By the time Dad was through, there were several pledges matching his, and one super-macho, financially-secure philanthropist who'd pledged ten dollars a book. I feel sorry for these high-rollers now, tricked into altruism by their gambling buddy. Could they have looked at my blue-collar family, my dad the tattooed machinist in a leather vest, my mom a bartender in tight tip-getting jeans, and understood the chance they were taking?
In all areas of life, not only gambling, people make assumptions based on the easiest tells. I'd call that a shame, but all's fair in love and fundraising and the read-a-thon was a glorious month for me. I had a free pass from chores and to antisocial behavior that raised eyebrows the other 11 months of the year: The read-a-thon gave me the excuse to read as many books as I could.
And I did. I read 73 of them. All of Blume's, all 14 of Baum's Oz series, every Dahl our library had, and a series about Elven warriors. The details of these are lost, except that the hero was Adion, the namesake of my next cat.
Adion never failed to come when I called him, streaking like Elvish mist across the sage from some desert hunt. It was fantastic. The winning, however, was awkward. It was awkward to have reporters at the house and I was embarrassed by my mom's excitement, awkward to have my friends at school eat my library dust. Even the trophies were awkward, featuring the read-a-thon's odd trademark, a schnauzer in a Sherlock Holmes style trench coat and hat, emblazoned on shiny gold.
Most of all it felt awkward to be rewarded for what I wanted to do more than anything in the world: read. Love, Pops. They are my friends. Like Aunt and Uncle Atwell do, I go to them for answers, for reminders, for company, for help, and like any good hostess, I introduce them to strangers at parties. Boston Globe video. This novel rocks. Fortunately, Rory is smart; books can save her and pave a path out of there.
Unfortunately, intelligence is a double-edged sword. Jude, blank pages for Girl Scout notes and autographs, chapters with large chunks blacked out, redacted, suppressed. Spock, her Emily Post, her survival kit is the Girl Scout Handbook, which she has borrowed so many times from the school library, the librarian stuck it in the cent bin.
Rory treasures every ragged page, seeking lessons not only on how to form her own troop of one but also how to lead her life.
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