But last night as he was transported to the Land of Prydain, in Llyod Alexander's The Black Cauldron, a silent tear ran down his small cheek. My daughter, who was reading beside him, was the first to notice.
"What's wrong Ryan?" she asked.
Still looking down at his pages he said quietly, "Taran's best friend just died." He couldn't bring himself to read on. All he wanted was a hug. He came into my arms and laid his head on my shoulder. His tender heart was broken. He didn't even say anything, he simply wanted to be comforted. He was not simply reading the story, he was experiencing it.
How amazing that a book written in 1965 can be found by a 7 year old in 2012 and affect him so. To open up his heart and mind to new experiences and emotions, that's a real magic that authors have the power to wield. I hope I can use it responsibly.
Anne of Green Gables was the first book that brought tears to my eyes. What about you? Which book/books tugged at your heart strings?
On a side note Jess over at Write Skate Dream, has finished her YA novel and is looking for Beta-readers so if your interested, head on over and check out her blog.
Have a great weekend!
Kathy
The first book I cried in was The Yearling. Great post!
ReplyDeleteMy first was Black Beauty.
ReplyDeleteLittle Women, when Beth died. I cried.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar experience when my son read the Book Thief. He was still crying when he handed it to me and insisted that I read it too. I love that books still affect our techno-savvy-overloaded kids the same ways they affected us way back when ;-)
I cried in So. B. It by Sarah Weeks. Loved that book.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa- I haven't read that one. I'll have to check it out
ReplyDeleteRena- That one got me too.
Katie- It's great when our kids want us to share in the books they've read too!
Jess- I'll have to check that one out too.
What a moving post! Thank you for capturing that moment.
ReplyDeleteThe first book that made me cry was a story I read in Japanese, of course, when I was little. I forget the title of it but it was about this beautiful wife, who becomes a crane every night when her husband is sound asleep. The reason she became a crane was so that she could pluck her feathers, make them into a fabric, and sell it so that, with the money she received, she could show gratitude to her husband. Several years prior, he had saved her life - as a crane - without expecting anything in return. She came into his life in human form and became his wife. But over time, as she lost much of her feathers, she became so weak and eventually died. The kind-hearted husband was devastated by her death.
It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I had forgotten about this story for such a long time…
The Black Stallion, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe White Fang. I can't remember which I read first.
My neighbor gave me a book called "A Girl Named Sooner" when I was 13. It was an adult book, not YA. It devastated me, even to this day I think about how the poor girl wanted to be liked soooo bad that she went along with the crowd and stoned to death her only friend in the world, her pet crow, in order to fit in with the kids who were taunting her. And when the bird was dead, they all left her alone anyway.
Absolutely gut wrenching even now, let alone to 13 year old tender hearted little girl.