Today I headed off to the library with my 17 year old leaving my 14 year old home with her dad because we needed to replenish our unschooling nonfiction picture book options. Due to birthday things followed by sickness, it has been at least a month since we’ve gotten to the library to pick out new books. It was time. But, here’s the thing about trips to the library. While we tend to head out as a family of four on Fridays (as a full-time music and choir director at a local church, my husband tends to have Fridays and Saturdays off as his weekends), my 17 year old tends to accompany us based solely on how long of a drive it is. My 14 year old, on the other hand, looks forward to perusing the stacks and test-reading several graphic novels and novels before compiling the piles of her complete selections.
In other words, the lure of the library is different for my teenagers; they are like bookends around me at times. As I drove along the back roads with the windows open and one of my 17 year old’s Spotify playlists accompanying us along the way, I realized that until now I have been creating these posts around the shared traits of my teenagers—there are plenty. But it occurred to me their opposite qualities are also as good of a source for the focus of these posts. Reading and books is one such bit of fodder. My 17 year old has several favorite books and stories she likes to revisit. My 14 year old likes to deep dive into the graphic novel section and pour over possibilities. Like I said, they are my bookends, propping me up on either side with different interests and ideas.
This is one of the things I love about them—they are different and yet they complement each other, and me, quite nicely. As I made the plan for the day, I told my oldest we were going to return the overdue books and the ones we no longer needed and I’d spend about 30 minutes picking out new books. While I could have settled in for longer, and would have had my younger teen been with me, I reminded myself we likely would make another trip next week so the 14 year old could spend some time in her favorite place (the library being like a book fort for the two of us). Today was about restocking books for our unschooling curiosity adventures more than anything. Sure, I compiled two teetering towers of graphic novels for my 14 year old, but I held true to the plan I’d made with my 17 year old. In other words, my efforts resembled those of a contestant on one of those former game shows in which they get to run up and down the aisles of a grocery store sweeping as many products into their cart as possible. For us, that resulted in eight bags worth of books.
Obviously, my book-loving 14 year old was thrilled with the haul, even if not all of the books represented selections she would have made for herself. I like to think I have reached a point where I can put together a pretty decent number of books she will enjoy; and, I did manage to find a few options she has either passed over in her time in the stacks or things that are completely new to her. Either way, books have been pulled from our home shelves and are tucked away with her in her room as she continues trying to kick this cold virus to the curb.
As for my 17 year old, we enjoyed a lovely drive to and from the library and I even coaxed her to share a favorite song she has been reluctant to add to the current car-driving playlist. On our way out the door, she did mention maybe we didn’t need to bring home so many books, but I stopped her pretty quickly, acknowledging she isn’t as much of a reader, but reminding her that those of us who are readers like having choices. I couldn’t help also recalling her comment last night that she’d read (ironic, right?) how many illustrators tend not to be avid readers; she felt validated by that idea, as well she should. I also appreciated that she added she thought if one was doing the cover of a book, one should at least at minimum skim the book for which they are illustrating a cover design.
As an avid reader myself, I appreciate each of my girls’ preferences for books and reading. I like the idea that they are different and serve as bookends to my life, each representing different aspects of our shared lives, sort of like those style of bookend pairs that include a shared element: the head and tail of a favorite animal, the point and feathers of an arrow, or two halves of a rainbow or famous art sculpture. My life is made better because of these two remarkable young women, and, while they share many qualities that bring me joy and that I adore, they are also unique individuals whose personalities and passions provide equal parts of my daily dose of delight.