Evi and me
My dear old Kindle froze on me a few months ago. When I called Amazon they recommended that I buy a new one. Oh, gee, thanks. So as the months have passed, I have listened and read many reviews and comparisons —the mini ipad (too much money), the Kindle Fire, the Paperwhite . Mostly I would miss the keyboard of the old one, so handy for Word games that I loved to play. Oh well. l I canceled my subscriptions and left the books in Amazon limbo, while i decide if I want another e-reader. But that is not the story here.
I have read Wall St. Journal articles comparing mini pads, I have listened to NPR ratings of the various e-reader/tablets. They go on about playing movies (?),Pixel clarity, gaming, all stuff I l am UN-Interested in. So a few days ago my friend asked me to pick up her daughter, the 14 year old, formidable, Evi, at middle school. I leapt at the chance. Any time with Evi is time well spent.
On our too short drive home, we discuss what she is reading in school. ( I note she has Catch 22) on her lap. I tell her I am returning her mom’s book, Canada, by Richard Ford. She asks what it is about. I say, what I liked about it particularly, is the incredible voice of a young child as he perceives the events that shape his life. She jumps right in. We discuss books with great young narrators: Lovely Bones, White Oleander (she says she hasn’t read it but just took it off the shelf of her (at college) sister. She isn’t as crazy about Catcher in the Rye as she had expected to be, and loves most of all, To Kill a Mockingbird. I ask about Catch 22 (which I believe I myself have NOT ever really read), she says she is only on page 60 , she just started it this morning.
“When did you have time to read that far at school?” I ask. ”Oh they give us 10 minutes at the beginning of every class to read our books.” I now LOVE that small charter school in mid town LA. Love it!
But back to the point of the story here- she mentions she also has books on her Nook. I ask her about the Nook, and she proceeds to explain that, even over the Kindle, there are more library books available through that. (Santa Monica Library, West Hollywood, LA; she has done all the research.) May I say that no one— WSJ, NPR, etc has come close to an analysis of what I want to know about e-readers that Evi (14 years old) has just given me.
I drop her off, a few doors down, on my street, thinking, This was better than most book groups I’ve joined.