put the book down, it was in my hand all day, even at school. My mom and sister were skeptical, but excited when I told them I had finished the book so quickly. I asked my sister to let me read the rest of the series and she agreed. I read the entire Twilight saga within about a month.
The reason I was so enamored by Twilight was because It was the first book I ever read that wasn’t boring. Being that the only experience I had with reading came from a school that didn’t value potential readers, I had no idea that reading could be so interesting and rewarding. My opinion on reading did a complete 360°. I gushed to my sister about my experience and she amused, exclaimed “I told you so!” From that moment on I became a reader, I constantly badgered my mom to buy many books and I continually asked my sister to let me borrow her books from her library, which she happily gave me access to. I read all the time, even when I didn’t have free time. For example, a lot of the time I would bring my books into my classes and I would read while the teacher went through the lesson. I got called out for it on the day after day, but when I was hooked by a book nothing could stop me from reading it. Eventually, in 8th grade, I got an award from the English department because of my evident love for reading.
As a reader in today’s time, I feel that I carry a significant advantage over non-readers. I have been able to find an endless amount of entertainment. No matter what, authors are always coming out with new books, therefore there will always be something to entertain me. I also feel that when I do a creative writing assignment I’m able to be more creative since I’ve seen many different writing techniques on the daily. The only negative side that I found in reading was that I was less present in my day-to-day life. I would always have my nose in a book and my parents, teachers, and friends would have to call for my attention. Nowadays I have evolved and I no longer just read Young Adult fiction, I also have the privilege and interest in countless books about fictional or non-fictional people on different paths of life. I often read books that speak about serious topics in the world. Topics that relate to many of the struggles people go through on a daily. Through understanding others’ paths, I can understand where I fit in society and how I retain privileges others don’t have. Some of my favorite books and memoirs that I love are, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sanchez, I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, and The Program by Suzanne Young. These books cover very serious topics and I felt that I was able to retain a good lesson and or understanding from all of them.
To prevent what happened to me and other students as young potential readers, schools need to take responsibility and advocate for their students. Many schools like mine, in the past, didn’t invest in books distributed in schools as an extracurricular hobby. Many kids have been stuck with old books with cracked spines, yellowing pages, and most damning overall: boring. Schools need to appeal to children’s interests, they need to integrate and introduce books with topics and trends that are most popular among children. If they use books with popular cartoons or interesting plot lines, they can make a difference in students’ lives. It’s important to take a step back and brainstorm about what would appeal to a child and grasp their attention. If there’s uncertainty, then they need to ask students directly what they would be interested in reading today. If there isn’t sufficient funding, then the school needs to advocate for their students. It’s not fair for children not to get the best of the best. I could’ve been an active reader from a younger age, but my school didn’t take advantage of that possibility and failed me in that regard.
