GROWING UP IN BOOKS

Mother's Day was yesterday here in America and as many of you know by now, my mom is no longer with us so this time of year teleports me back into my childhood with full force. At random, kernels of old, long forgotten, memories and feelings come popping into my head to say hello. This is neither good nor bad because I like to hold onto idyllic moments of my youth as a reminder of where I came from and who I will always be. It sounds odd, to say who I will always be, since we live in a time where change and growth is vitally important, but I have the sense that no matter how much growth occurs within our lives, our hearts, our heads, there are still pieces of the who you were that holds firmly and helps mold the who you are. Quite frankly, this is important for my sanity, but that’s a discussion for another time.

When I broach the subject of childhood or have memories claw their way into my mind, I tend to focus on the mood or emotion most prominent at that time and what prompted such responses. My conclusion, books have controlled my emotional state long before I realized. I think we can all agree that there are certain books from our childhood we will never forget, even if we stopped re-reading them long ago. I know I have a handful of books that still tug at my heartstrings each time I see them or think of them.

All this is to say, I wanted to pay homage to the books that kept me company during my loneliness, protected me through my fragility, and brought me a sense of joy as I had never experienced or believed I would ever experience in my life. Also, can we take a moment and remember all the good times and joy brought by the Scholastic Book Fairs during elementary school!? Talk about a good ol’ time to be had!

A Light in the Attic and Falling Up by Shel Silverstein holds a very special place in my heart due to who gifted me the book rather than the content. I believe I was seven or eight and my great aunt Donna apparently loved Shel Silverstein, so her gift to me: A Light in the Attic and Falling Up, with a special little note she wrote on the front page. At the time I’m sure I was internally rolling my eyes a little, but I adored my aunt Donna, so I graciously thanked her and began opening other, more interesting presents. I believe this was the first time a book of any kind was gifted to me and prior I wouldn’t have called myself too much of a reader… well, the joke ended up being on me, because in the end, I wore both books of poetry into the ground—oh the times before I became obsessive about the condition of my cherished books, you were good to me. I laughed and I cried and I memorized as many poems as I possibly could, even to this day some of those poems are permanently plastered to the walls of my brain.

As I have gotten older, and my aunt Donna has now passed, I realize more and more that this beautiful woman with unrelenting kindness and wisdom gifted me the love of books. Thus, this is where my bibliophile journey began.

Soon after I ventured into chapter books, Dear America by various authors was my obsession. I remember so distinctly wanting to teleport out of the twentieth century and into various past centuries of so long ago. I suppose this was the first time I actually ‘fan girl-ed’ over books… I mean as much as you can fangirl over historical figures who may or may not be real and oftentimes were going through hell, but it’s my way of saying, I loved these books. I remember pouring over the Scholastic Book Catalogues circling all of the Dear America books I hadn’t yet owned, to my mom’s absolute annoyance. To this day, I still have two copies of my vast collection of Dear America books, the inside covers have stupid little notes like “if lost…” or “please don’t steal these amazing books from me…” or "peace out and keep it real..." I was a weird kid.

And thanks to those cherished Scholastic Catalogues I found the amazing Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling. I’m not sure it is much of a surprise to find Harry Potter on this list because it is Harry Potter and aren’t we all still holding out hope for a Hogwarts letter? I’ll keep this short and sweet because I plan to one day write my love letter to Harry Potter, but for now, I will quote, “Happiness can be found in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.” And Harry Potter was the light in the darkness of my childhood.

Books are such a powerful tool, having the capacity to evoke good or evil, to transport you through time and space, to expand knowledge, and to bring friends from unexpected places. I think a lot of people discuss this idea of children having invisible friends as a negative, but what is an invisible friend if not a character from a cherished book who somehow understands your struggles, makes you laugh, and holds your hand on your journey through this bumpy adventure called life.

I'd love to know books that are meaningful to you, let me know in the comments!

--Steph