Everyone has a book like that, one that absolutely changed your life. I
remember the greatest compliment I’ve ever received came from an
African-American actress, Dee Watson, who said, “You’d make a good Atticus
Finch.”
Why was that greatest compliment? Because To Kill a Mockingbird changed my life. It has stayed with me decades after I first
read it, and while it’s impossible to live up to the standard set by Atticus,
it’s not impossible to model your life after the example set out in Harper
Lee’s masterpiece.
Life-changing books are common
in young adult stories as teens enter their formative years. It’s also true of
books like To Kill a Mockingbird, originally
written for adults but that serve as de facto YA on high-school reading lists.
Lives, decisions, and character are shaped every year by classics like Black Like Me, 1984, Pride & Prejudice, Crime & Punishment, etc. And no
list, no matter how complete, includes the thousands of picture books,
middle-grade and
YA titles that children cling to every day.
Fortunately, adults can find books that reach them, too; maybe even make
them see the world in a whole new way. I recently re-read Tommy Moore’s A Ph.D. in Happiness From
the Great Comedians. It lifts your spirits in a way far beyond “the
healing power of humor;” it can change your entire outlook by presenting
practical steps drawn from the world of stand-up comedy. It my case, it even
justifies the years I spent in comedy and the fact that humor remains my
primary tool for dealing with problems and reaching people. One book – a how-to
book taken from the ways legendary comics view and treat the world – really can
help you understand how you can live your life.
But it’s children’s authors and their books that have the biggest
influence. Adult personalities are largely shaped and readers seek out books of
interest to them, but children, particularly young children, are a wide-open
canvas. They’ll face new ideas, new concepts, new challenges. They’ll read a
book ten times (or have it read to them!) and still pick it up an 11th
time. Even books that aren’t particularly challenging but that are delightful
nonetheless – Fox in Socks, Don’t Let the
Pigeon Drive the Bus, etc. – still create lifelong readers.
So whether it’s My Friend Flicka,
Tom Sawyer, Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy
Drew or something no one has heard of (or you’re too ashamed to admit –
hey, I loved The Five Chinese
Brothers as a kid), there was a book that changed your life.
