My mom is and always has been BIG on reading. From the time we were very young she would frequent the public library with me and my brother. One stack of books would be replaced by another. She continued reading out loud at bedtime even as I entered Junior High, but when she began The Hobbit I became rebellious and impatient and chose to read magazines that were more relevant to my life such as Skateboarder, Surfer, Mad and Cracked.

My brother read recreationally much more than I did. I remember enjoying a few Nancy Drew Mysteries in sixth grade, but other than that I did not catch the reading bug until I met my all-time-best-friend-soul-sister-Marsha after I had graduated from college. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath was what she suggested. It was all I needed to acquire a thirst for more. I am sure my mom thought it would not last.

I then earned a K-12 teaching credential and started looking for a job. For some reason I only applied in the public school district I had attended as a kid. It was 1989, and no one was going to get a job, let alone be interviewed unless they were bilingual in Spanish. My options then were to increase the number of waitressing shifts I had or to sign up as a substitute teacher. I really was not ready for full-time employment anyway, and I thought it would be a good way to make sure I wanted to be a teacher.

Substituting was mostly awful, but early on one realizes that if you do not have a bag-o-tricks you are screwed, especially when the teacher does not leave lesson plans. I do not know if it was because I was only a few years older than the students or if they could tell that discipline was not my strong point, but there was always a handful of students that did their best to make my day miserable.

The only time the kids were not talking out of turn was the precious 20 minutes I would read to them out loud. Usually there was a chapter book the teacher had near the chalkboard I could read from, but I realized I needed to bring one myself just in case no book was left. I also realized that with only 20 minutes it would behoove me to bring a short story so the kids could hear it from start to finish, maybe even have a short discussion about it. I found that Roald Dahl and Ray Bradbury had written some, and being a (recent) fan of those authors I looked for stories that would be interesting and appealing with kids in the third through sixth grades.

I did not have to look long. I found a collection at the public library by Ray Bradbury that I listened to on my tape player at home. One was about a hunting expedition that took its group back to the dinosaur age, but if anyone stepped off the required path they could change history forever (which of course, one man did). Another was about a planet that was inhabited by completely harmonious people that was visited by someone who demanded they follow his way of life (which of course, they did not), and what happened to him. And yes, I increased the amount of time they listened to stories!

The kids could not get enough of these stories, and they joined me in becoming big Ray Bradbury fans. But I will always have to thank Mr. Bradbury for helping me make it through those substituting days. It might also be in large part due to him that after a couple of years I actually found my true calling–an elementary school Librarian! Mom still can’t believe it….