I am a reader, a flashlight-under-the-covers, carries-a-book-everywhere-I-go​, don't-look-at-my-Amazon-bill. I choose purses based on whether I can cram a paperback into them, and my books are the first items I pack into a suitcase. I am the person who family and friends call when they need a book recommendation or cannot remember who wrote Heidi. My identity as a person is so entwined with my love of reading and books that I cannot separate the two.

Our children shouldn't have to wait for adulthood to become wild readers. For many, it will be too late.

Books are love letters (or apologies) passed between us, adding a layer of conversation beyond our spoken words.

I realized that every lesson, conference, response, and assignment I taught must lead students away from me and toward their autonomy as literate people.

By believing that only some of our students will ever develop a love of books and reading, we ignore those who do not fall into books and reading on their own. We renege on our responsibility to teach students how to become self-actualized readers. We are selling our students short by believing that reading is a talent and that lifelong reading behaviors cannot be taught.

Although I enjoy digging through the library to help students find books, my aim is to help them develop self-confidence in choosing books for themselves.

When we meet and I discover that we have read and loved the same books, we are instant friends.