I’m lucky! I’m surrounded by books. I have an e-reader, too, that I use while walking on my treadmill. I walk at least an hour a day, so I read at least an hour every day.
Who am I kidding? I read another hour or two while my husband is watching television, and when I should be writing, and when I should be changing the litter box. I read while I’m waiting for water to boil, and I’m known for dishes that might be a little overcooked.
When I’m not on the treadmill, I prefer to read paper pages. I definitely prefer hard copies of graphic novels and picture books, and I keep backup hard copies of nonfiction so I can underline text and make notes in the margins and inside the covers.
Right now, I’m reading Warp Speed by Lisa Yee. I love her characters and the way she shows us who they are. That’s why I just stepped off my treadmill to share this depiction of Marley, a 7thgrader who is thrust into a Home Ec class after his AV teacher is taken to the hospital. A new girl, Emily, picks him as her project partner, and he is reading an article from the fashion magazine she left behind on her desk. This scene right here, with Marley sitting down to do his homework, says so much about Marley.
“There’s an article about “The Perfect Boyfriend.” A photo takes up one whole page. The caption reads, “Seth is wearing distressed jeans and a rust-colored polo shirt, topped off with a B-Man jacked from RX59 – where all the cool kids shop.
“I set the magazine aside and I put on my Benjamin Franklin jacket and glasses. Oh wait, can’t forget the Spock ears. Math is up first, then science homework. English is just a review of vocabulary words. I always do well on those. Now history. I save history for last since it’s my favorite subject.”
I don’t know about you, but when he put on his Benjamin Franklin jacket, I laughed out loud! Laughter and learning are helping me get through these scary times.
I hope you are all as lucky as I am and have books to read and time to read them. Stay safe.
Sharon Edge Martin 