Slip into another's skin!

“Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul.”

― Joyce Carol Oates, award winning author

At The Literacy Alliance we hope to inspire students to read and slip into a different world; to experience something different or something comforting or something thoughtful or something familiar or something uncomfortable. What better way to learn how a person of a different gender or race or economic status or age lives than to step into his or her life by reading a book. We must learn about others in order to understand others. If we can learn and understand, we can relate and we can communicate. If we can communicate, we can overcome anything - it all begins with reading.

In our booktalk program, we go into middle school classrooms and inspire students to read. Here is a 6th grader's comment about one of our booktalks:  "Thank you so much for coming to our school and sharing books with us. I never really like reading, but the way you explained about the books makes me want to read more. The one book that really stood out to me was The Wreckers! I love the way you put the story. The sound effects were amazing and made your voice stand out. I hope that you will be able to come when I am in eighth grade. Thank you so much again!" 

What book allowed you to slip into another's skin or voice or soul?