From "The Foot Book" to "The Rum Diaries"

Ever since I was very little I remember getting excited about reading. I asked my dad everyday when I would get to go to school and get books to read like the big kids in my neighborhood. The day I finally got to head off to kindergarten, I was terrified, but I came home with a smile on my face because I realized, I already knew how to read!
I had gained this knowledge thanks to my parents starting me off right, with Dr. Seuss, still one of my favorites. I ate all of his beginner reader books up until (with the help of my mom) I built myself up to "The Lorax". After these beginning books, I moved on to bigger and better things, like chapter books in first grade. Wayside School provided hours of entertainment. By the second grade I was hungry for more and was constantly checking out books from the school library.
In junior high, in order to get kids to read more, our school participated in a program called "Reading Counts" in which we were required to read and take quizzes on books in our lexile (or reading level). The more books you read, the more rewards you were eligible for at the big and highly anticipated end of the year party! I was ready around thirty books a semester at that point but it was hard to find many in my lexile... the only ones that I can remember were "Little Women" and "Little Men"... AWFUL! However, I made up for the boring books by reading my beloved nerd books, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
In high school I was in the school's book club. We read one book every 2 weeks. I grew to love my now favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut, my freshmen year of high school. From there I kept exploring and with the help of some very excellent literature teachers, I learned more than I could have imagined possible.
I gave up my love for literature by attending Purdue University 3 years ago majoring in apparel design... no more reading time. However, I realized how much I missed it, so I transferred to Indianapolis and am now an English Literature major! YAY! I've taken several literature courses, my favorite by far being children's literature. I also completed my Kurt Vonnegut collection this year at Christmas with the help of my boyfriend! THANKS! ...and I now own every Vonnegut book published... and I can't wait to keep reading!