I am so excited to have Cinda Williams Chima stop by today! I adore her novels. I can’t keep them on the shelves in my LMC! I was able to pose a question for her to answer. There were so many things I wanted to know! In the end we went with:
If readers take one thing away from your books what would you want it to be?
Read on to see what Cinda Williams Chima had to say…
Best answer: A pleasurable reading experience.
Other correct answers:
- Temporary escape from the real world
- Relief from boredom
- Virtual thrills
- Goosebumps
- Tears
- Community and kinship
- Relationships with characters you love and hate
- Memories of exotic places and experiences
- All of the above
In today’s stampede to standardized testing and measurable outcomes, self-selected pleasure reading gets short shrift. I hear horror stories of children and teens being steered away from books that interest them because they’re the “wrong” reading level. Unless a book has a discussion guide or quiz or lesson plan attached, it’s not worth reading.
I’m here to tell you that pleasure reading changed my life.
I was not a strong student in early elementary school. I always seemed to miss the critical directions, the important assignment, the cue to go to reading group. The stories in my head distracted me from what was going on in the classroom. These days, I’d likely be diagnosed with ADD. They wanted to hold me back in first grade, but my mother talked them out of it.
By third grade, I was a fluent reader, and I was off. I read everything I could get my hands on—Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew by the sackful, James Bond spy novels, Beverly Cleary’s Beatrice and Ramona novels, the Little House on the Prairie series, my mother’s historical fiction, and my aunt’s True Story magazines. I read every book about animals in our community library. Sometimes I even raided my brother’s sci-fi bookshelves and borrowed my mother’s Reader’s Digest condensed books.
In other words, I read everything from trash to treasure. As far as I know, I suffered no long-term damage.
In fact, the more I read, the better things went in school—in every subject. I began writing poetry and stories in third grade. I began writing novels in middle school.
I believe I learned more from the books I chose than from all of my textbooks put together. It wasn’t so much what I read—it was that I read—all the time.
Reading is process. Reading is participative, not passive. Because readers and writers are partners in story, each contributes to the final work. Therefore every reader has a somewhat different take-away. That is why we are so often disappointed by movies made from the books we love.
If I read a book at age 12 and re-read it at 22, it’s a different book.
I’m not saying that there aren’t themes in my books—I find that some of them surface over and over, because fiction is always autobiographical. For instance, all of my books are about transformation—because I’ve been transforming myself all my life. That’s encouraging, isn’t it? The idea that there’s always a chance for redemption and change.
Reading is more than a means of delivering content. Reading develops the “third eye” of the imagination—the creative muscles we use all of our lives.
But when you read my books, your first job is to have a good time. That’s what persuades you to come back to the page.
What a great response; I will certainly be sharing it with my students. I agree with the importance of allowing students to read what they want to read. They can learn so much about who they are and the world around them. Thanks so much to Cinda for taking the time to answer!
If you’ve not read any of her books I recommend starting with The Demon King. It’s my very favorite.
Cinda Williams Chima has authored two best-selling fantasy series: The Heir Chronicles (The Warrior Heir, The Wizard Heir, The Dragon Heir) with two books forthcoming; and the Seven Realms series (The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, and the newly-released The Gray Wolf Throne) with more forthcoming. You can find information about her tour for The Gray Wolf Throne and other upcoming events herehttp://cindachima.com/Events/
More information and excerpts from each book are available on her website, www.cindachima.com. Help for writers can be found under Resources/Tips for Writers, including a document called, “Getting Started in Writing for Teens.”
Chima blogs at http://cindachima.blogspot.
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