When I was Your Age

I was not very good at sports. Awkward would be a kind term. Clumsy would be accurate. The sidewalk was our playground. I was not good at any of the sidewalk games, Hopscotch: Drew the lines better then I could stay in them. Jump Rope: Never could jump in. Always had to stand in. (doubledouch is still a mystery.) Roller Skating: fell a lot. Never learned to brake. Had to run into something to stop myself. Bicycling: still bear a scar under my chin from when I finally learned to ride a two-wheeler and went straight into a hydrant.

I was hopeless at music. Once a week Miss Klinger came into our classroom to teach music. She divided our class into redbirds and bluebirds. The bluebirds were allowed to sing; the redbirds listened. I was a redbird. At Christmas redbirds were allowed to sing, but all Miss Klinger offered were carols. Being Jewish, I did not think I should, but I wanted to, so I did. But I never sang all the words. When I came to Jesus or Christ, I hummed.

Fortunately, gym and music were never given letter grades. (How could anyone give a redbird a grade when she was never allowed to sing?) So those subjects never interfered with one of my two best things: getting A’s. My other thing was being the baby of the family.

As we pass through the years of adolescence, we learn that our teenage years can be a struggle. When I was Your Age provides real life stories of children growing up, stories of tragedy, and stories of triumph. The book is an anthology that includes several stories that all provide different perspectives on growing up. Each author takes readers back with them to their childhoods and shares an important life changing event that they endured in their own lives. Although the stories are from an earlier time, around the 1950’s, the issues remain the same which allows today’s readers an opportunity to make their own connections with these stories.

For example, readers can connect to stories about curiosity and imagination that go hand-in-hand with growing up, as well as stories that focus on the challenges, struggles, and triumphs. Readers of all ages and from different time periods will be brought back to their own stories about inspiration, tragedy and loss, their first summer job and their first time at summer camp. The best part of the book When I Was Your Age is that everyone can find at least one story with which to connect. The book targets issues that occur during school years including family life, friends, passions and adventures. We all know growing older is hard and that’s why I think it’s so important to read a book that enables the reader to connect to others that may have been through similar situations. These stories are sure to encounter a sense of recognition and joy in reading these stories.



Work Cited

Ehrlich, Amy, ed. When I Was Your Age: Original Stories About Growing up. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 1999
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