Because of Winn-Dixie

It's no secret that I'm a bookworm. It's something that I'm quite proud of and I proclaim it often. I spent most of my life with a book in my hand and a few days ago, I started wondering how I first fell in love with reading.

My parents had always read to me but it was more than that. I wanted to figure out exactly when it happened. And then it hit me.

I was in the 3rd grade and my teacher, Ms. Flemming, read Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo to my class. From the second that she started reading, she had my undivided attention. She would read us a bit of the book every day and it turned into my favorite part of the day. I couldn't get enough of the story and when she finished the book, I was really sad.

So I took it upon my self to go to the library and check it out myself. I read it over and over again. I couldn't get enough. It was then that I knew what it was like to fall in love with a story. From there, I read everything that I could get my hands on and I still read with the same passion as I did back then. That's what reading is to me, a passion for storytelling.

Reading that book paved the way into my future. It changed me. It showed me just how much joy can come from words on a page and some imagination. I've wanted to be a novelist ever since.

So thank you Kate DiCamillo, for writing Because of Winn-Dixie and for inspiring me. I can only hope that one day, my stories will affect people the way that yours affected mine.

-Chelsea