It made me smile when while at Precious Blood doing surveys,  I came across this book, by Nicholas Sparks. We had only donated it 18 months ago, and I’m not sure how many more reads it will survive before the pages disintegrate. Apparently, it has been borrowed every single week since it was donated, making it one of the most popular books at the school. I remember, at that same age, devouring books like this (The Notebook, for example). Why? Because we all love to dream. We love to fall in love. We love to cry. We love to celebrate the victors and the downfall of the villains. Dreaming as a teenager shapes who you become. The mind is a refuge that gets you through life’s challenges. These kinds of books provide little alleyways of imagination for that very purpose.