I’m teaching mythology and legends in my 12th grade class, and I am definitely not in my comfort zone. I like some of the stories, but I have trouble with them sometimes. Annika, however, is really excited about it because she decided she wants to learn about the gods and myths, too.

I bought Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology and we started it today. It has a lot of words she doesn’t know, so we are reading very slowly. She is struggling with the fantasy parts – for example, Odin has his two ravens who whisper into his ears, and Annika had to clarify: can the birds talk? I explained that maybe they do, but maybe Odin can understand birds, because he is a god. That was an easy one.

It’s kind of tough because she wants to read all the things I have been reading for class, but some of them are a little too difficult or complex. She wanted to read The House of the Scorpion, but I told her she couldn’t read that one yet. I told her we could try reading Norse Mythology, thinking it would be ok, but it’s pretty difficult.

We did read March: Book 1 together and she LOVED it, so we have to get book 2. Even that one was a little difficult, because she had trouble understanding segregation and why black people were treated so terribly. She was upset with the bombing of Looby’s home and angry with the white men who beat the young people doing the sit ins. To be fair, we should be upset and angry at those things, but I hope that it’s something she can understand.

Still, I’m excited that she wants to read with me and learn about the things I’m doing, even though they can be challenging. She wants to read and understand these things and I’m proud of her determination. She’s a tough girl.