Whose fault is it?

Me in a nutshell:  I'm a mom of three, two girls and a boy. T is almost 15 and A is 16. My son is 11.  I've been married for 17 years to a great guy, though at times he doesn't get me and the books I read. That's ok, I deal with it. I work at a junior high as an aide, but I am working on my teaching degree. I will of course, teach English.  Better late than never I figure.

I have always been an avid reader, since I was a kid. Reading has always been my escape from the harshness of life, the only way I knew to live in a world better than the one I grew up in.  I always have a book on the bedside table, sometimes two or three.  Rarely does a day pass that I don't read.  For years I stuck with books that would be considered adult fare. Then, my oldest daughter--A--discovered Twilight.  And the rest is history.

So, I guess you could say it's my daughter's fault, right?  When she was in the 8th grade, she read a little book called Twilight. Again and again and again. I couldn't understand this obsessive need to read the same book over and over. I mean, I've re-read books, but usually I go years before I re-read something, not mere weeks like she was doing with Twilight.  Finally, in spring of 2008, I went to her English teacher (a friend I worked with) and asked to borrow one of her class library copies of Twilight. I slowly plowed through the first few chapters, still not getting A's obsession. I had the book for weeks, barely making a dent in it. Then my friend asked me if I was done with it, she needed it back. I promised to finish it by Monday. I forced myself to read it. Forced that was until I hit chapter 6, Scary Stories. I finished it less than 12 hours later, stopping only to sleep (barely).  I then read New Moon and Eclipse (thank goodness A had gotten them for Christmas) over the next 48 hours. I was fascinated! How could a book supposedly written for young adults (really meaning tweens and teenagers) be so good? I didn't want it to end. I scoured Stephenie Meyer's website for outtakes, extras or anything else I could find. I was hooked. Permanently it turns out.

That was the start of my "obsession." Not just my obsession with Twilight, but really with the wonderful genre that is young adult. I now read more young adult books than any other genre. I have a stack of them sitting on my bedside table.  My girls read a book and bring it to me, their eyes glowing, "Mommy, you have to read this!" And I do. Not only have I discovered some wonderful books, but it has opened up a world of conversations with my girls. It is something I can share with them. They get me and my love of these books and I get them.  We talk, laugh and cry over them. We share something, the three of us. And what could be better than that?

So really, I don't care whose fault it was. I'm just glad it happened!