Ever since I learned how to read, I was enamored with it. I was always about three reading levels ahead than my classmates and the Scholastic book fairs and the catalogs we received about books that were interesting to kids in our age group were like a drug to me. Some of these stories were so real that I felt like I found out apart of myself after reading them. This list doesn't include all of my favorite books, but the ones that made me realize a whole new perspective. Some spoilers ahead!

1. "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton

If you were in a public school system, you probably read about Ponyboy Curtis. I did so in my seventh-grade year and we read it on an audiobook with sound effects. I was never exposed to gang violence, much less violence that was carried out by teens. It hit close to home that Johnny was an innocent kid who only wanted to defend his friends. Things can go wrong in a split second and you can't always protect the ones you love.

2. "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Unfortunately, this was an extremely difficult book for me to get through. I had seen the film adaptation before cracking open the book and I did not expect for Anderson's words to hit harder than live action. "Speak" deals with sexual assault and the aftermath, the main character Melinda going through PTSD after her ordeal. She confides in becoming mute, not telling anyone what has happened to her, also keeping silent about her assault. Eventually, she tells someone what happens to her and people begin to look at him differently, not her. It is always important to speak up for yourself even when you are scared.

3. "What Happened to My Sister" by Elizabeth Flock

My mom bought me this book at a young age when all of my favorites were already read and their expected sequels were not due out for a couple of months. Looking back, that was not the best idea. I only recently discovered that the novel was a sequel to "Me & Emma" by the same author, explaining why I was missing significant plot points. About an unsteady mother who takes nine-year-old daughter Carrie away to North Carolina for a new life, "What Happened to My Sister" has chilling undertones and scenes that will catch your breath. Narrated by the innocent Carrie, I did not understand what was happening in the book until I reread many years later and I would have been traumatized if I had comprehended the story when I had originally read it. Things aren't always what they seem to be.

4. "Night" by Elie Wiesel

In my sophomore year of high school, we read this novel as part of our Holocaust lesson. The Holocaust was always an interesting subject for me, it was appalling how the Nazis had gotten away with mass murder for so long. Reading a first-hand account of what happened in those concentration camps and the mental effect it had on its occupants was quite emotional. "The Diary of Anne Frank" was a hard read as well, but Anne did not write about her time in a concentration camp. Wiesel opened my eyes that the people killed in camps were not just the numbers they were tattooed with, but they were also a father, a brother, a friend, and in Wiesel's case, a survivor. Everyone's story deserves to be told.

5. "Delicious Foods" by James Hannaham

For my senior year, we had to choose a book that had won a PEN/Faulkner Award and do a series of projects with said book. My teacher put together a list of the books with a short summary and a biography of the author. I was surprised to see that this novel had cocaine, one of the main character's drug of choice, as a narrator. I hadn't read a book where a drug told its side of the story. Through a story of physical and mental hardships, both of the main characters escape the darkness and try to start anew in the light, saying that you don't have to end up where you started.

6. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

My freshman English teacher had made me read this novel aloud to the class, she said that I reminded her of Scout. I knew that before, during, and after the Civil Rights movement, many white women convicted African-American man of falsely raping them out of sheer hate of their race as Mayella and Bob Ewell did with Tom Robinson. Although it was Mayella actually coming onto Tom, he was still sentenced and later shot and killed. Sometimes justice is not served in the courtroom on a petty basis for something such as one's skin, gender, religion, etc.

7. "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls

Watch out animal lovers: this one will make you sob. Long story short, a little boy adopts two Redbone Coonhounds and the trio hunt for raccoons together. The two dogs, named Old Dan and Little Ann, protect the little boy time and time again, finally coming to face a mountain lion. On a happy note, the dogs save the boy from the mountain lion, but Old Dan succumbs to his injuries and Little Ann dies soon after of grief. I remember crying in my fifth-grade classroom, I was not as exposed to animals dying, much less dying in brutal ways. This is the book that I realized I wanted to go into veterinary medicine, anything to help Old Dan and Little Ann.

8. "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green

Yes, this book is a total cliche. I debated not reading it for a while because it was so mainstream. One of my friends had loaned her copy to me and I figured that I might as well try it. I did not regret my decision. Through the voice of Hazel Grace, I experienced her endeavors and her love for Gus. I felt her pain as she met her favorite author only to be disappointed and hurt. I wept at Gus's "pre-funeral" and his actual death. However, I will always remember his advice to Hazel Grace over anything else: "You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world…but you do have some say in who hurts you."

9. "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

This book is the reason why I am obsessed with Greek mythology and the rest of the "Percy Jackson" series. I was also taught that even heroes were not perfect as they had their fatal flaw and gods were quite temperamental. Percy and his friends at Camp Half-Blood brought out a passion for writing fan fiction that I didn't know I had. Guaranteed the first few drafts are dreadful, I began to think of original storylines and characters (although none I have acted on).

10. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

If you have read about Hogwarts, then you know. Rowling creates a magnificent world through redemption, friendship, love, sacrifice, and betrayal. You don't have to say you spent an hour in Snape's dungeons to confirm you have learned something, but take a stroll through seven books and have a few new tricks up your sleeve once you come out on the other side.

Yes, textbooks are important yet so are the ones you absorb in the pages of your favorite nonfiction, fantasy, science fiction, whichever it may be.