Why I Read...The Song of the Lioness Quartet

 

I read this book when I was 12 years old. It was my first real read. I remember starting the series as a dare. A dare to myself. At the age I hadn't read many books. I'd loved reading but living where I lived at the time, access to children's books was  limited. I couldn't simply walk into a local library and borrow a book because we had no libraries. However when I moved to London, everything changed. I was like a kid in a candy store.

 The library was my Chocolate Factory, the gateway into another world. I fell in love with reading at the age of 12. I would spend reading Jacqueline Wilson, her stories were funny and hugely enjoyable but I'd never been a fun of fantasy books. I lived in the reality.

 Reading fantasy fiction book seemed silly to me. So one day, I remember walking into the library, walking past the adult section and picking up a book that was laying on a desk. Someone had left it open on a particular page. I picked it up, started reading. That day I spent more than five hours in the library. Alanna's journey from childhood to puberty to adulthood was truly remarkable to me. Her journey helped through the confusion I felt as a 12 year old girl. Her journey through hardship and discrimination helped me to get through the bullies, the uncertainty and all things teenagers go through.