Growing into Books

Have you evr talked to someone about a book you just read, and wondered if they had read a different novel? Sometimes when I’m in a book group, or having a discussion with students, I find myself wondering if we’ve all read the same book. The parts we remember are different, and that’s as it should be. While we are reading the same story, we are also reading our own stories that we helped to create. That’s why when we reread a book, sometimes years later, we notice diferent things. Our experiences have changed. We’re at different places in our lives, and different things matter. I was a big fan of Little Woman when I was growing up. I read it more times than I want to admit. I found that at different ages, I related differently to the characters–I always loved Jo, but sometimes I was Amy, and sometimes even Meg. Books are dynamic, they change with us as we grow. In our reading, we always are writing part of the story.

“This is what writers do: they tell the story and invite the reader to help create the meaning, a meaning which will be different for every reader because every reader brings to the writer’s story a unique life story of his or her own.”

Katharine Paterson