Reading Consumes Almeda's Life

Reading Consumes Almeda's Life

Over the past few days Almeda has been reading her new books, sleeping, eating, loafing about on the computer, and having really strange dreams. Not that she's complaining. It beats waking up at six every morning for school.

Last night she read the first half of Reviving Ophelia. "I'm really enjoying it," she says. "It's strange: one page I'm laughing out loud and the next minute I'm nearly crying."

One of my favorite families was the Boyds. Bill was a warm-hearted man who played the ukelele and had formed our state's chapter of Men Against Rape . . . Bill could make anyone laugh. He could cut the tension in a room of angry people with a joke or a song. He gave everyone nicknames they wanted to keep forever. Even though he was a socialist, Republicans liked him.

"I giggled 'cause 'Bill Boyd' is one letter away from 'Billy Boyd,'" explains Almeda. "But then, on the same page . . ."

Abby got depressed in eighth grade. She missed weeks of school because of allergies and stomach ailments. Her grades fell and she dropped out of activities . . . Nan [the mother] had some family history of depression, but she'd never worried about it.

"And I was just like, wow, that's me. Except I got over my depression and am totally ownz0ring school where Abby did drugs and never went to college."

Almeda highly recommends this book to teenage girls and parents of teenage girls. "Go out to your local independent bookstore and buy Cunt, then buy this."

Almeda | 28.12.02 14:49 | TrackBack