World Book Night in Athens

Monday night is World Book Night.

are participating, with a pickup at . Athens Patch caught up with three of those who are giving away books tonight, to find out why they are involved in this massive undertaking. Here's what they had to say.

Amanda Makepeace, artist

World Book Night means giving back, changing lives.

As a child reading wasn’t something I enjoyed but more something I was forced to do at school. I hated reading. That changed during my eighth grade year of school. A fellow student left a copy of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary on my desk. Inside the crisp, new paper I found a small sheet of heart stickers, but no note.To this day, I still have no clue who gave me the book, but one thing is certain. They changed my life. Pet Sematary was the first book I ever loved and spurred a reading frenzy. I’d never read anything like it. It was the missing piece of the puzzle. From that one book I went on to read everything King had published and when I reached the end I moved onto to other authors, and eventually other genres. I’ve been hooked on books ever since.

What if that’s all it takes? What if the children who dislike reading haven’t found the right book? When I applied to be a giver for World Book Night I thought what if I could do that for another young person.

Change their life with one book.

On Monday April 23, 2012 I will be giving out copies of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins with my fourteen-year-old daughter. Maybe I will be lucky enough to spur a reading frenzy in another young teen.

When it came to choosing a book for World Book Night, The Hunger Games was the obvious choice for me. Both my daughter and I have read the entire trilogy. We are mega fans of the books. But more than that, The Hunger Games seemed like the type of book that could hook a non-reader. It’s full of adventure, suspense, fighting for what’s true and just, and it even has a little underlying romance. What more could a teen reader want? My hope for Monday night is to come across a teenager who might have seen the movie, loved it, but hasn’t read the book. I’ll tell them what a shame because the movie left out so much, and as I do that I’ll slip a book in their hands.

My daughter and I will be at the Watkinsville Jittery Joe’s Coffee at 7 p.m.

Kelli Bivins, teacher at

As a teacher, I have seen the power of books to captivate and transform students. I also see firsthand the desire students have to purchase books, books of their own for keeping, at our twice, annual school book fairs. Our students are low income; as a result, we teachers buy books for many children at the book fairs. When I learned about the World Book Night, I wanted to sign up so that I could give books to students who would otherwise not have a chance to buy their own. The book I will be giving (one that I just finished reading) is The Brief Wondrous Live of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. The edition I will distribute is in Spanish, as many of my current and former students are native Spanish speakers. I intend to visit a few of the neighborhoods that are heavily populated by native Spanish speakers. North Bluff, DuPlex, Kathwood, PineWood South, HallMark, Spring Valley, etc.

Bette Kitchens, teacher at Day School

Books have always been important to me. When I was young, books transported me to faraway places, new situations, and magical worlds. Books fed my soul. They still do. The book I chose to share was The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. It was my first choice and I have read (and loved) the book. It is a young adult book with seroius themes - death, Hitler, survivor's guilt but the ultimate message is that books and the written word have the power to move people.  Books feed the soul. On Monday evening I am going to ALCES.  American-Latino Center to share my books with young teens, some of whom have never owned an English book. I love the idea of sharing an amazing book with amazing people.