A MOM FRIEND OF MINE ASKED ME at the beginning of the COVID-19’s shelter-in-place order if I had a book recommendation she could read aloud with her 4th-grade daughter. This was one of the ways she was going to enrich her time at home with family and keep them both busy. I immediately suggested the book Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret. It’s one of my all-time favorite memoirs about the year the author contracted and recovered from the disease in 1949. “It’s amazing,” I said, “It’s a harrowing story and it opens doors to so many great conversations! It addresses class issues, politics, discrimi- nation, science, and history.” I’ve read this book aloud to multiple classes and recommended. What a perfectly relevant read, I thought. As I espoused the virtues of Small Steps I could see my friend’s face falling, “Oh. I don’t know. That sounds pretty grim right now. Aren’t we kind of living that?” she said. There are many wonderful books we can read to learn about how people function during this very specific kind of crisis— Angels in America by Tony Kushner about the AIDS epidemic, Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks about the bubonic plague, and Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez—not to mention an infinite number of non-fiction titles about the many viruses that have attacked us over the years. I can see the lure of going down that rabbit hole. Searching for similarities, answers, exploring the ways we’ve grown and evolved as humans and in medicine (and the ways we have not) is fascinating. But do we really want to? Do we need to be reminded of the suffering, the mistakes, and the ignorance of the past right now? Do these books help us escape our COVID-19 reality. Probably not. Now, there is no doubt these books are essential for us to contextualize ourselves in history and to help us make sense of our humanity. Reading informs us, and teaches us. It also engenders compassion.
“WHEN I’M TRULY ENGROSSED IN A GOOD BOOK, I FORGET MY WORRIES. I FEEL I CAN LIVE SOMEWHERE ELSE OR SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE FOR A FEW HOURS.”
However, in the interest of self-care I’m going to suggest we pick a book for an escape right now. Reading a book for escapism will offer us what we all so badly need—a break from the news, our screens, and reality. It’s just what the doctor ordered. When we read, we begin to live in another world. A good page-turner transports us to another time, place, and maybe even dimension. When I’m truly engrossed in a good book, I forget my worries. I feel I can live somewhere else or someone else’s life for a few hours.” Escaping with a book is an amazing skill we can teach our children, and a therapy we can embrace. When we help them choose books that are uplifting, or purely entertaining during difficult times we provide them a sort of coping mechanism. We can model this by buying a book online together and saying, “I’m so excited! I picked up a great book today. It looks hilarious and light. That is so what I need right now.”
Now, back to my original story. “You are absolutely right,” I told my friend. I pivoted. “What was one of your favorite books in fourth grade?” She laughed and told me Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. “Great!” I said. “You should read that together. Your daughter will love that it was special to you. When you’re finished, you can read SuperFudge and Freckle Juice! That should keep you busy and happily distracted for weeks. Have fun!” So during COVID-19 (and any time), take a break from the screen and the scene we currently find ourselves in. Read something hopeful, heroic, funny, fantastic, or silly. Read for pleasure and joy. Read to escape. (Postscript: When we finally have a vaccine, I encourage everyone to read Small Steps with their children. It’s fantastic!)
ESCAPE THE SCREEN AND THE SCENE BY ALLI DECKER, School Librarian
40 | CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS
FALL 2020 • RED & GOLD | 41
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online