Ella Enchanted Saved me
I did not always love books
It may be surprising to learn that I did not enjoy books as an early reader. Reading was hard. I don’t mean any disrespect but early reader books are boring, at least the ones I was reading. I remember in kindergarten that feeling of accomplishment as I deciphered “Bob sat.” It was a rite of passage, a mountain I’d surpassed, an exclusive club I’d joined. Bob sat. Bob ran. Bob had a dog. Once I could decipher those scribbles into actual words I realized I didn’t give a crap about Bob. As books got longer, they became harder and I still didn’t care about them. I avoided reading in elementary school. I could do it, but I never did it for fun.
In sixth grade this changed. We were assigned to read Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. This book changed my life. I was interested enough in the character and her journey that I fought the words to get to the story. I empathized with Ella. I cared. I wanted her to get everything she deserved. I wanted her to be happy.
This opened a hidden worlds of books. A place of magic and mystery, love and adventure, a place of wonder. I became voracious. I read as much as I could. Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Anne Frank, Harry Potter. I devoured fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, contemporary fiction, anything and everything.
A Surprising Discover
In college, I discovered why those early years of reading were so difficult. I remembered reading aloud in my French class when the professor stopped and corrected me. I read the word over again. She corrected me again. I did it again. She corrected me again. I could not understand what the matter was. I was reading the word exactly as it was written. She repeated it once more. I mimicked her sound instead of what I read. Then the letters rearranged themselves and I realized I’d been seeing the word wrong. The professor, naturally, had been correct. In a foreign language, I couldn’t rely on my knowledge of English and the brain’s ability to make out words even with disordered letters. In French, I read it as I saw the letters. And I saw it mixed up.
I have not been officially diagnosed for anything or pursued a diagnosis. I believe if I do have some form of dyslexia, it’s a mild one and overall does not keep me from excelling in school or enjoying reading. Side note: Dyslexia is a terrible name for dyslexics. (Typing that was so hard!)
Other factors in my life align with this divergence. I have trouble with right and left (Google maps is my often confusing friend). My handwriting is atrocious (thank heaven for typing). My spelling is equally bad (thank you spell check). I have a hard time with background noise (noise canceling headphones for the win!)
I read so much that I could do it with relative ease—and the fact is, you don’t need to understand every single word to follow the story. I sometimes reread things if something didn’t make sense, but truthfully, it didn’t slow me down. I credit Gail Carson Levine and Ella Enchanted for helping overcome my extreme dislike of reading and leading me on a path that brings me immense joy and satisfaction. Stories are my love. I read them. As a librarian, I curate and share them. As a writer, I bring them to life.
If it were up to Bob, I never would have pushed passed my barriers to find my true love and passion for stories and the truths they shred with us.
I don’t want to diminish anyone’s struggle or make it seem like because this hasn’t affected my school or career, it isn’t a huge deal for a lot of people. My journey doesn’t take anything away from yours and vice versa. You don’t have to accept limits. You don’t have to say I can’t do that because of my fill-in-the-blank. Maybe you won’t do it how everyone does it. Maybe your process will be different. With a few adjustments or accommodations, you can do whatever you are called to do.
A few things I have found that help me:
Listening to audiobooks Many great options for Audiobook listeners these days.
Audible is an option, but not your only one.
Check out Hoopla or Libby. Use your local library card to get an account. Many libraries can even get you cards online now.
Other retailers like apple or Googleplay, kobu all have audiobooks.
Spotify is getting into the audiobook game.
YouTube has a ton of audiobooks that you can listen to for free with ads or get a premium to avoid them.
Chirp is not a subscription and has audiobooks for budget friendly prices
Scribd is a subscription service with a ton of ebooks, audiobooks, podcasts, music, and more. It’s only $12 bucks a month and is a great option. There is a free trial. Go ahead and can check them out.
Speechify is a great app that reads documents for you in a variety of voice options that sound more realistic than the standard phone version. They also have audiobooks!!! You can use my referral code to get $60 off premium. Try it out for free to see if it works for you before committing. I absolutely love it! Male Narrator reads my books out loud to help me catch typos my brain doesn’t notice while reading.
Text-to-speech on most computers and phones is good enough if you don’t want to spend money on speechify.
Using talk to text—it’s not perfect, but gets enough of my point across that it works. Sometimes I find I can sort through my ideas while talking in a different way than typing.
Switching your font to opendyslexic or another font that helps you read more easily. Opendyslexic is free to download and many ereaders, including kindle already have it as an available option.
Recording lectures to listen to them later.
Avoid volunteering to write on the board. Unless you really love it. Then you do you.
This is not an exhaustive list. There are a ton of resources out there. Think outside the norm. Try things out and see what helps.
Final Considerations
My final suggestion would be if you have struggled with something, reading or whatever, and have a lot of anxiety associated with it, try to calm your body down and let it know it is safe before trying new techniques. Taking some deep cleansing breaths, gently rub your hands together, notice the sounds or scents around you. Ground yourself in whatever way works best for you—do that first until you come from a place of safety and security. Then test out a new font or try an audiobook! See how it feels!
I am grateful Ella Enchanted came into my life at a young age. There is a book (or many books) out there for you. Something that will inspire you, challenge you, or fill you satisfaction. If you have found it, share it. Tell your friends and see if it inspires them. If you haven’t found it yet, check out your local library or bookstore. They have great ideas for books that may turn you into a reader, or even a writer!
