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Plot twist – Local student explores the importance of reading

SHAYLYNN GOODREAU-KANGAS

By SHAYLYNN

GOODREAU-KANGAS

8-18 Media

Special to the Journal

Why is reading important to me and why do I think kids and teenagers should read? For me, it began in the fourth grade. My teacher at that time used to give us reading logs to work on throughout the week.

Many of my classmates, including myself, did not enjoy this at first. As we got further into the school year, I started to appreciate what these reading logs were enabling us to accomplish. A feeling of escapism.

Throughout the years, I’ve continued to expand my reading capabilities and fell in love with it even more. From fourth grade to sixth grade I was completely obsessed with graphic novels. But as I got further into sixth grade, I started to develop a more mature taste for fiction.

My grandma helped encourage me to continue to read by lending me books. I started to realize that I would rather read books with greater depth to them. So, I started to do just that.

Whenever we went to the store, I constantly would ask if we could go the book section. It was difficult every time not to run to it.

Slowly but surely, I transitioned from books like “The Babysitters Club” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” to mysteries and romantic novels. Some graphic novels are rather predictable, whereas in mysteries it is often difficult to tell what will happen next.

That might be what I love most about novels. Even in romantic novels, plot twists occur left and right. Graphic novels are able to intrigue a reader but with novels, its almost riveting.

A graphic novel allows you to see pictures of what is happening with the characters. However, a novel will do something better. You can imagine characters on your own.

The book typically describes how a character looks but not enough for you to picture them clearly. The rest of the image is up to your imagination. But what could be better than that?

The answer to that question would be escapism. Escapism is when you are truly captivated by something and forget about everything else. A book allows me to do just that.

Every time I lay on the floor with my book, I am enchanted with imagery and fantasies. Even after I finish the book, I can allow myself to be swept away from my problems and only think about different situations characters might go through or how they would react.

Overall, I would say that’s my favorite part.

Books that struck a cord with me include “Twilight,” “The Hunger Games,” and “The Outsiders.” All three of these books had something special about them that made me want to read them as fast as I could. By far, my absolute favorite would be “Twilighht.” Who doesn’t like a book about a love story between a human and vampire?

On a more serious note, I strongly encourage more teenagers and children to invest a tiny amount of time in reading

I guarantee it will pay out later on in the future.

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