Warrior Cats - The Book That Got Me Into Reading
Warriors by Erin Hunter was the first series that got me into reading. When I was in elementary school, we had AR reading tests. These reading tests were held to a high standard and sometimes a grade in school. Well... I was a horrible test taker and still am to this day. This made me not like reading over time because I was expected to read at my reading level and take the test. I couldn't read everything I wanted to read.
I remember in elementary school wanting to read a chapter book that interested me. When I went to try and check it out of the library, the librarian said it wasn’t in my testing score so I could not read it. I would not comprehend it so she put it back on the shelf. She guided me to “my testing score section” and told me to pick ones from here.
From there, I did not read a whole lot. I did not like the expectation of tests nor the limiting score of what I could or could not read. It made me think “what is the point of reading when I can’t have any fun”? So by the end of elementary school, I barely read.
It wasn't until middle school when my grandma got me this first book. Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter. I was interested in the book and my grandma decided to get it for me to try. I started to read it and I was mesmerized. It felt like I was watching these cat clans in the wild and learning the stories around the clans over time. I felt like I was in the book with the cats. For the first time in my reading, I felt excited and eager to read the series. It lit a fire in me that elementary school seemed to diminish.
This started my love for this series and my rabbit hole of reading. This made me want to read the next book in the series and the next. I wanted to know what happened with these cats. This led to Maximum Ride, Hunger Games, Mortal Instruments, Fallen, and then to romance books.
I did not finish the series as more kept being written after I started to read other books. But this book is what I remember fondly in my childhood. My grandmother would agree as she was thankful she found this series and relit the spark of reading in me. Primarily, she was the one who bought me my books. Whether it was a new book to try or the next book in the series, she was the one who kept feeding my love for reading.
Present day, I enjoy reading everything. I try to expand my genres into mystery, horror, manga, self help, and many more. While I still love romance and fantasy books, I feel like I have more appreciation for reading after finding my spark in middle school.
