There was virtually no 'young adult' literature, so I read the classics--Stendhal's
The Red and the Black, a favorite, along with Jane Austen, the Brontes, and other nineteenth-century masterpieces.
"I have always had a very active imagination--my retreat when things don't go right. I realized early that this set me apart from most people. For example, it wasn't my habit to confide in others very much, particularly my parents. As far back as I can recall, I kept a diary. Important thoughts, imaginings, and events were recounted in my diaries, not to people.
"For example, the first time I experienced anti-semitism I kept it from my parents. In the first grade I recall looking through an encyclopedia with some friends. We got to a beach scene with lots of funny looking caricatures of people. I was bewildered by the way my friends giggled, and when I asked them what was so funny, they wouldn't say. Finally, I overheard them making jokes about the 'Jews on the beach.' I was absolutely stunned. Not too long afterward, during an argument with another little friend, she called me a 'dirty Jew.' Again, I was amazed. I felt hurt, then angry, betrayed and confused.
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