My fifteen-year-old daughter has been an avid reader since she was four-years-old. From the time she could turn the page in a book by herself, weekend excitement included a trip to the bookstore or library. She would come to the front desk to check out books with her arms loaded down, a couple of dropped books trailing the path behind her. Once she got home, we would sit through every single book together before she loaded them into her carry-on bag and disappeared into her bedroom to read and read again before they had to be back at the library.
A lot of parents enjoy those early years of reading to their children, and once kids start to get the hang of reading, they turn things around and read to you. It’s like going on an adventure together every time you pick up a book. As kids grow and become more independent, you may not share books together anymore, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
For my daughter and I, it started with JK Rowling’s “Harry Potter” books. We were reading “The Sorceror’s Stone” together and, near the end of the book, she decided she wanted to read by herself. Imagine my disappointment. There we were on the cusp of finishing a great adventure, and she wanted to go off on her own.
She was growing up and starting to explore on her own, and though she didn’t want me to come along with her, I invested some serious interest in the book. When she finished it, I picked up where we left off and read on by myself. I enjoyed the book, but what I enjoyed even more was the discussion we shared after we were both done reading it.
As she continued to venture off on her own, I could tell she enjoyed the discussion too because whenever she finished a really good book she would bring it to me and say, “You have got to read this!”
So I would, and when I was done we would talk about the characters, our favorite scenes and how much we couldn’t wait for the next book in whatever series we were reading to come out. We were still bonding over a good read.
The young adult book industry is soaring. Many of us remember when the “Twilight” series by Stephenie Meyer took the world by storm. In televised news interviews at book signings and readings with Meyer, it wasn’t just teenage girls giggling and swooning over the forbidden love between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen; their mothers were right there beside them. While reading “Twilight” with my daughter, I felt like I could relate to her again. I remembered what it felt like to be seventeen, living vicariously through the characters in the book.
Relating to our children gets more difficult with every year they grow older. Times and trends change, making it hard to understand the issues our kids face, but delving into the literature of their times may gives us insight the challenges they endure. It will also give you something to talk about at the dinner table, and what parent isn’t always a little grateful for opportunities like that?
