The Book-Fanatic Award

college. Even though she might have grown up with a hard life, she fought for different ways to

Sometimes it gets to the point that people get too attached to books, a bibliophile per se. Those who are not too fond of books, might find one novel that they grow to love. Literature tends to spark emotions in someone which makes them keep reading. This is something that this class does as well. Talking about a book with peers, gets you excited to keep on reading.

In the beginning on page 60, her parents argued that she didn't need to go to a "high class" college like Stanford but to a "college nearby", an all black college. She explains that her working-class parents feared what a college education would do to her mind, so they subjected her to harsh and bitter critique

Her parents worked on a farm. She had a younger brother. She attended really poor schools. She attended high school for a while.

Books are something we often take for granted, even though they have altered our brains by giving us an immense amounts of knowledge from early

She always wanted to complete her education so when she was 26, she attended Morgan State University's high school by a lie that she is 16. After she graduated high school, she

She thinks she would’ve started in high school, but she wouldn’t have started at such an early age without her.

She grew up in Edgewater, New Jersey and was the second oldest of ten children (Korangy, 2016, para. 2 &3). She was raised in a two-bedroom apartment -- one room for the girls and the other for the boys. Her parents slept on the living room couch (Sheftell, 2007, para. 6). Her family wasn’t considered poor, however, a family that large couldn’t be considered rich either. Barbara’s mother cared for every one of her children, and she knew each of her kids had a gift; Barbara’s gift was imagination. Her mother also helped build confidence in all of her kids, however, Barbara still struggled in school (Sheftell, 2007, para 7 & 8). She had a hard time reading, and she never felt like she fit in. Many years later after her first child, she realized after all this time that she had dyslexia (Not Defined by Dyslexia, 2012, para. 6). Finishing high school with grades consisting of mostly D’s, she was still able to attend college. Barbara went to St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York. She continued to struggle in college with grades, but she ended up graduating in 1971 with a degree in Education (Kim, 2015, para.

Throughout high school she had one place in mind where she wanted to go to college. The college of Idaho. It was where her whole family

Knowledge has always been considered as an asset for every individual. After all, who would prefer being called a dumb over smart? And with smart, we not only mean the looks, but the package as a whole. What else but books could help you achieve such a super intelligent brain? Reading books not only enhances your knowledge about reading and writing, but also empowers your

She is an avid reader and enjoys young adult literature – especially romance novels. While she reads a lot, she does struggle with comprehending nonfiction and often has questions about vocabulary. She is quick to look up the definition of words and enjoys using annotating as a skill to help her recall key facts. However, her MAP score in reading is 71% for her grade level or above average. Her ACT reading score indicates that she is slightly below college readiness standards. To help increase her confidence and raise her ACT reading score, I have encouraged her to annotate written texts and have created an annotating bookmark that gives her tips on what to annotate while she reads. To understand Student A as a reader, I have included a reader’s response to Gretchen Rubin’s TED Talk “The Five Half-Truths about Happiness,” a talk that addresses topics such as love and family. These topics are of high-interest to Student A. Also, I assigned Student A with an independent book assignment, which allowed her to choose a nonfiction book that interested her and related to her idea of the American Dream. The student received guidance from the Library Media Specialist and me in selecting a book that would both interest her and satisfy the requirement that the book relates to her definition of the American Dream. For this assignment, Student A read The Opposite of Spoiled by Ron Lieber, a book about how to raise a family, which related to Student A’s definition of the American

she was in high school or college. That changed when she began a career in

Smart people read. Books provide us with an endless amount of knowledge. I don’t mean that you have to read a scholarly book. Simply reading a romantic, thriller, comedy, or whatever kind of book it is that you like can expand your mind without you even realizing it. The best part of a book though is the creativity that it provides us with. When you’re truly interested and invested in a book your creativity starts to take over and instead of reading words on a page there is a moving playing in your head. You have your own idea of what each character is like, what the scenery looks like, and so much more. Even on your worst days you can pick up a book and just escape for a little while.

Her only and younger sister, who is 42 years old has completed school and is also a business owner. It is evident that the parents did their best to ensure their kids got to be educated and all attended private schools when in high school.

When she completed the fifth grade, she moved to the six grade at General Grant School in town. At the end of three years, she was ready to enter Reedley High School. She was reaching the age of her hormonal changes and she was ignorant of what was happening to her body. At home she asked her older sisters. Both were brutally unkind in helping her understand the changes in her