Sparknotes was my best friend during middle school and through some of high school. And it would have been my best friend all throughout high school if it weren’t for my English 10 teacher, Mrs. Whitehaus. Her love for reading is like a child’s love for candy. She can’t get enough of it.
Mrs. Whitehaus would stand in front of our room and jump over events in the book she was reading. I never quite understood these random bursts of excitement until she introduced me to books by Khaled Hosseini. Being an average 16 year old girl, I never thought I would find anything interesting about two boys living in Kabul, Afghanistan—let alone anything about Afghanistan. It only took two failed quizzes to get me to read this book and not Sparknotes.  I started reading chapter six. After I finished chapter six, without hesitation, I went onto seven, eight, nine, and ten. Mrs. Whitehaus did something that all other teachers failed to do for me:, she helped me find a love for reading.
The only class I looked forward to that semester was seventh hour English 10 with Mrs. Whitehaus. I looked forward to hearing Mrs.Whitehaus’ reaction to the chapters we read. I looked forward to Mrs. Whitehaus’ crazy analogies that made the entire class laugh, and I looked forward to hearing her talk passionately about her favorite books.
I was never the student to read for extra credit, but when Mrs. Whitehaus offered a chance to earn extra credit by reading another Khaled Hosseini book,  I could not resist. This book, well over 200 pages, was the first book I completed in less than two days. Halfway through the book, a huge event happened and I could not wait until class so I could discuss what happened with Mrs. Whitehaus.
“Tariq is really alive?!?!” I exclaimed to her. 
And from there, Mrs. Whitehaus and I had an opinionated conversation over a book. A book about two women in Afghanistan was something I could never see myself getting into a deep discussion about—and with a teacher. And thanks to Mrs. Whitehaus, I scored a 98% on that extra-credit reading test.
Sure, Sparknotes helped me pass quizzes and tests, but when it came to English 11, I realized reading the book was worth it. Who would have thought a quirky, book-loving teacher would help me find a love for reading?