I grew up in a remote corner of Alaska, without electricity or a telephone, at a time when the Internet would have been considered a maniac’s wild fantasy. Anyone entering our house at night would have found everyone in our family clustered around a couple of gas-fueled lanterns in dead silence, each of us deeply immersed in a book–except for my little brother.

Scarred by an unsuccessful introduction to reading in the first grade, my brother had soon become embarrassed by his lack of skill in a family of bibliovores and was a resolute functional illiterate. The rest of us found this appalling as well as inexplicable and discovering a book that would make my brother a passionate reader became an overriding obsession for us all.

Not too far away there was a tiny library that was our family’s idea of paradise. Even my brother loved it, since it contained picture books and illustrated encyclopedias–and as it turned out, a sizable collection of Tintin books.

We were not a family of comic book readers, but when my brother came home with his first volume of Tintin, poring over the pictures and painfully puzzling out the words, it was a big day for us all. It was the moment that my brother became a reader and Tintin became a household saint.

As a bookseller, I love to find books for the uneasy reader and Tintin is always high on my list of suggestions. A colleague of mine specializes in turning reluctant readers into bookworms and in an upcoming interview she will tell us how she does it. What about you? What titles do you suggest for the uneasy readers of your acquaintance? Let us know!

The other day a comment came in from “Matthew” who said quite simply, “I like the Time Warp Trio.” Thank you, Matthew–so do I! That series is the perfect blend of adventure, humor, and history in a format that is pure delight to read.

And thank you for responding, Matthew–you’ve given me the courage to send some questions out to you and other people who are not yet adult–you’re the true audience for the books that we talk about on Papertigers and we want to know what you think. So here are a few questions–if there are any kids out there who would like to answer one or two or even all of them, we would be grateful!

When I was young, there were three kinds of books that I read: the ones that I had to read for school, the ones that I read just for fun, and the ones that I read over and over again because I really loved them. Is that true for you too?

What books do you read for fun?

Have you ever read a book more than once? If so, which ones?

Who is your favorite author?

Are there books that you like so much that you tell your friends about them?

What books have you borrowed from the library that you want to keep?

Are there books that you’ve read for school that you really enjoyed? And are there any that you had to read that you didn’t like? What are they?

Are there books in a series that you can’t wait to read? Do you read them again once you’ve finished them or do you only read them once?

What book is your favorite one that you’ve read this year?

What is your favorite kind of book–mystery, adventure, science fiction, sports story?

If you’re a boy, do you ever read books where girls are the main character that you have chosen to read on your own and not for school or because your mother told you to? If you’re a girl, will you read books about boys that aren’t assigned reading?

What kind of books do you NOT like to read?

Do you have a favorite author?

If you would like to answer any or all of these questions, please go to the comments field and write to us!

For adult readers: Please pass these questions on to your favorite young reader!