Books I Have Loved

Books help us grow. They teach us invaluable life lessons, offer comfort and joy, a place to hide and heal for those who need it. Books make us think and feel, and sometimes even question our own beliefs. Books don’t necessarily offer instant gratification, like so many young people are used to these days. Reading takes time, but a good book has the power to make hours and days disappear. A book is like a movie that’s only showing in your head, it feeds our imagination, helps us see things in a new light. Reading is magical.

Books I have loved.

Andrew Smith - Ghost Medicine

Adam Rapp - 33 Snow fish

S.E. Hinton - Rumble Fish

Andreas Steinhofel - The Center of the World

J.D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye

Aidan Chambers - Postcards From No Man’s Land

Sonya Hartnett - Surrender

Suzanne Kingsbury - The Summer Fletcher Greel Loved Me

James Howe - The Watcher

Celia Rees - The Wish House

The Opposite of Running

I’ve been obsessed with safety, the idea of being and feeling safe all my life. Safety is the very opposite of being afraid, it’s the opposite of running. Feeling safe at home, at school, but most importantly in my own skin. I imagine it’s like breathing very slowly, calm like the dark silky surface of a garden pond. Not a single ripple, not a sound. But my stomach is always in knots, my breathing rapid. There is always hesitation, a slight tremor in my voice, like it’s about to break but never does. He’s shy, she says and they nod and smile. Being shy can be cute when you’re a kid. Everyone likes a polite young man. You’ve raised him well, he’s come a long way. But I’m keys jangling on a key chain, I’m coins rattling in someone’s pocket. I sleep with my fists and jaws clenched tight. I feel vulnerable, I feel like prey. I still act like a victim, I never liked the term survivor anyway. To be a survivor means to have survived, to have risen above it all, to forgive and forget. To move on. But what if I can’t?