Book, Line and Sinker

You're sitting at home. The lights are all out except for the glare of the television. Not that it makes that much of a difference. You've hardly noticed that it is on. You're too busy peering outside the window. Your neighbour from across the road, has just pulled into his driveway. This is it. You're finally going to prove to your mom and dad, that Mr McGregor is a murderer. For weeks, you've witnessed the creepy man from across the road, burying lifeless bodies in his backyard. You've known for awhile, but no one else has taken any notice of it. You've always thought there was something creepy about him. He steps outside his vehicle and looks around the quiet suburban street. He pulls a bag out of the back seat and proceeds to drag it towards his backyard. If you run outside, armed with a camera to take incriminating snaps, go to page 12. If you wait by the window, until he returns to his car, go to page 18.




Some of my favourite books growing up were the Choose Your Own Adventure series. If you grew up ithe 80s, you'd know what I'm talking about. Every story is written from your own point of view. You are the hero of the story and you choose how the story ends. However, if you were anything like me growing up and didn't like sticking to the rules, you would find many ways to cheat death and live on in story book form.


It didn't always end up pretty for me. I fell down a stupid hole, turned into a statue and got captured by the baddies countless times, equating to my untimely death. Whether it was morally the right thing to do or not, I would go back to my options and change my choice. Don't deny it. You did it too. I bet there isn't a single person out there, who didn't flick back to the original page and choose life instead of the lesser, befitting fate. Don't judge me until you've walked a mile in my shoes.



As an adult, I can now look back to the books that I enjoyed reading as a child and point out two things: children don't read books anymore and if they do, they [writers] sure as hell don't make them [the books] like they used to! Whilst researching books for this story, I found the popular Choose Your Own Adventure series available online via Amazon's Kindle store. That's all fine and dandy, but I think we are missing something really important here: how are the kids ever going to be able to get back to their original mission. Hit refresh




Credit: Amazon

We all know that when you hit the refresh button, sometimes you end up in places you don't expect. So how can this new technology help kids who, like me, want to revisit certain endings of their favourite books? That's not the only problem with this new technology. You can't stick a bookmark in a kindle, bend the page or use it as a fan (who doesn't remember cooling themselves off with their books?).


Another series of books that featured prominently on my bookshelf were the delightful, The Baby-sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin. I even incurred a hefty school library fee because I didn't return one of the books that I had borrowed. I swore to my parents that I had returned it. But the truth is, I stole it. That's right people. Grade three Sabrina was a petty thief.




Credit: Scholastic

 It was the only book that I had read, but didn't already own in the series. While other kids hid copies of Playboy under their mattresses, I hid my stolen copy of Kristy's Great Idea under mine.


At the time, everyone used these books as inspiration to start their own clubs. Granted my business never really took off (one client, no phone and no other baby-sitters), I still got some great tips from this series. How else do you think I was able to create my very own kid-kit?



Another series of books that were pivotal to my upbringing were the books written by Judy Blume. OK, so they weren't exactly a series of books, but they certainly piqued my interest. Who knew that they covered such controversial topics such as, menstration, bullying and religion?






I certainly didn't. I just loved the fact that the books were entertaining. They made me laugh. My favourites were Blubber and Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret. I could relate to the titular character, Margaret, yet I didn't really know why. Judy must have known that sometimes the best way to appeal to a child is through the written word.

Books have the ability to be a great teacher at times. In junior high, I remember reading books for my English class. I loved some - The Diary of Anne Frank and I hated some - Animal Farm.

One book that still sticks in my memory was a book called The Wave by Todd Strasser. Based on a true story, The Wave recounts the harrowing events of a small high school in Palo Alto, California. I won't go into great detail, as I believe that you really should read this book (or watch the 2008 German movie Die Welle based on the book).






More than 15 years have passed since I first read the book,but I am still captivated by the message it conveys. The Wave not only changed my perspective in life, but it forced me not to judge a book by its cover (pun intended).

Which leads me to one of my favourite book series of all time. No, not that one. I am definitely not a Twi-hard. The Twilight Saga has done absolutely nothing for me. But it has clearly inspired some lovely Facebook groups such as Edward Cullen is so Pale Because There's no Sun in the Closet , The Count from Sesame Street is a better vampire than Edward Cullen , and my personal favourite, ❒ Team Edward ❒ Team Jacob ✔ Team guy who almost hit Bella with a car .


I'm not going to lie to you. I wasn't always a fan of a certain bespeckled wizard. It was during my time at Hoyts that I was able to fully appreciate Harry's wonderful attributes. My task was to contact schools in NSW and ACT and attempt to book as many school groups as humanly possible. Some teachers raved on and on about the book, whilst others stated that the book promoted the occult. It was then decided, that I would attempt to read the book. I hadn't read a book that I throughly enjoyed so much in a long time, so it was very refreshing to be transported to a wonderful world where Muggles, butterbeer and the defence against the Dark Arts became regular words in my vocabulary.





