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"The Ghost Who Loved Toast"
Before I could read I would listen to stories read to me through a cassette tape. It contained collection of short stories. My favorite was "The Ghost Who Loved Toast". I would follow along in the book and then would press replay to start again. It help the process of me learning to read. -
Homemade Song
After listing to a family friend recite one of his own pieces, a poem about self discovery, four year old me felt the urge to sing. So I garbed my moms guitar and sang my own song about a girl and a guy in a sky. -
Food and Rides
When I entered the first grade I also entered a event called "Book-it". Where you would read a set amount of books and would get rewards after completing them on time. At the end of each month if you finished you would get a ticket for a free personal pan pizza. And one you got older you would get a free ticket to Six Flags at the end of the year. I didn't always care for the books. but seven year old me loved free pizza. -
Children Series
When I was eight I found my very first series I liked reading "The Boxcar Children". My mom would purchase the books as I finished them. They were the books that sparked my huge interest in mysteries. -
First Non-fiction
When I was nine my mom would read to me more thought provoking stories in hopes to spark my interest in reading. Stories that take more than just understanding. One of those books she read to me was called "When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit". -
School Play/Musical
When I was ten I was in a fourth grade school play. I auditioned for one of the bigger parts by singing a song. I ended up getting a very small part with two lines. I played a girl in art class before lunch and I had to make a statement on how "delicious the wax apple looked". I was very nervous that I would get my wrong. -
Constitution
In fifth grade we were required to memorize and recite the "We the People..." part of the constitution. We were given a week to memorize it. I read it over and over again. I was terrified of messing up in front of everybody. -
The Language of Music
When I was 11 I started to learn how to play the violin as well as read music sheets. It was a small class in fifth grade that consisted of five people. I loved learning to read music because my dad was a musician and he couldn't. It made me feel smart. I remember that I used to sneak in to the room at lunch so I could play more. -
Beginning Poet
In the seventh grade my teacher had the class write collection of different types of poems. We wrote in several different formats like a haiku and a limerick. I always enjoyed poetry (thanks to my mom) an was excited to make my own as horrible as it was. -
New Language
When I was 13 my school gave us the option to take a foreign language class. I took German because I was surrounded by it growing up. Half of my biological family, the one I lived with came from Germany. As well as three of our closest family friends spoke German, one even worked in Germany from time to time. -
School Assigned Book
The first book that was assigned to me in school that I actually enjoyed reading was "The Book Thief". It was assigned in the eight grade when I was 14. I would read ahead and looked forward to class. I really liked the perspective the author chose to tell the story. -
Emotion
"The Kite Runner" was on of the few books that evoked a range of emotions in me. It made me angry, sad, and happy at times. My twelfth grade teacher assigned it to my class. It was very well written and always left me wanting to read more. It is hard to be able to create an emotion that the reader can feel along with the character.
