Books Should be Read Aloud

In my literacy education classes we have been discussing the importance of reading aloud to students at any age. Most people do this naturally in lower elementary grades but don't realize it still has some amazing benefits for high school students.  And it's just fun.  I love being read to, even now as an "adult."  Case in point some of my favorite memories from college are when my roommate, Alicia, read aloud to me.

Alicia and I at Messiah College (our Alma Mater)

How did this come about you ask?  I would be delighted to tell you.  We were discussing our shared love of children's literature, yes a music major and a biology major can have things in common, and our favorite books from childhood.  I mentioned how we had to read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle and I hated it.  She freaked out and asked how I could hate such an amazing book.  So to prove to me that I was wrong and A Wrinkle in Time is a book to be loved, not hated, she read the entire book, all 203 pages, aloud to me.  She read a little bit each night, or whenever we had time, and she even had voices for all the characters.  She was right, I loved it.  I loved it so much that she read aloud the remaining two books in the series A Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. 

So yes, it turns out this book is indeed excellent and it is a book to be loved.  The story is fantastic and beautifully told, the characters are charming but real, and in the end you fall in love with the book and everything in it. But I wasn't the only one who didn't care for the book originally.  L'Engle had a difficult time getting it published.  "What is it?" I would be asked, "is it fantasy or science fiction" 

"It's a book"

"But who is it for, is it for children or adults?"
"It's for people.  Don't people read books" 

As L'Engle puts it, "The problem wasn't that it was too difficult for children.  It was too difficult for adults." 

I don't want to give away really any of the story because anything I try to say will make the book sound weird. And let me assure you, this book isn't weird, it's brilliant-translation: you need to read this book.  But I will leave you this one realization made by the main character Meg (who's voice Alicia did extremely well) "Maybe I don't like being different," Meg said, "but I don't want to be like everybody else, either." 

Not making things too hard, letting yourself be different...that's kids stuff.