Teenage summer reading

Kate Petty

Recently, I read Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson. It was a set book for school and I sat down reluctantly to begin reading it in the morning; five hours later I was still sitting in exactly the same place, completely engrossed in the story. The voice of the protagonist, a young girl from York in the 1950s, stayed with me long after I had finished it: not necessarily at the forefront of my mind, but as a lingering presence that subtly changed my perspective on all manner of things.
 
Although The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a play, it manages to have the same effect on the reader as it would if it was a novel twice the length. In fact, the form helps to create a more realistic idea of the characters, which makes the story more vivid, playing with the reader’s emotions as the story develops.