Read!

I've worked with computers for many years now and am amazed at how much kids know. Way more than I do. I have watched them work the mouse on a laptop, their cute little fingers moving over it, and I still can't do it. I had a laptop and had to get a regular mouse to use it, I was so spastic. They know how to work with programs I'm still struggling to learn, they have grown up in a different world.

They have video games that I don't even know the names of, they have discussions talking about xbox or wii or mp something, I don't know, it's a foreign language to me. I had an obsession years ago with my younger brother's Mario Brothers game. I couldn't stop playing until I reached the top level, it took over me. Then Facebook got me when I first joined with a farm game. I was actually making a list of the times I had to go back and check the farm. Too much! Both times it was like a drug and I had to quit.

My friend Tara knows absolutely zilch about computers. Her cell phone too, don't leave her a message because she has no idea how retrieve messages. She has two kids that again have grown up in a different world, they know it all. She's called me many times to check their Facebook pages to see what's going on. They're good kids, she just needs to check which is good thing. I've tried to teach her but she just doesn't get. Her parents too, she and her kids live with them and they are so lost. Tara got stuck late at work and called her father to tell him to make sure her daughter didn't have her laptop and cell phone in her room, she wanted her doing her homework and going to bed early. When she got home she asked her father if he got the computer and phone and he said yes, the computer was hidden and he pulled the phone out of his pocket, so happy he had it safe. Tara said good job dad but that's a camera. I loved that one. Tara's daughter just shrugged it away like oh well, you can't blame me for trying.

When I was younger TV was too much as far as my parents were concerned. Of course then we had the option to go out and play but even then I was always told to read and I did. I read comic books, Nancy Drew mysterious. Books are a wonderful escape, way better than TV or video games. I can't see a movie until I read the book. I don't want to imagine the movie characters when I read, I want to use my imagination, I get lost in a good book and when I finish I feel like I've lost something special.

This past weekend I went upstate with my brother Joey and his kids to visit our sister Linda and her family. It's about an hour and half ride and the whole time the kids were playing with their video games. When we took long trips in the car we would sing, with the radio and without the radio, we would play games counting the colors of cars driving by, read, and one thing that hasn't changed, we would ask "are we there yet". Even with their video games going the whole ride this weekend, my niece and nephews would pop out of the zone and ask "are we there yet".

My sister Linda works at the library in her town and her daughter Emily works there part time now too. The library had a fair that day, along with Barnes and Noble they invited authors of children's books ranging from toddler to teens. It was a great event. The kids walked around and got to speak with the authors and ask questions. Jojo was especially interested and was asking how do you write a book, why did you write the book. One author was awesome, he was raised knowing how great reading was by his parents and knew if you could just get that one book that would get you hooked, you wouldn't be able to stop. One author I was disappointed with. She wrote a book about the environment and when Jojo asked she assumed he wouldn't be interested, she gave a a boring description of her book with no excitement at all. I think she just wrote the book to make money, not to capture the reader.

Our Emily is an artist, she's a reader, a writer, just amazing. She started an anime club at the library, joining her love of art and reading and bringing other teens out of their homes, away from their video games, she created a wonderful social environment for them. At the fair they had an author of an anime books teaching a class, and Emily and her club had painted the big windows of the library with the author's work. Emily got to meet someone she admires and the author loved her painting.

Reading is a magical. JK Rowling's Harry Potter books so captured a generation and they loved to read, they couldn't wait for the next book to come out. I think now that the movies are all out so many kids wont read the book. They wont have that hunger to read the next one. They'll watch the movie, I see with my nephews now when I suggest they read the books. The movies are great, but nothing can compare to your own imagination when you're reading, nothing.

I don't know what book got me hooked, but it's a wonderful obsession. My mom loved to read and always suggested great books for us. We're a family of readers, sharing books, talking about great books and love when we suggest a good book to each other, it's a wonderful gift! I'll never forget the first time I cried reading a book. "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith. I was sobbing out loud. I couldn't believe how much a book could move me. I read all her books after that and I liked them but not like "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn". Many authors over the years have caught me with a great book, I could never pick a favorite, there's too many.

I've learned so much from reading. I became better at spelling. Even while reading fiction, I've learned so much about history and when I read something I don't understand I look it up on line and learn more.

Reading is a good obsession, an adventure, and you can escape to another world, it's a learning experience.

One of my favorite authors these days is Harlan Coben. The first book I read was "Tell No One" and it was an awesome read! Not his first book so I went searching for his earlier books. He had written a series of books about a character named Myron Bolitar. I'm in love with Myron!!! He is an awesome character and Harlan hasn't disappointed me yet with any of his books.

Read!