Books That Mean Something

As everyone in Honors English this year knows, one of second term's assignments is to enter a writing contest. One of the options is a contest called Letters About Literature. What you have to do is write a letter to an author (dead or alive) and tell them why you're glad that they wrote that book and what it means to you. I read through a few of the winning essays and thought that their choices of books and what they said was very interesting. One essay was by a girl named Erikka Potts who chose "A Child Called It" by David Pelzer. I haven't read this book, but apparently it's an autobiography about how its author was abused as a child. In this girl's essay, she relates to the story because of experiences she went through with her sister. The Pottses sisters were both abused by their alcoholic mother. After reading this story, the girls realized that they could do something to get out of their situation. The Pottses' aunt helped them and they were both sent to foster homes. Because of this book, they completely turned their life around.

Wow. This definitely made me think about how a book can change someone's life. When you read something, you unconsciously think, What if I were the one in that situation? How would I react? I've felt that way reading a lot of books, so I used that feeling to think about which books would be good to write about.

One that stands out to me is Scott Westerfield's series, "Uglies." At first, I wasn't interested in reading this because I thought it looked dumb. But when I finally did read it, I realized that there was a deeper level to it than I had expected. What if everyone could be made pretty? What if there was a universal standard on exactly what beauty was? And what if anyone who wasn't exactly like that was an ugly outcast? That was Tally Youngblood's world. I could really relate to Tally throughout this whole series. Sometimes you're forced to change against your will. I personally hate change and want everything to stay exactly the same. Like Tally, I've also felt like an outcast. Almost everyone has. His story shows that no matter what you still have your friends and yourself. Even when you go through things that you don't think you can make it out of, you can be stronger than you ever thought. Lots of Uglies's themes made a huge difference to me.

Another book that I read recently was, "A Great and Terrible Beauty" by Libba Bray. That book was definitely a page turner. An important theme I noticed in it was forgiveness. After a huge tragedy in India, Gemma Doyle has to go to a boarding school in London. Someone who she loved and trusted did some things that she can't seem to forgive or forget. I know I have that problem sometimes. I tend to hold on to my grudges and not let them go. Trying to forgive is a huge challenge for me. I'm known for remembering things someone did to me 5+ years after they happen. Watching Gemma learn to let it go made me think of how I could do the same thing in my life. Forgive people no matter what, and then forget it and don't mention it again.

There are a couple other books I'm considering too. "The Diary of Anne Frank," "Pride and Prejudice," "The Outsiders," and a lot of others. I think it's great that this contest makes you think about which of your favorite books means the most to you and why. I appreciate all these authors and their books that can completely change other people's lives. Reading means a lot to me, and I have no idea what people would do without it.