Books That Made A Difference To: Breeanna Hull December 17 th, 2013

A family love for reading! My mom planted a love for reading in my siblings and I at an early age. Every night before we went to sleep, everyone would pile up in someone’s bed to listen to my mom read a story. Her voice was so rich and sweet that it brought our attention to one accord. She made the story come to life by narrating with special voices for each character and adding additional sound effects to each action. AS the years went my and we grew older, my brothers took on the role of narration, of which I was terribly jealous because I couldn’t read as well as them. As my literacy grew, my brothers grew, and now I am proud to read to my little sisters at bedtime. The books in our library mainly revolve around princesses and happily ever- afters, but each one is special to me.

Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth By: Barbara Park “Gather around the reading rug!” used to be my favorite thing to hear every afternoon in kindergarten. My teacher, Mrs. Casey, made reading fun for us. My class’s favorite book for her to read was anything from the Junie B. Jones series. I haven’t picked one up to read in years but I still remember that the opening lines were always, “My name is Junie B. Jones. The “B” stands for Beatrice. But I just like “B”. And that’s all” for every book. I felt like I was on the same level as Junie B. and I could always relate to how she felt. Sometimes I wished I could go on one of her adventures. Her character inspired me to be who I wanted to be and not worry about what other people thought of me. Yes, as a kindergartener you already feel like you’re being judged by everyone, but with Junie B. by my side, I was always happy with juts being myself.

The Hunger Games By: Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games grabbed my attention from the very beginning. Usually when one reads a book, the first few chapters are boring. That all changed for me when I picked up this book. I never faced a dull moment! I love all the action, descriptions of characters, and energetic tone. This is one of the only books I’ve read before I saw the movie. I can honestly say that I was very disappointed in the film. I feel like I could have done a much better job of setting the mood by adding in more details from the book. I would have been the perfect director! The movie has it’s ups and downs but either way, I know why everyone says the books are so much better than the movies!

The Lightkeeper’s Daughter By: Colleen Coble Mystery, romance, action, and pure excitement would be how I would describe The Lightkeeper’s Daughter. This was the first mystery novel I’ve ever read and I was very impressed. I’m actually guilty of reading it more than once! The story was so intriguing that I could imagine every scene and just watch it play in my mind like a movie. I was never a fan of mystery because of the fact that I couldn’t know all the details at once which really frustrates me. Usually when I come across a mystery, I put it right back down, but I’m happy to report that I didn’t give up on this one! I read the whole book in two days the first time around. I would love to be a big spoiler by including every detail, but I won’t do that. Although, I will leave you with this thought: What if you lived your whole life knowing you didn’t fit in, but didn’t know why? What if a stranger came to you and told you of the life you were supposed to be living? Would you decide that it was fate and you are where you’re supposed to be? Or would you set out on a mission to uncover the secrets of your second life? The choice would be yours.