The Reading Promise

February 28, 2011
Named for two literary characters ("Alice" from Lewis Carroll and "Ozma" from L. Frank Baum), the author is the daughter of a Philadelphia-area elementary school librarian. Father and daughter embarked on a streak of reading-out-loud sessions every night before bed as Ozma was growing up. At first they decided on 100 nights straight of reading before bed—a minimum 10 minutes, before midnight, every night, no exceptions—then it stretched to 1,000, and soon enough the author was headed to college and they had spent eight years straight reading before bedtime, from Oz stories to Shakespeare. Reading with her father offered a comforting continuity in the midst of her mother's disquieting move away from the family, her older sister's absence as a foreign exchange student, and the parsimoniousness of her single father. Ozma's account percolates chronologically through her adolescence, as father and daughter persevered in their streak of nightly reading despite occasional inconveniences such as coming home late, sleepovers (they read over the phone), and a rare case of the father's laryngitis. Ozma's work is humorous, generous, and warmly felt, and with a terrific reading list included, there is no better argument for the benefits of reading to a child than this rich, imaginative work.

Author Alice Ozma reveals the secrets of her "reading streak." She and her father bet they could read together for 100 nights, but they ended up reading for 3,218 consecutive nights, ending when Alice entered college. Her father, school librarian Jim Brozina, narrates the foreword, chapter headings, and book list. Listeners will understand why Alice kept the streak going: His twangy, gnomish voice is enchanting, and he lavishes praise on his daughter and the benefits of reading aloud. Ozma is not a professional narrator, but this story would have less emotional impact without her personal interpretation. Her arch tone effectively illuminates her childhood world, inviting us to remember our own reading odysseys. Through her humorous remembrances, Ozma proves that reading can be a member of the family. C.A. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine