The Book That Changed My Life

I signed up for (and subsequently dropped) a creative writing class at our local community college. One of our first assignments was to name a book that changed our lives and explain why the book was so important to us. For the life of me, I couldn't come up with a single title. I could name a hundred books that I cherished, that I could still quote from many years after I closed them for the last time, but I couldn't remember a single life-changing moment that occurred while I was reading a book. I never hit a sentence and yelled "Eureka! My life has been changed."

Apparently, I was thinking too hard.

There were books that changed my life, but it was a process. I was in Target yesterday and I found "The Lost Case Files of Nancy Drew." It's one of those big books with flaps and letters and diary pages- much like the very popular "Ology" books. I giggled with unabashed glee. I bought it without hesitating. The books that changed my life- don't laugh- were the Nancy Drew books.

Yes, I know they are hopelessly dated. I know that the plots are recycled and that there was never a real woman named Carolyn Keene. Most of the original books were written by Mildred Wirt Benson and were revised in the 50s by Harriet Adams. But they were the first books I truly loved. I loved reading about Nancy and Bess and George. Nancy traveled to New Orleans and Scotland. She drove a convertible. She solved mysteries that had stymied adults, using only her wits and a magnifying glass. As hokey as the books may be, I read them over and over. I have read all 56 original stories and loved each one. They were the books that made me love reading, which lead me to writing. I firmly believe that I am a writer today because I picked up "The Clue in the Diary." I see bits of Nancy in my heroines. I see her strength, her intelligence and her courage. I see bits of Nancy in myself.

Of course, I wasn't able to think of this answer in time to turn in the assignment before I dropped my class. But I wish I had. A life-changing book doesn't need to be deep or particularly meaningful. It can be an ordinary book about an extraordinary girl that nudges you down a path you may never have seen without it.