I can still hear the dreaded words of my mother ringing through the house, “it’s

time for reading!” The worst part of my day was, without a doubt, when I was painfully

forced to read to my mom. She loved reading more than anyone could imagine, and the

huge library in our home is her most loved room in the house. I, at the age of eight, on

the other hand, would have preferred to chop off my foot than read a book. Learning to

read never came easily to me, but my mom was determined to convert me to a book-

worm. Nothing would make her happier than seeing me immersed in a good book.

Unfortunately, nothing made me more irritated than hearing my older sisters tell me that

I should find a good book to read. I didn’t care if the rest of the family loved books. I did

not.

I can still picture it now...the first sweaty, hot day of summer. I was woken up

early to run errands with my mom. I pouted since I couldn’t sleep all day and instead

was being dragged to the library, my least favorite place. As I sluggishly walked into the

library that day, the smell of old books floated out the doors. I wasn’t planning on

looking around. Usually playing with the magnets by the old green couch that I loved to

relax on, was my go to activity while waiting on my mom and siblings. On this particular

day, my family seemed to be taking longer than usual. All I wanted to do was to get

back outside in the sunshine. The farm magnets got boring fast. Curiously, I decided to

browse some of the books. Picking through most of the plain looking books, I found a

few tiny novels that caught my eye. The pictures of girls on the front cover looked

interesting to me. As I sat and began to read from them, my sisters and my mom came

walking over. My mom was thrilled to see I had selected some books! The kind

librarian with the big glasses and weird, poofy hair handed me a ‘Summer Reading
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Challenge’ packet. As soon as i heard the word, “challenge,” I was in, for sure.

Completing or winning a challenge could push me to do just about anything, even read.

Asking about the details, I discovered the prize for finishing the packet happened to be

a big bag of candy. I was ecstatic. Nothing in this world made me happier than sweets,

enough so that I would even force myself to endure reading for them. All I had needed

was a little motivation.

Later, hours had passed since we had gotten home, but I was still hidden in my

cozy little nook in my room reading the books I had checked out. The first book I had

chosen, “Nancy Drew Mysteries,” I fell in love with immediately. Enjoying the books I

had chosen wasn’t something I had been expecting, but with a prize being offered, I

was determined to try. Surprisingly, I read all day, and even the next. My siblings didn’t

know what to think about my strange behavior. Without even realizing it, I had soon

completed my packet! I ran to find my mom and show her what I had accomplished.

Jumping up and down, I begged her to drive me to the library again. Of course, she

happily did.

As we drove to the library, excitement filled the car, because I was going to

receive candy... and had found a new hobby. My mom was excited that I had finally

realized how great reading could be and that I was starting to enjoy it. Together we went

into the cool, air conditioned library to claim my prize. Living in a historic house in the

country, with no air conditioning, made going to public places such a luxury. Walking in

full of pride for finishing my packet, I received my prize and was so very excited.

From that day on, reading became a daily experience for me. This new hobby

had me getting lost in books in all my spare time. The library became one of my most
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beloved places. Anyone who knew me was sure to find me with my head in a good

novel. Our local library offered many activities for the community. One of my favorite

activities to attend was the book readings. The sweetest lady would come and read

books to all the kids for an hour or two and we all listened intently. She was a dramatic

reader, making the stories she read extra interesting. I attended book sales monthly

with my mom and constantly checked out books to read. My memories of the library and

reading are some of my most favorite childhood moments.

Even though I don’t spend as much time reading now as I used to, I still love to

get into a good book on vacation or when I have some free time. Reading taught me

much about writing and also advanced my vocabulary. One of the most important

lessons the summer reading program taught me was that anything I set my mind to can

be accomplished. Still to this day, I am thankful that my mom forced me to go to the

library all those times. Reading, in general, also taught me to try new things, even when

my first inclination is to be stubbornly set on being against them.