"This, then was reading. I looked at something dead and suddenly it came to life and it spoke to you, like a person."

This quote is from Igbal by Francesco D'Adamo. The main character, Fatima, has just learned to read. Even though she is a young girl from Pakistan, I know exactly what she means.

Reading a good book lets me travel to other countries and to meet people I never would have known otherwise. The three books I've just read took me to Pakistan, Iraq, and a farm in upstate New York.

In the first book, Igbal, I met Fatima who showed me what it is like to be one of the millions of children around the world who are forced or bonded laborers, working to pay off their family debts. She works with other children in a carpet factory where some children are even chained to looms. They all work hours without rest and no matter how many rugs they make, their debt never seems to go away. When a new boy called Igbal joins them, he gives them hope that one day they can escape this life of abuse. Fatima is a fictional character and while I'll never forget her, the best part of this story is finding out that there is a real Igbal who had the courage to help other children.

The next book, Thura's Diary, is the real-life diary of Thura Al-Windawi. She is twenty-one years old now and is going to college in the United States, but when she was nineteen, she lived with her family in Baghdad. Her diary, written two years ago, tells how she and her family lived through the bombing of Baghdad, the arrival of American troops, and the hunt for Saddam Hussein. She tells of "massive explosions" that threw her out of her bed in the middle of the night. She describes the missiles raining like water overhead. Her diary showed me how good people - both Iraqis and Americans - can still find hope even when life seems darkest.

In the third book, Under the Same Sky by Cynthia DeFelice, the main character, Joe Pedersen, wants a motorbike for his fourteenth birthday. The problem is that it costs nearly a thousand dollars - too much in his parent's opinion. Joe's dad suggests he earn the money by working alongside the Mexican laborers who are hired each year to help on the family's farm. Joe soon finds out the work is harder than he thought, and that life is even harder for his new friends on the crew. Manuel, the crew boss, is only sixteen and Luisa is the same age as Joe. The money they earn isn't to buy toys, but is used to send home to Mexico so their families can have better lives. Loneliness, fear and prejudice make their lives even harder. That summer Joe finds a whole new world - right there in his own backyard.

Like Joe, I learned more about what life is like for other people. I was also reminded that no matter where we live, we are much the same. In this book, Luisa's mother knows she'll be lonely while she's away from home so she tells her, "Remember, we are all under the same sky - the same sun, the same moon, the same stars. When you are lonely . . . . Look up to the sky, we are watching, too."

For me, all books are like that sky. I read the words, knowing those same words are read by other people, too. Already, we have a connection. The more I read, the more I learn about others, the more I know that we are all much the same - all needing to be reminded that we live under the same sky. This is what I love about books. This, then, is reading.
                                                                         -- Dorothy Emry

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