Reading develops your mind. By exploring different areas of your mind and changing your perception of things, reading helps you grow mentally, emotionally, and psychologically. Every book, comic, magazine, and leaflet you read allows you to enhance not only your reading skills and knowledge but also your imagination.

Reading empowers your mind. It broadens your imagination by stimulating the right side of your brain, creating a path for new possibilities and experiences. It gives you the chance to see the world through other people’s eyes and to understand their thoughts and feelings in the process. 

Reading affects your physical life, too. It influences everything you do, think, and create. It can lead to new theories, dreams, inventions, and increased memory. Reading also helps you reduce stress and calms your mind. Reducing stress can be extremely important. When stress levels increase, people tend to lose control and are unable to function and complete their tasks.

Reading is just one of the many ways to relax and stimulate your mind. For example, books of different genres such as horror, thrillers, romance, fantasy, heartbreak, etc. affect your mind in different ways.

Some books I would recommend are: “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, by Stephen Chbosky; “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee; “The Fault in Our Stars”, by John Green; and “Thirteen Reasons Why”, by Jay Asher. These four books help you understand the importance of family and love and show you what it’s like to lose someone you care for. Some of these books aren’t for a younger audience, though. They describe a harsh reality that most young teenagers aren’t ready to hear about. They open your eyes to many issues that people face and how they cope to get through.

All in all, I encourage my fellow students to read as much as they can, as the benefits of reading are extremely valuable and lasting.

By Alisha, Year 10, YCIS Pudong Secondary