I love to read. I always have. Some of my fondest memories were of my mom dropping me at the local library, saying “you have 15 minutes,” while I ran into the children’s department and started grabbing books as fast as I could. In 15 (ish) minutes later, I would slowly walk back out the car, books lining my arm, held in place by my 10 year old chin.
In 6th grade, we were encouraged to participate in the Pizza Hut “Book It!” program. Most of my peers squeaked by, reading just enough books to earn those free pizzas. I took it as a personal challenge and read 642 books during that school year. When I participated in summer reading programs at the library, I would complete all of the summer’s prompts within a week or so. The librarians would have to add additional pages to record my completed books and eventually would ask that I just pick “a few” to record each week.
In 2020, I finished over 150 Boxcar Children books in a month. This year, I have finished about 95 books since January 1 and have set a goal of 200 by year’s end. My TBR list tops well over 600 at this point, and those are just books I’ve taken screenshots of in my photo album. My biggest fear is whether I will die before I read all of the books I want to read.
Naturally, I try to push my love of reading onto everyone I know (think Jehovah’s Witness, but WAY worse), including my son. My 11 year old, technology addicted, doesn’t-really-like-to-read son. At first, I was begging him to read age-appropriate chapter books (Magic Treehouse, Goosebumps), but he refused. I relented and said I would accept anything – audiobooks, comic books, graphic novels – just read something. Every once in a while, I can get him to pick up a graphic novel and he does love Garfield comic books. But most days, it’s a struggle to even get 20 minutes from him.
I enrolled him in our local library summer reading program. He started off strong, but he has quickly faltered. I believe it’s been 2 weeks since our last documented activity or reading log entry. Pizza Hut has renewed their Book It! Program this year, but it has done little to spark the interest of my sullen pre-teen. He did devour the “Wings of Fire” series at first, but he has stalled out on Book 6. I have tried everything. Bribery, threats, begging, guilt. I’ve even tried to pay him. Nothing works.
This is the part of the movie where it would cut to my character sitting on a tree swing in the pouring rain, crying her eyes out. Or the part where I would be ranting to a loved one, screaming “Where did I go wrong?!” as I shake my fists at the sky. Honestly, it wouldn’t be wholly inaccurate. I do wonder why he doesn’t love to read. He has a voracious appetite for knowledge, full of questions that cannot be answered by his parents, and the desire to learn about random topics. But as soon as his question is answered with the suggestion of a book, he suddenly loses interest. I’ve tried to offer books full of fun facts and pictures in response to questions like “how big is the biggest whale?” or “how do black holes form?” He loves the music and story of Hamilton, but rejects any provided books on the subject. He is an avid soccer player, with no apparent desire to learn about famous soccer players or soccer facts. He is a talented pianist, who could not care less about famous musicians, pianists, or composers. He is planning a career as a veterinarian, but won’t crack a book sharing “a day in the life of a veterinarian.” We have a trip planned in the fall and I’ve asked him to read a few books to prepare. Nada.
The other night, we were sitting in the McDonald’s drive thru and he asked me how the sun can warm us on Earth even though it’s so far away. I thought it was a reasonable question, but I had no idea. Science is not my forte. I said as much and then added, “You know where you can find the answer to that question? A book.” He paused and considered for a moment, before launching into some rambling explanation that started with “I think it’s because of sunbursts” and ending with “but I guess we’ll never know.” I don’t know much about the sun, but I don’t think the heat has anything to do with sunbursts, and I think scientists DO know how the sun heats the Earth.
So what is a book lover to do? Keep providing reading material and encourage reading every day. Continue reading frequently in the evenings or on weekends as an example. Hope he finds something to interest him, like a special series to fall in love with. Surround myself with my emotional support books. And cry whenever the mood strikes me. When nothing else works, no electronics until you read for 20 minutes.
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