Ender's Game

Spacekat Tommy

Spacekat
Ender's Game was the reason i started reading sci-fi. Everything introduced to me at school via english class was complete garbage and boring in my eyes(minus 1984, love that book), and one day in class, for some strange reason, i "forgot" to bring 'Animal farm' to school.. i hated the book.. no passion to read it...

8th grade Ms. Divarco was all "GO TO THE BOOKSHELF FIND A BOOK, AND READ IT. YOU BETTER HAVE YOUR BOOK FROM NOW ON.."

Funny part is, i found Ender's Game on the shelf.. read it.. was fascinated.. excited even.. Returned it to the shelf after class was over.

The book was constantly on my mind for the next several days, and was itching at me, i really wanted to finish reading it.

A week or so later i found myself staying late after school for an art club project.. While walking from my locker to the art room, with no one else in the hall in either direction, i passed the english class. The door was open, and i peeked inside her room. She was not in the room.

Half of me was thinking "wait for her to come back, or go find her and ask to borrow the book", but my childish side was so afraid she would say no.. So i ran to the bookshelf, right where i left it, grabbed it, and dashed out of the room.

I read the book 4 times that year over and over.. and many times after that. I loved it, and since then i bought several copies for myself and friend's kids, as its a great starter sci-fi in my opinion.

The rest of the Ender series followed when i was in my 20s along with the tangents including Bean and Peter.

Somewhat recently the guilt of stealing the book had caught up to me, and i looked her up to see if she was still teaching, as i was going to buy several of the books and donate them to the classroom i stole them from.

She unfortunately had moved on and i couldn't find her.

I'm sure in a way, she would be both disappointed that i stole the book at that age rather than asking, but at the same time, thrilled because it was the book that got me into reading.

It is what it is i guess.
 
My first real books were my dad's old musty Tarzan series of hard covers tucked away in the basement. Edgar Rice Burroughs is still my favorite author. Later, in school, I read Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan: The Executioner series. I too found the assignment books boring and agony to read.
 
I have to apologize for bringing up an old post, but I'm new and all, so your old posts are my new ones.

Two things: First, when I was in high school English class 10th and onward, (1965) the teachers gave up on challenging me with vocab quizzes and diagramming sentences, and the standard reading material and did also just tell me to read books from the shelf in the back of the room. I read voraciously and they were happy, as was I. I already had a note from the County librarian that I had read all the books she could suggest.

Second, at what point in the book 'Ender's Game' did the hairs rise up on the back of your neck when you realized the simulated battles were real?
 
former teacher myself
I can tell you that if a kid grabbed a book and read and treasured it, I was okay with.
for me it was Mad Scientists Club. I came very very close to stealing (borrowing and 'losing') from county library but didn't. years later found a copy in 2hand book store (and a sequel!). I still have.
 
I should mention the teachers did require I discuss the books I read (mostly after the other students discussed the assigned reading or briefly between classes). I'm sure I didn't quite understand Moby Dick at the time, but I did understand the psychology of Poe and Heinlein and Asimov's Foundation psychohistory.

And just a couple things to mention... My 11/12th grade English teacher had the amazing name of "Aubrey Wafford Thomas", can an English teacher have a cooler name than that?

He was also the first teacher I ever had who referred to "Hobbits".

His desktop was always completely empty. He used to lay on it when he discussed subjects. Anything to keep the rest of the class interested.

And not like I didn't participate in class discussions. I could read and still hear questions. I did glance up to see the blackboard.

And at the end of my senior year, he announced that he and the 10th grade English teacher Miss Williams were getting married. After a brief silence (marriage was a mystery to us back in the 60s) we all cheered.

My first understanding that people who shared common interests often came to share a common life together.

But those classes taught me that I was really interested in the future societies and all the possibilities.
 
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