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.

April 1, 2011

Reading really was fundamental for a father and daughter team who made it their nightly ritual for eight straight years.

The author's name—an amalgam of characters from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and L. Frank Baum's Oz series—illustrates her profound passion for reading bookshelves of literature from childhood to well into adolescence. In 1997, plucky, headstrong Ozma and her father, an elementary-school librarian, began reading aloud to each other for 1,000 consecutive nights. Dubbed "The Streak," it began when the author was in third grade and lasted 3,218 nights. Ozma's father, a firm believer in the limitless power of books, was overjoyed (and pleasantly surprised) when they'd achieved their initial goal of 100 nights. But then Ozma determinedly upped the ante to 1,000 as their readings graduated from James and the Giant Peach to Shakespeare and Harry Potter. There were stringent "rules" to follow: They had to read for at least 10 minutes, before midnight, preferably in person, and books only—though "anything from magazines to baseball programs would do" in a pinch. Those days, Ozma fondly recalls, incorporated a playful and deeply unifying pastime shared with a man who became not only an interactive parent and friend, but a shoulder to lean on when inconvenience and calamity impeded their endeavors. But nothing could stop them—not the funeral in honor of her pet fish, nor her Dad's laryngitis, nor the painful, physical separation of her mother, who moved out, nor her older sister's absence as a foreign-exchange student. While all were painful memories that Ozma evokes with a hushed despondence, "The Streak" continued unabated until the author moved away to college, majoring in English, almost nine years later.   

A warm memoir and a gentle nudge to parents about the importance of books, quality time and reading to children.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2011
When Ozma was in fourth grade, her dad, school librarian Jim Brozina, agreed to read aloud to her for 100 consecutive nights. It was just the two of them, since Ozma's older sister had left for college and her mom had left, period. They liked this bonding experience so much that they continued it until Ozma left for college, embracing everything from Shakespeare to all 14 of L. Frank Baum's original "Oz"books—many of which feature the powerful Princess Ozma, clearly the author's namesake; her full name is Kristen Alice Ozma Brozina. The Streak, as they call it, lasted 3,218 nights, with Ozma sometimes dropping home at 11:30 p.m. when she was out with friends. When Ozma wrote about the Streak for her graduate school application essay (she made the University of Pennsylvania), an enchanted official at her undergraduate school contacted the "New York Times" The subsequent story led to an outpouring of media requests, but Ozma decided to hold off until publication of this book, in which she pitches the importance of the reading experience. Clearly fabulous for libraries everywhere.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2011
It started out as an ambitious, but achievable, task. A father would read to his nine-year-old daughter 100 nights in a row. Celebrating their victory over breakfast at their favorite greasy spoon, however, the daughter proposed a new challenge, one with a Scheherazadean twist. Why not read for 1,000 nights? But Jim Brozina and his daughter Alice didnt stop at 1,000, just like they didnt stop when Alices mother ended the marriage, or when her older sister went abroad for a year, or when Jim caught the flu, or when Alice went to the prom. Only one thing could terminate their routine. When Jim moved Alice into her dorm room, some 3,218 nights later, The Streak, as they called it, came to an end. Not long out of college, Ozma has written a memoir as rich and revealing, witty and warm, confident and compassionate as works by people who may have been around a few more blocks, but who probably havent read as many books. Persuasive and influential, poignant and inspirational, Ozmas exuberant paean to the joys and rewards of readingand being read tois a must-read treasure for parents, especially, and bibliophiles, certainly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)