On Growing as a Reader

Oddly enough, the thing that stuck with me today wasn't anything about comedy or even being a good or bad reader/consumer of media. The thing that stuck with me was the story that Leeper shared about Evelyn and her beloved book.

When I was growing up, my parents were very controlling of the media I consumed; I couldn't read any of the Harry Potter books or anything with any sort of magic in it. I remember I brought home a book called So You Want to be a Wizard (a story centering two kids who find a book detailing how magic works and how to use it) and my mom threw it out and lied to our librarians about what happened to it.

When I went into fifth grade my class had required reading time in our school's library. We would go and pick out a book and read for 30 minutes twice a week. The first time we went, I found my "Mary story." That book was called Alanna The First Adventure.

This book was my introduction to all things fantasy and magical, but it was also my first experience reading about a girl that was actually like me. All of the Sunday school stories I had heard all featured boys who fought giants or ruled kingdoms, but all the girls were just quiet and obedient. Even Mary was painted in that same quiet unassuming light. 

Alanna wanted to be a knight in a kingdom where only men could fight, Instead of bowing out of the fight, she disguises herself to pursue her calling. The entire series revolves around her growing up and eventually breaking the gender boundary and I ate that shit up. I went on to read the rest of Tarmora Pierce's books; almost all of them revolve around a strong female character.

 It's been years since I read any of her books, so I'm not sure how well they actually hold up, but I probably would have given up on storytelling if it wasn't for these books.