Today, I’m excited to introduce my sister Sydney. We’re 18 months apart (I’m older) and very close. However, I have always been the “reader” of the family because Sydney swore off reading at a pretty young age. (I still wince when I think of the things she has said about books.)

And then this past summer, I somehow convinced her to read Divergent and she devoured all three books in two days! (She’s a speed reader – definitely faster than I am!)

Her summer assignment for her AP Lang class was to write a letter to someone who influenced her relationship with reading. She was to describe her personal relationship with reading – whatever it may be. (Had her relationship with reading changed? What had contributed to these feelings, either positive or negative?) Of course, it had to tell a story.

Sydney wrote her letter to me, and I wanted to share it simply because I think it’s hilarious and also because it is entirely possible to change the mind of the most stubborn non-reader. Enjoy! (I’ve bolded a few of the lines I find especially funny.)

Dear Brooke,

I can’t believe that you are already in college. It seems like just yesterday you were starting high school. *I miss you so much; I miss your annoying laugh when we watch Psych together and I know I always get mad at you, but I miss all of your unneeded commentary when we watch TV or movies.

So you may not know, but I have recently gotten back into reading. My favorite books right now are cheesy romance novels, but I am gravitating towards more appropriate books for my age level. Since I have been missing you, and haven’t heard you nagging me to read, I started to read the books on our kindles. So far this year I have read 25 books. I finally read The Hunger Games, The Raven Boys (your favorite book), The Fault in our Stars, and Matched! I am what you would call a reading machine. I don’t know why my mind has been corrupted to think that I do not enjoy reading. When I was a little girl, I loved reading books. I remember at night, you, Dad, and I would lie on the futon and dad would read to us. We would snuggle up next to dad before bedtime and he would read the books to us. We read the whole Narnia series together! Once we got older, we didn’t give up reading time, we just started reading our own books. You guys would always get mad at me because I whisper the book out loud because it was easier for me to understand it. Thankfully I have outgrown that habit.

When I was about ten or eleven I started believing that reading was “uncool” or “nerdy,” so I stopped cold turkey. I would tell people that you read and wrote enough for the both of us! I guess the thought kind of stuck in my brain and now I have to conquer it by reading nonstop! I may begin to enjoy reading again, but I don’t think I will ever outgrow my hatred of libraries. **I don’t know what it is about that place but it gives me the creeps. It has a specific smell that I cannot take. Well the whole concept of the library freaks me out. The thought of touching and reading out of the same book that a million other people have checked out sounds like a germ fest. Who knows what people do with those books! Reading from my kindle is less germy, so that is what I have been reading lately.

Anyways, I wanted to write to you to thank you for always being there for me. I also wanted to say thank you for pushing me to read and to improve my writing. You and Dad are always encouraging me to read more. You actually turned me onto my favorite series. Do you remember the Gallagher Girls books? There are 6 in the series and I have read them at least three times each. Well, enough of my babbling, how is college? It is weird how grown up you are. ***Just don’t forget little old me when you become a best selling author and live in New York in a gorgeous penthouse!

Love,

Sydney H

*I’m actually living from home. So I still see her every day.

**I am a huge fan of libraries. (We are NOT an anti-library family. Only Syd feels this way.)

***Aww! Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis. <3

P.S. I did NOT post this to convince you what a TERRIFIC sister I am. (That was just an added bonus.)