Middlesex

My favorite book changes all the time. I never have favorites in anything- movies, colors, clothes- because I am always discovering better things. Middlesex is my most recent finding, a great novel written by Jeffrey Eugenides, about an intersexed person named Cal Stephanides and his entire Greek family history.

The narrator was born with a 5-alpha-reductase-deficiency which causes him to appear female. He was raised as a girl and only learned about his recessive gene disorder during adolesence and transferred to being male. The novel is simultaneously an epic example of bildungsroman as Calliope comes of age and becomes Cal, as well as a Greek family saga- the novel starts with Cal's ancestors in 1922 during the war between Greece and Turkey and follows their immigration to Detroit to the present.

The novel is full of intensely characterized family members and by the end of it's five hundred and twenty nine pages, I felt as if I knew them on a personal level- as if they were almost real people. The author's dry humorous style of writing enhances all of the personality traits and tics of Cal's family. Desdemona, Cal's grandmother who started the gene pattern that lead to her grandson's syndrome by marrying her brother, is a favorite of mine- especially when she becomes senile later in life.

I enjoyed the book so much that I have decided to read the author's first novel, The Virgin Suicides, for my independent reading project. More to come!

Technology

Technology has played a huge role in the development of my literacy. From age one and onwards, I would be nowhere without the immense help of my hearing aid and cochlear implant. Literally, without them my English skills would pale in comparison to what I have today. My hearing loss occured at the time of language formation and development, which almost ensured my literacy a death sentence. However, due to the amazing technology that exists today, it was able to slowly rise up again and make its way. Computers have also positively affected my literacy by exposing me to the knowledge of the internet. From a very young age, Google has been my best friend, allowing me to reach out and have all the information I needed after a few keystrokes. Technology has been extremely influential and has greatly helped my literacy blossom.

Shopping With Daddy

The first book that I learned to read was called Shopping With Daddy. I can't find the author's name, cover picture, or any other information about it despite multiple Google searches, so I guess it was on a very, very limited print run.
As a kid, going shopping with my dad after pre-school was an exciting event in which I received a portion of the shopping list and I got to run around the store, trying to find the items and bring them back to the cart. As this tradition developed, my dad found Shopping With Daddy and began to read it to me often. The plot is pretty self explanatory, it was about a little boy who went grocery shopping with his father. It takes the young anticipatory reader through all the sections of the supermarket while naming different fruits, vegetables and other products.
After many readings by my dad, eventually I learned to read it myself. I remember reading the book over a hundred times to any friend, friend's parents, my parents, family members, my teacher, and anyone else who would listen to me.
It was a pretty huge accomplishment for me at the time and I was quite proud of myself.