So remember awhile ago when I rambled about Across the Universe by Beth Revis and talked about how much I LOVED it? Well if not, you can find that here. Anyway, the important thing is Beth Revis is having a CONTEST which I have linked to here.
So the reason Beth Revis is having this contest is because she loves YA and wants to share her love of YA books with a really lucky winner. Part of the contest is to share why you love YA books, so I'm writing this blog post to tell a little story about the ways YA books have changed my life.
It sounds totally disgustingly cheesy to say that, but they have. I read a lot of different YA books, and I love a LOT of what I read. If I was going to write this post about all of the YA books that I love, it would be ridiculously long and I don't think anyone wants to read that. Instead, I'm going to focus on three major series that mean a lot to me.
First, let's start where it all began, with a little boy named Harry who lived in the cupboard under the stairs at 4 Privet Drive. That's right. The first book I ever remember reading was Harry Potter. I was five at the time and since the books were too difficult for me to read by myself, my mom read them to me. The first four books were out and I had a paper back box set of the four of them. I was obsessed pretty early on and it made me wonder what other kinds of stories were out there. I started reading everything that I could, and when I couldn't read it myself, I would have my mom read it to me.
Even after all these years, there is something about the Harry Potter series that makes it the closest to my heart. I grew up with Harry and his friends and I've lost count of the number of times I wished that I could go to Hogwarts instead of my school. Because who wants to be taking Chemistry when you could be taking Potions with Snape? I even went to get the seventh and final book at midnight before preceding to read it in a day.
When Harry Potter ended, I was a mess basically. I couldn't imagine anything being as good, because I had read plenty of other books and liked them, but nothing was ever the same as HP. One day I was at a friends house and she was reading City of Bones, the first book in a little series by Cassandra Clare called The Mortal Instruments. Maybe you've heard of it? She told me that it was AMAZING and that I should read it. Since I was in a post HP reading slump, I was doubtful and I didn't read it. Until her younger sister said the same thing and started pestering me.
I read City of Bones, and it was clear after the first few chapters that I had found the cure for my slump. Cassandra Clare's characters won my heart with their wit and hysterical one liners just as easily as J. K. Rowling's had. I devoured the entire three book series and just kept reading. Thanks to Cassandra Clare's amazing books, I found that while I might not connect to every book the exact same way that I connected with Harry Potter, I could still read YA and love what I was reading.
The last turning point I'm going to talk about is the Twilight Saga. In sixth grade, I started reading Twilight because I was at the movie theater and saw a trailer for the movie. It looked pretty cool and everyone had been telling me to read the saga for awhile anyway. So I picked up Twilight and started reading it. Now my nerdiness was already pretty evident. There wasn't a single day at school that I didn't have a book with me.
I was sitting in homeroom reading one of the Twilight books when Rachel pulled the same one out of her purse. At the time, we had just upgraded to the point where we were sort of friendly, but we weren't best friends. A few years before this, we had actually hated each other! A conversation started up about the books, which probably sounded something along the lines of "OMG ISN'T EDWARD SO HOT?? I LOVE HIM." And a friendship grew from there that soon included not just Twilight discussions, but discussions about other books too. Eventually we figured out that we are basically the same person and can write the same essays for school without even talking to each other. We finish each others sentences and have a weird way of communicating that can occasionally make us seem slightly insane. (If you follow us on Twitter you have probably witnessed this once or twice)
Without Twilight, I don't know if I would have ever discovered how similar Rachel and I are. I wouldn't have anyone to freak out about books with or attempt to survive Nanowrimo with. This blog wouldn't exist. I wouldn't be a Nerdfighter. And the friendship that Rachel and I have wouldn't be the same without YA books. They're all we talk about and they're all I ever want to read. I will definitely be reading YA books long after I'm not a teenager anymore because there is just something so incredible about the characters, worlds, and stories that YA offers. They are the kind of stories that stick with you long after you finish them and change your life. Without YA, I wouldn't be the same person that I am today.
So that's my story! Want to have the chance to win a library of SIGNED (Did I mention they are all SIGNED yet??) books? Head on over HERE and visit Beth Revis! Share the reasons why you love YA and enter her contest!
-Megan
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