I remember a time when I dug through my grandma’s house in China as a 4 year old. At the time, I could only speak Cantonese and was almost entirely illiterate in English. I discovered my uncle’s old room, and in the corner, a small shelf of his childhood collection of comic books. The first thing I picked out was a Doraemon comic book, a cartoon popular in Japan. I was fascinated by the images and the dialogue. When I returned to America, I checked out numerous comic books from the kid’s section at the Nichols library. Other than Doraemon, I picked out Pokemon and Calvin & Hobbes novels. Calvin and Hobbes was one of my favorites; I could relate to the wild imaginations of the young troublemaker. I would be taken on whatever adventures Calvin went with his imaginary tiger. When I partially learned English, I could only imagine what the dialogue was by interpreting it through the panels of the comic.
Looking back, I realize that the tiger wasn’t alive and was just a figment of Calvin’s imagination of his inanimate stuffed animal. It gives me a twist of melancholy, as a naive young me believed all of his trips to Mars were real. I realized why the book was so intriguing to me: the comic reflected my own wild imagination as a kid. I’d place myself in Calvin’s cardboard spaceship or on the slides at school wishing recess would never end. That’s why when I became fluent in English, my next main genres were science-fiction and fantasy.
My first big series was The Maze Runner. At the time when I was in third grade, only fourth graders were allowed to check out these “higher-level reading” books, but from what I’ve heard from my sister (5th grade at that time) the book was incredible. After she finished reading the first two books in the series, I borrowed them. I was immediately infatuated. Thomas, Teresa, Newt, and Minho were all I thought about when I daydreamed in class. I finished the series hurriedly, fascinated by the plot development. I could imagine the massive maze in the first book and the scorching desert in the second. It was my first big read, and I loved it from start to finish
Then it was Percy Jackson. I read the complete series once. Then again. Then I read the succeeding series, The Heroes of Olympus. I reread that as well. Then I went back to the original series, and reread those books. I was enamored with Greek Mythology from Percy Jackson; as a child, I thought I could control water with my will. The story was truly fascinating.
Because of my fascination with sci-fi, I never enjoyed assigned readings. One time, my English teacher cried in elementary school after reading Love That Dog out loud to the class. But no cool magic, I must’ve thought as I watched uncomfortably as my classmates started crying as well. My parents were also concerned about my sci-fi obsession. You’re not reading enough non-fiction, my mother said. Yeah, whatever. I continued diving into sci-fi novels; by 6th grade, I was checking out fiction novels from the young-adult section of the Nichols Library. I kept binging fiction and kept ignoring school readings. That all changed in 8th grade.
Fahrenheit 451. It was nothing much at first, just a mere school assignment. I skimmed the first few pages and then tossed it back into my backpack. Just some old-timey book. Still no cool magic. I complained about the reading to my piano teacher during a lesson, who scolded me as soon as I discussed my distaste. If you were mature enough, you’d read this novel with fascination. I took this as a challenge. I dug the book out and began reading it. I read a chapter, and then went back to read it again. Still no luck. I focused during the discussion in English. I went home later at night and brought the book to the kitchen table. I read up to the assigned chapter. Then I read past it. Ah, it finally clicked. The Nazis burned books. They stayed in control.
The next day, I shared my discovery with the class during the discussion. I must’ve felt so proud in that moment. After reading, rereading, and thoroughly enjoying George Orwell’s 1984 in freshman year, I revisited Fahrenheit 451. For both books, I differentiated the story from today’s society. I imagined, and truly imagined, the destruction of freedom if these were to occur in the future of America. I remember discussing with my parents the implications of the restrictions of knowledge throughout history, especially in today’s polarized society. I remember discussing the irony of these books being controversial and banned in many countries. I learned, through these books, how to question everything I heard. I learned the difference between following and trusting. I hated politics, but I couldn’t stop talking about it. It’s funny how I went from interpreting dialogue from pictures of comic books to applying lessons from dystopian literature to our ever-changing social climate. Even though I haven’t read many great works recently (except for The Things They Carried), I’m proud to say that I’ll be able to pick one up, appreciate the beauty of its writing, and learn with a broad mind.
I enjoyed the journey through the different titles you read. I like the story of your grandmother and being in China and reading your first comic book Doraemon. Calvin and Hobbes is a classic. Thanks for sharing.
Your story growing up is very interesting, especially as English being your second language. The way you were able to connect pictures to words and how your ideas of the stories changed over time was also very interesting. Additionally, I tend to agree with you about how we viewed children’s books as kids, our imagination took over, and it determined the story more than the story itself did. It wasn’t until later after much practice that we begin to completely understand what we are reading, or what the author’s original intentions were. I also agree with you about how as we grow up and read about more advanced topics, that we learn so much more about topics that we wouldn’t necessarily think about. For instance, your example about George Orwell’s 1984 and how it showed a different society that wasn’t reality but could be. That through these books we can understand freedom, perspectives, information, politics, and emotions.