With six films under their belt, the highly anticipated Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is so action packed that it can’t possibly fit into one movie. So, it’s set to be filmed in two parts. Woo hoo!

So I guess what I want to say, is that I was wrong. At the beginning, I stated that they don't make books they way they used to. Well, they don't, but if people like J.K. Rowling continue to write books like the Harry Potter series, maybe one day some little kid out there will grow up and remember the books that entertained and educated them as a child.

The Fear Factor

It was January 28, 1986 and I was six years old. Like the rest of the world, my first grade class had gathered around the television set to witness the Space Shuttle Challenger make its long awaited journey into space. Like most six year olds back then, I didn't fully understand the concept of space travel. I wasn't even aware of all the countries in the world, let alone comprehend that there were planets beyond our own, waiting to be discovered. The Challenger mission was unlike any other before it.


For the first time, a private civilian would take part in a space mission, as part of NASA's Teacher in Space Project (TISP). Announced by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, TISP was launched to inspire students to explore Science, Mathematics and Space Exploration and to honour the teachers who taught them. As part of the program, Christa McAuliffe beat out over 11,000 participants to become the first teacher in space.   


The Challenger Shuttle Crew     Back row, from left: Ellison S. Onizuka, Teacher in Space Participant Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis and Judy Resnik.
                       Front row, from left: Pilot Mike Smith, Commander Dick Scobee, and Ron McNair.

Credit: Space-Video

The lights dimmed and the blinds were pulled down. Ms Hunter positioned the television in the centre of the room and had all the students gather around. The countdown began. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...blast off. The Challenger lifted off the ground and took off. It was amazing. Even though I didn't really understand what was happening, I was excited to see a rocket take off into space. Ms Hunter reiterated the importance of the event several times, but it just went over our heads. And then it happened. 73 seconds after takeoff, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart and exploded right before our eyes. I was mortified...  


It wasn't until many years and several flights later, that I discovered I had a humongous case of Aviophobia. When I was a child, I loved flying. My favourite part was the takeoff. Hearing the thunderous roar of the engines starting, always sent shivers up my spine. It was all so exciting for an eight year old. However, things changed as I got older. After watching too many episodes of Air Crash Investigations, I soon realised that I had a real fear of flying. It wasn't the flying itself. It was the threat of crashing.

I've had the pleasure of flying business class several times, but even that luxury was wasted, as I spent the entire flight praying that I would make it to my destination in one piece. It wasn't until last night whilst having a conversation with a friend about my fear, that I realised that there might be a link between the Challenger disaster and my fear of flying .



As a child I was fearless. I could climb trees. I could swing upside down on the monkey bars. I could even ride my bike around the block, all by myself. At the end of our cul-de-sac, there was an alleyway that led to a railroad track. Along the track, there were rows of blackberry bushes. We would spend hours playing on the tracks, picking blackberries and we never feared that we would get run over by the cargo train that would pass by every few hours. A few years back when I was a teacher, curiosity got the better of me, when I noticed a group of children congregated in a corner. I walked over to them and enquired as to what they were doing. It turns out, like all children, they were fascinated by a caterpillar, that was trudging across the arm of one of the boys.

I asked them if I could hold it. I remember catching them as a child, placing them in a jar with a leaf (as an adult, I wonder if the leaf is even necessary. Do they even eat leaves?) and taking them out and letting them crawl across my fingers. I lasted a millisecond before letting out a bloodcurdling scream. I was petrified of a little insect that couldn't even bite me




Children are fearless. I look back to my own childhood and besides the usual fears: the dark, monsters and murderers, I was pretty fearless. I think we lose that fearlessness, when we transition into adulthood. I wish I wasn't as fearful as I am today. There are so many things that I can never do as a result of my fears: surfing, going on a cruise (The movies Titanic and Poseidon sunk that dream for me) and wrapping food in aluminum foil (don't ask).


...The silence that followed the explosion dragged on for what felt like hours. We were all shocked. We had no idea what had just unfolded in front of our eyes. Even if we did we didn't have the mental capacity to comprehend it. Our parents were called and we were sent home. Eerily, Christa McAuliffe predicted the impact the failed mission would have on its viewers.

"We sat around one night and thought people are going to look back and say, I can't imagine there was a lot of excitement about HER going up!"

Sadly, in her case it's true, but as I talk about it now, there is no excitement in my tone. Only sadness for the lives lost that day. The crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger did not give into their fears on the 28th of January, 1986 and I don't think we should either.