P.S. Be Eleven

So the same day I read this article which was going around the internet, I began listening to this book on tape:

I really loved One Crazy Summer and was excited to try the sequel. (Ages 10 and up)

Some people doubt the importance of reading into today's modern world. Reading books, that is. (Is Google Making is Stupid?)

The number one reason we should read books, in my opinion, is this:

Reading helps us develop empathy.

And that's what happened to me. The combination of reading this article and listening to this book gave me empathy towards a situation I will never personally experience and cannot imagine on my own. But the author of the article, Hamden Rice, and Rita Williams Garcia do their best with their writing to help me imagine it. I must admit, as much as I found the article compelling, it was the book that made these experiences personal for me. For just a moment, I walked in the shoes of a twelve-year-old African American girl in Brooklyn during the Civil Rights movement, and I hope that moment made me a better, more thoughtful, more caring, more aware person. I know it will be a long time before I forget that moment if I ever do.

Hooray for great books. Hooray for reading. Let's never let it die!