I’ve always found it hard to read in my free time, Then I discovered a genre that I love!

Reading has always been one of my struggles. Ever since elementary school, I was assumed to be at a low reading level because I could never finish a book on my own. I knew how to read, but I had a hard time sitting down and just reading for fun. My teachers thought I wasn’t a strong reader but in truth, I just couldn’t get hooked on the subject (even Elephant and Piggy!). This was very discouraging as I got older, since many of my classmates were checking out books from the library and reading them at home. My friends who enjoyed reading told me that if I could just picture the story as if it was a movie, I could read for hours on end. I tried doing this, but it just didn’t work.

What was wrong with me?  I could read just fine when it came to school assigned books, but at home, nothing interested me. You might be thinking that this is because I’m playing video games too much (a problem with many kids these days I know) but that’s not me. I didn’t even have a phone until halfway through 9th grade! So, for me the problem was different.

In elementary school, I could finish some books, but they took me forever (like 5 months!). And even then, I would read a few pages, skim a couple more and finally just flip pages until I was half way through. In the end, I would have to go back a couple chapters to figure out what was going on but it was useless. I had no idea what was going on.

In middle school, I tried to read books that had been turned into movies, but this didn’t work either. I couldn’t picture the story in my head so instead, I just watched the movies over and over again.

My dad bought a variety of popular fantasy and adventure books for me to try including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Hero’s Guide to Saving your Kingdom, The Infinity Year of Avalon James, Hatchet and even Harry Potter. Then, my sister recommended her favorite book genre: mysteries. I tried to read books like City of Ghosts, Good Girls Guide to Murder, and Light Jar but with no luck. Next, I tried the Sci-fi genre and opened up books like Ready Player One, The Martian and A Wrinkle in Time. Again, no luck. It was the same thing over and over: after a few chapters, I got bored.

It got to such a point that my dad thought maybe I had an actual reading problem. So, he sat me down and made me read the Cat in a Hat out loud. I read it to prove to him that I do know how to read but he told me, “I know you can say the words on the page, but true reading is sitting down with a book for hours without being told to do so.”

The turning point came when I stumbled upon an old series my aunt gave me when I was in elementary school. These “Who Was?” books were in the genre of Children’s Non-Fiction Biography. They were very short, but I enjoyed learning about these real-life people and their experiences. My favorites were learning about Laura Ingles Wilder, Duke Ellington, Helen Keller and Annie Oakley. I just couldn’t put these short books down. Did I really just learn how to read for fun?

When I told my sister this, she suggested I try reading a short Narrative Non-Fiction book called Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I did and it was amazing. It was a true story about an average guy who gave away his college money to a charity and hitchhiked all the way from Georgia to Alaska where he tragically dies.

When I told my dad that I finished this book in just a couple days, he was ecstatic. I finally found the genre of books that could capture my attention and imagination. I am so happy that I didn’t give up. My next book is called Into Thin Air, also by Jon Krakauer. It is another true story about a tragic climbing expedition to the top of Mt Everest and I can’t wait to start the journey.

If you are a kid (or know of a kid) who doesn’t read for fun, perhaps it’s not that they struggle with reading, perhaps it’s just that they have not found the right genre that opens up their imagination. I guess what I’m trying say is just never give up because great things take time” and reading is a great thing.

Kanako Wong is a Sophomore at Mountainside High School. In her free time, she enjoys running, photography, and spending time outdoors.