First Love Affair Carlos Holden-Villars

My first love affair was longer than thirty pages; it had no thirty-point font; it did not include any colorful illustrations. In the summer of third grade I read Matilda, by Roald Dahl. I was awed at the size of the thing; I mean, I could barely hold it with two hands. I felt like such an adult when I flipped through all 232 pages and saw nothing but normal text and a few black and white illustrations. Soon enough I was begging for the Trunchbull to have mercy on Matilda, and I remember how badly I felt that Ms. Honey had to eat margarine instead of butter. Recalling the hilarious image of Amanda being catapulted through the air by her pigtails always puts a grin on my face.

I paused every few paragraphs to whoop into my pillow, punching the bed with gusto. I would become irritated at the slightest interruption. Reading an actual book better be enough to finally make me smarter than my sister, I thought. I can still remember the sense of accomplishment at finishing Chapter 1. Chapter 1! I was finally able to experience reading a book, after years of scribbling on paper with colored pencils and stapling the sheets together just to imagine what it was like.

The monotony of third grade was broken when I entered the world of a...