Mystery Books

Article: Mystery Books

Written by: Tahany Azzab

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“We hate school.” Probably, many of you have already heard this sentence from your children. Likewise, I have heard it from mine.

My children attend one of the most privileged school districts in our state. Many school buildings are newly built and are in excellent condition. Each school includes a giant library. Students have access to zillions of books, both paper and digital versions.

Schools have some of the highest-quality teachers in town and offer excellent curriculum. Administrators are proactive who set high expectations of students as well as teachers. Resources of various types are available for all students. Parental participation in students' education is at a high level. Schools are secure and organized. Students' achievement is high.

In general, these schools possess all the fundamental attributes of effective schools which explains their high ranking compared to other districts in the state. Therefore, when my children come home and say “we hate school”, this leaves me speechless. I felt like they needed to hear the following story:

I was raised in the countryside in Egypt which is considered underprivileged compared to big cities. This was before the internet era started and technology became available. We did not have Gyms to go to but we spent our time playing with other children.

Like all children in my village, I can say that I had a happy and peaceful childhood. However, we had a shortage in almost every public service including but not limited to schools and libraries. My first elementary school was so old and its facilities were outdated. The school roof was a hundred years old. It had holes. During winter, we used to get wet from the rainwater while sitting in the classroom.

One of the unforgettable memories, a snake fell off over our heads from the classroom ceiling. It fell while chasing a frog. We, the students, were their audience; I think. We were just sitting and watching the unexpected guests in an impressive show. I was frightened indeed. When my kids heard this story, they thought it was cool and fun. They liked the idea of having wild nature at school.

It is interesting to remember what my mom said to me when I went home after school and complained about this incident. She said, “Be grateful for having classrooms, desks, and a roof over your head.” “When I attended school, there was no roof or desks. We used to sit on the bare floor in the open air, rain or shine. Teachers used to beat us up for not knowing the answer or missing a day from school.”, she added.

Worth mentioning, teachers at that time used to falsely believe that we Egyptians are pharaohs who don’t learn unless we are beaten up. There is no doubt that these conditions were unbearable. This actually had made my mom drop out of school when she was in fourth grade.

Anyways, we the countryside children were lucky enough to have classrooms and a roof over our heads as my mom said.. But obviously, there was no designated space to be called a library. We did not have books at school. The only books that we had access to were the school textbooks.The first children's book I had was a gift from my older brother. I was eleven years old when he joined Law School in Cairo. There were so many bookstores that he could go to and buy books. He knew that I like to solve mysteries so he got me an entire series of mystery short story books.

They were amazing and exciting twelve books. I read one story each night. I couldn't fall asleep at night for twelve nights consecutively until I solved the twelve mysteries.

However, the lack of access to books continued until I finally joined high school. My high school was located in a nearby city. It was large. It had a huge library that was packed with all types of books. I was able to visit it only during school hours but I had the right to borrow as many books as I could.

I did not realize that this would continue with me even after growing up and becoming an adult. Of course, I do not mean reading children's mystery books. What I mean is that I only read books that offer this type of excitement and suspense.

Mystery books greatly impacted me as an adult. Solving a mystery helped me learn how to connect the dots and collect all clues to solve difficult problems. It taught me how to use my imagination and put myself in the character's shoes to make accurate predictions.

The ultimate impact of solving mysteries is the way I see life itself. I see it as a big mystery. Most of the time, life puts me in a certain level of ambiguity and throws at me unknown people and situations. It forces me sometimes to deal with all of this. Living in ambiguity and facing the unknown can be scary to many people.

For me, I am not afraid of the unknown. I learned to be comfortable with feeling uncomfortable by simply reading a mystery book