Starting Monday, you’ll begin to see displays on and around teachers’ doors telling you what book they are currently reading and what book is their all-time favorite. On my door, you’ll see my favorite book, “Contact” by Carl Sagan. I was led to this book by the Jodie Foster movie of the same name. It is a wonderful book. It is fiction with a solid base in science and speculation. Great books have the power to transport us and change the way we view the world. “Contact” did that for me.
Its main character is a scientist named Ellie Arroway. Her primary purpose in life is to locate life on other planets and she sets up a giant array of antennas searching for messages from outer space. Few believe in what she is trying to do, but she continues on. One night, her faith is rewarded. “Evening, Willie, Steve. Let’s see the data. Good…Now, let’s see if there’s any nearby star in that field of view. Oh my, we’re looking at Vega. That’s a pretty near neighbor.”
The story progresses in a wonderful, unpredictable way and concludes with one of the most remarkable endings of any book I’ve ever read. Needless to say, I won’t tell you what it is.
Reading books is wonderful. We’ll be celebrating reading during the month of January. You’ll be able to share your favorite books with your friends and teachers. I’ll be excited to find out what you think is interesting. Books touch us. In Ellie Arroway’s case, she is touched by her long deceased father. “And now here he was—not a dream or a ghost but flesh and blood, or close enough. He had called to her from the stars and she had come.”
Enjoy your reading.