It’s Road Trip Wednesday! This week
, the folks over at YA Highway are asking What Book Brings Back Memories?
What a great topic! And there are so many possible answers. But here’s the one I’m settling on: BRIDGE TO TEREBITHIA. How many folks read that in one night and then cried and cried and cried? Besides me?
Okay, my memory is not just about crying over this book (because that would be sad). Whenever I think of that book, I remember my favorite English teacher, Mr. Finnegan. He was my teacher in one of the junior high grades (I want to say sixth but my 
memory’s not that great). He was the one who gave me that book and told me I’d love it (he was right). It wasn’t even part of the class curriculum. He just saw that I had a passion for reading and wanted to encourage it.
Everybody loved Mr. Finnegan. He was the kind of teacher who really knew his subject and had a passion for it. And he made class fun. Which isn’t always easy with a bunch of tweens!
I have no idea where Mr. Finnegan is these days but I surely hope that he knows what a great impact he had on dozens or hundreds of kids throughout his career. Hats off to fantastic English teachers everywhere!!
