I met ten-year-old Ruthie for the first time last May. This is hard to believe since she is the daughter of my dear friend Eloise.

I traveled to Greensboro, NC this fall to visit the Porter clan  – Eloise, Logan (dad), Mary Mac, Francis, Logan (son) and Ruthie. It may have been difficult for Ruthie to contribute to the conversation since her mom and I DO NOT STOP talking when we see each other, plus her three older siblings were with us as well.

Mary Mac, Francis and Ruthie.

Ruthie does have a lot to contribute and a cool haircut and engaging personality to match!

Fortunately for me, I got some time alone with her when we went to a local bookstore, Scuppernong Books, on Saturday night. We visited the graphic novel section together and compared notes.

Ruthie picked out How to Slay a Werewolf: Professor Van Helsing’s Guides by Miles Teves and sat down at dinner and didn’t look up. That’s the sign of a good book and a true reader! (I picked up Anne Hood’s Morningstar: Growing up with Books. I recommend it and anything she’s written.)

Ruthie was kind enough to answer some questions her new book.

What made you pick out this book? 

I picked it because I have an interest in fantasy, but not cutesy fantasy. It isn’t dark and creepy but something kind of inbetween.

It seemed like you couldn’t put it down – you read it all through dinner – that’s the sign of a good book!  What made it so interesting? 

It’s a funny reference book about werewolves. It talked about a lot of things I didn’t know about werewolves. I like how the book’s werewolves compared to werewolves in different fantasy realms. Like in Harry Potter, werewolves cannot change on command and cannot be killed by silver, but in this book they can. I like how there are illustrations.

Did you have a favorite part? 

My favorite part was the advertisement for a silver trap. It was funny because it said things it contained and none of them are silver.

Can you tell me about some of your other favorite books and why they are your favorites? 

The Harry Potter series because I like the mix of fantasy and real life problems. Harry was struggling with a lot of the same issues kids do …. Like trying not to be self centered, and getting angry at people without understanding they sometimes cannot control it.

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo is one of my favorites because it shows the power of animals in a family, but that change doesn’t happen straight away. It also shows that friends can be found anywhere. I like how the author just shows Opal’s everyday life without forcing problems on her. For example when the librarian told her about her grandfather’s candy (Litmus lozenges).

G-man graphic novels by Chris Giarrusso are some of my favorite reads because they are funny yet realistic about being the youngest child. He gets pushed around but he has super powers .. which is not normal.

I also like the Mighty Skullboy graphic novels by Jacob Chabot because they are super funny because he’s a little Kindergartner who wants to be a villain, Skullboy. But when he comes to class his teacher thinks the name Skullboy is french.

Ruthie showed me some of her favorite books.

Why do you like reading? 

It’s a mix of the standard generic answer and my reasoning:  It’s not like the book takes me places, but it allows me to experience things in fantasy that I could never experience in real life.

Anything else you want to share? 

Books don’t just help you academically they also help you with your imagination which is needed not only as kids but also as grown ups.

Even businessmen, which sometimes seems boring, need imagination. For better advertisements when they need more business.

Thanks, Ruthie!

Ruthie’s mom, Eloise, was my first guest blogger when she wrote about Fly High! The Story of Bessie Coleman.

Ruthie and Julia.