Books are in My Blood
Claire Jones
ENGL 1100.46

When I jumped into that all-to-familiar arm chair -- where, throughout the years, the fabric had been worn down, and the original pattern had disappeared long ago -- the words rolled off my grandmother’s tongue like swells in the ocean. Sometimes we would sit like this for hours. Just the two of us and Tom Sawyer, Gilly Hopkins, and Taffy (from Torpedo Junction). My grandmother was a librarian for twenty-four years. Some of my first memories are of visiting her and sitting in that decrepit arm chair for hours on end, just listening to her strong, confident voice. Sometimes I would take my turn reading as well. I can't remember not knowing how to read. I'm sure I had to learn at some point, but I think that, through the years, I just picked it up.

Since her career had involved helping students pick the perfect book or find a genre that was to their liking, we read all types of novels. The first books I can remember were from Warner's Boxcar Children series. My aunts and uncles had read them when they were younger, so it seemed appropriate that I should begin with them as well. Following those were Laura Ingalls Wilder's novels. When I was a little older, we began to read classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Some people may have deemed these books a bit mature for an elementary school student, but my grandmother was great at explaining while we read. When we were reading, she would pause to help me understand the time period and how people were different. Since she had been through some of the events that were in novels we read, such as the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, and World War II, she would throw in a story of her own to show me that these happenings were real.

Wetcher's Taffy of Torpedo Junction is set in 1940's wartime coastal North Carolina. My grandmother grew up on Carolina Beach, and while we were reading about Taffy's adventures, she would reminiscence about seeing U-boats off the coast. She would tell me how the blackout curtains were closed at 7:00 P.M. every night and no one was caught in a bathing suit after sunset for fear of being mistaken for a spy. While reading Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham, she would tell me how she had never seen a black person until she went to college and she remembered when those poor girls died in the church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama.

On our weekly trip to the public library, we would take turns picking the book for the week. Neither of us picked from a specific genre every visit. Perhaps this is why I am such a well-rounded reader. I was raised to love all books. Even though grandma rarely picked science fiction, I did encounter a few, such as Sleator's Interstellar Pig and L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. She wanted to make sure that I knew what kinds of books were available to me. Even if I didn't like them, I could still appreciate them. To know what they like to read, people must first know what is out there. By the time I had reached middle school, I was reading high school level material and had been doing so for several years. Sometimes I needed help understanding, but for the most part she had done what she had set out to do. Many of my classes would read novels together. I had already read many of them, though. Some of the novels I had read years before. I grew bored because I wasn't being challenged.

It just so happens that my grandmother knows every librarian in our county, including the one at my middle school. Together, they "bullied" me into joining the Battle of the Books teams. Battle of the Books is a year-long process during which members of the team read a list of books issued by the state, and the teams then compete by answering general knowledge questions about the books. The list each year is composed of about twenty four books. Some from each genre, such as fantasy, science fiction, and biographies, and few new books that came out the previous year. The team is then broken up into smaller two-person teams and each is given a list of six or seven books. Team members are expected to know their assigned books in and out. Each is given a study packet, and teams quiz one another all year. Everyone must memorize the authors of the books as well. My grandmother had coached the team the very first year the Battle of the Books began at the middle school where she taught. She said her team always won. She had, in essence, been training me for this since I was six.

At first, I was disgusted with the idea of joining the team. I thought I could not be seen with these four-eyed freak shows because everyone would think I was so nerdy. Nonetheless, my grandmother and my school librarian convinced me that I would enjoy it. They were right. I loved it. I made so many friends, and it just so happened that the team wasn't as dorky as I had thought. In fact, the team had some of the coolest eighth graders as captains. Grandma's school didn't win for the next three years. Being such an avid reader, I would always read my books and most of the others as well. Many of my teammates did the same. It was so refreshing to be able to talk about books and laugh about twisted characters and crazy plot lines with people my own age. I was used to doing this with my grandmother, but I could discuss them with my friends on the team. Our team won the regional competition my eighth grade year.

When I entered high school, I struggled to find books that I enjoyed. My whole life, my grandmother had helped pick out books, or I had read from the state list. I was expected to find books on my own and like them, too, in high school. I was lucky that I was taught how to use the library. Some people think this is not a necessary skill to develop, but I feel that it is vital. In my high school, we had a program called Accelerated Reader, and it was required for everyone. Books had an assigned point value, and we had to accumulate a certain amount of points each grading period. Those points were our English grade. A lack of those points was a failing English grade. Accelerated Reader was a great incentive for younger children who could win prizes with their accumulated points. Ten points could be a candy bar, fifty a stuffed animal, and a hundred could be a homework pass. In secondary learning, a hundred points might be an A+, fifty was a B, and a ten was a big, fat F. Since I was unable to test on books I had tested on when I was younger, I was limited in books I could read. I struggled to find books on my own that I enjoyed, and I soon hated reading. I read for points, not content. I wanted to get all of my points so I could have time to read something interesting.

I failed to mention that my aunt is a school librarian, as well. She was working in a middle school that also had this program. She was baffled to hear that the high school was grading on points from this system intended for middle school children. She realized I was having a difficult time finding books I enjoyed that had points, too. She came to my rescue. Upon her next visit to our house, she brought with her a list of books, complete with a synopsis and how many points they were worth. My aunt enjoys ghost stories and historical fiction. Her favorite are stories written about the Holocaust, by survivors. I read many of her suggested books and began to enjoy reading again. I recommended many novels to my friends. In turn, I would read some of their recommendations. It was interesting to see the differences in peoples’ tastes. Lauren always read historical fiction, Amber -- civil rights books, Tonya -- whatever was popular at the time, and Sam -- every lovesick novel that was available to her. I tended to choose biographies and historical fiction, such as the Ditchdigger's Daughters by Yvonne Thorton, and especially stories set in North Carolina, like Wetcher's Teach's Light, perhaps because that those were always family favorites. At lunch, my friends and I would swap stories.

When I was a senior, it was time to pick out a college. I did some "soul searching" and just couldn't decide what I wanted to do with my career. I had received some teaching scholarships and decided to just be a teacher; however, that was not what I wanted to be. After a while, it became clear that I am cut out to be a librarian. It is in my blood because for my whole life I have read and helped others enjoy reading. I know how hard reading can be for someone who was never taught how to enjoy and appreciate literature. I also realize that everyone reads a little differently and can relate to different things. Whether it is For Whom the Bell Tolls, Harry Potter, or Interstellar Pig, someone loves the story. It is just a matter of finding the story that speaks to oneself.

When bedtime finally came and we climbed into that haggard, but so loved, arm chair, we might have been beginning a new story about how Kate is moving from tropical Barbados to colonial New England to live with family and be "raised appropriately." The Witch of Blackbird Pond was an interesting enough title. Though I never have "judged a book by its cover," it would prove to be one of our favorites. Sometimes I settle into the newly upholstered chair and dive into other novels. Though my grandmother and I will never again fit into our sanctuary like we used to, the feeling is the same. One book, the two of us, and pages and pages of another dimension where words are all that matters. Nothing can take away a memory. Nothing can take away a passion. Books may be burned or destroyed, but I will always remember how two brothers fell into the land of Noah in L'Engle's Many Waters, the way Marlow idolized Kurtz in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and how Dicey finally got her family in Voight’s Homecoming. I will always remember my stories.