10 Literacy Narrative
Book Connections
By Leila Flannery
It had all started when we were thirteen & fourteen. We were in eighth grade. I had met my friend Kylie, and it was not until ninth grade that we became best friends. My attitude towards reading has always been just okay. I did not enjoy it very much because I could read higher than I could comprehend, and I did not really understand much of what I read. The problem was that I would start it but never finish the book. It was not until I read the book Flowers in the Attic that got me into reading because it got me to enjoy reading more and it built a bond between my friend Kylie and I that we still have today.
When my friend Kylie and I were spending time together, we realized that we were both reading the same book, which was Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. It was something that connected us together because we would talk about the book together. I can remember when we would read a chapter and then talk about it. Specifically, when we found out that the four siblings were locked away in an attic, because they are father had died, and the mother and grandmother were enforcing punishment and abuse. It was one of the wildest things we had ever read, we could not believe that it had just happened. We were shocked because we could not have thought that anything worse could happen until we found out about the abuse that they were doing to the kids. Through every chapter of the book, we were on the edge of our seats wondering what was going to happen. We ended up reading most of the books in that series, but we never fully finished the series. It was one of the best experiences I have had with a book.
We had read some other series but the one we read before I left for college was A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. When Kylie and I started reading this book we thought it was boring at first because it had not really gotten to the story line yet. The more we got into the book the better it got. When the main character in the book started getting threats, we discussed what we thought was going to happen. We were really interested in how she was going to solve the murder case. I remember she had called me up and said, “Have you gotten to this part in the book!” and I was like not yet, but I am almost there. Both of us had just hit the major part in the book when she thinks she finds out who did it and I just remember thinking what it going to happen to her. The book went on and then we figured out together that it was actually a different character in the book who had done it. Once we finished the book, we ended up going through the whole series and the first two books were good, but the third one was just ok. We really enjoyed the series together and we even watched the show when it came out. I admit that the book was better than the show. I just enjoyed getting to experience it with my friend Kylie and we had a fun time reading the series together.
By reading these book series together, it really showed me that reading can be fun and enjoyable, especially with friends. I was able to see how it really strengthened our bond. These events continued to affect me in my everyday life because we still like to read series together and we are just as connected. If it was not for the book Flowers in the Attic, I might never have had a good reading experience.
