A Book That Surprised Me: Sam

When I was younger my reading habits were very strange. My mom was an avid reader and encouraged me and my brother to read all the time. I loved the idea of reading but often struggled to get through most books. It wasn’t uncommon for me to checkout a book from the library and only get through a few chapters before I needed to return it. I struggled getting past the world building because I was only interested in the action and conflict. I didn’t have the attention span to get though the character introductions and I would often give up before the main story line even started.

In middle school we had to read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. It didn’t seem like a book I would like and I knew reading the first few chapters would be hard for me. I didn’t want to have to sit through all the world building to get to the main action of the story. When I started the book I was instantly hooked from the first line. I saw a lot of myself in Ponyboy and suddenly it wasn’t hard to get though the introductions. I absolutely devoured the book and was surprised at how easily I was able to get through it. To this day, The Outsiders is my all-time favorite book and it really opened my eyes to the power good character descriptions can have on the outcome of a book.

I no longer dread the beginnings of books, in fact I think it’s the most important part. Obviously the action/conflict is important but we have to know who the characters are as people so we can see the ways in which they develop throughout their journey. I was hesitant about The Outsiders but it actually ended up changing the way I approach books.

-SG