When I was a fifth grader about 60 years ago, I started systematically reading biography and nonfiction. Actually, I just finished all the fiction books in our little classroom library, and all that was left was a collection of blue-backed biographies. My teacher, Mrs. Protzman, who I adored, gave us plenty of time to read on our own. I worked out a way I could finish my assignments, finish one book during the day and check out another to take home to read that night. I was that kid all the way through high school, my nose stuck in a book, my mind a million miles away.