Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Exit Here

What are you reading?

Exit Here. by Jason Myers.”

Tell me about it.

“It’s kind of his life story. He was in Minnesota, and instead of following the dream that his dad has laid out for him — which was to go to USC and follow in his path... His dad was a businessman; he owned this town in Minnesota, and he wanted to leave the town to his son. But the son gets into drugs and messes up everything. It’s kind of a life-experience thing; he has to hit rock bottom before he can actually decide to move on. There are things that happened in the past that he has to go back and get over. Like, one summer vacation, he went to Hawaii. He had gone to a party and this girl had overdosed and he had intercourse with her and stuff. She ended up dying the next morning, and he left — he thought it was his fault. He didn’t know what really happened until later in life, when he went back and her family told him.”

Is it a novel?

Sponsored
Sponsored

“In the back, the writer says it was based on his life, but the names of the people aren’t real.”

Who is your favorite character?

“The author, because of the transformation that he goes through, how he learns from experiences. Also, because of how strong a person he is, standing up to his dad.”

Can you compare it to other books you’ve read?

“No, I just found it randomly at Barnes & Noble.”

Who is your favorite author?

“I don’t really have one, but there was a series I read a year ago by Scott Westerfield — The Uglies, The Pretties, and The Specials. It’s science fiction set in the future, with a lot of biochemistry. When you’re little, you’re called a Little. From 6 to 12, you’re an Ugly, and you live in Uglyville. Then, when you turn 13, you get this procedure done to your body to make you pretty, and you become a Pretty. It made me think about how things are characterized — how things depend on social class or how much money you have or what you look like. Materialism.”

What book has been most life-changing for you?

“The main character in Exit Here. is similar to somebody in my family that I’m really close to, so… And there was another book I read last year called Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse. It was about the journey of a young man as he finds his spiritual beliefs — what he wants to believe in. I probably wouldn’t have picked it up if I just saw it, but somebody asked me to read it. I’m a spiritual person — I go to church and everything — and it made me open my eyes to other kinds of beliefs. It’s about Buddhism and stuff like that, stuff I’d never learned about and was never interested in learning about.”

Do you read any magazines or newspapers?

“No.”

Do you talk to your friends about reading?

“Yes. We recommend books to each other that we think the other person would like.”

Name: Jessica Sanders | Age: 16 | Occupation: Student | Neighborhood: College Area | Where interviewed: SDSU campus

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"

What are you reading?

Exit Here. by Jason Myers.”

Tell me about it.

“It’s kind of his life story. He was in Minnesota, and instead of following the dream that his dad has laid out for him — which was to go to USC and follow in his path... His dad was a businessman; he owned this town in Minnesota, and he wanted to leave the town to his son. But the son gets into drugs and messes up everything. It’s kind of a life-experience thing; he has to hit rock bottom before he can actually decide to move on. There are things that happened in the past that he has to go back and get over. Like, one summer vacation, he went to Hawaii. He had gone to a party and this girl had overdosed and he had intercourse with her and stuff. She ended up dying the next morning, and he left — he thought it was his fault. He didn’t know what really happened until later in life, when he went back and her family told him.”

Is it a novel?

Sponsored
Sponsored

“In the back, the writer says it was based on his life, but the names of the people aren’t real.”

Who is your favorite character?

“The author, because of the transformation that he goes through, how he learns from experiences. Also, because of how strong a person he is, standing up to his dad.”

Can you compare it to other books you’ve read?

“No, I just found it randomly at Barnes & Noble.”

Who is your favorite author?

“I don’t really have one, but there was a series I read a year ago by Scott Westerfield — The Uglies, The Pretties, and The Specials. It’s science fiction set in the future, with a lot of biochemistry. When you’re little, you’re called a Little. From 6 to 12, you’re an Ugly, and you live in Uglyville. Then, when you turn 13, you get this procedure done to your body to make you pretty, and you become a Pretty. It made me think about how things are characterized — how things depend on social class or how much money you have or what you look like. Materialism.”

What book has been most life-changing for you?

“The main character in Exit Here. is similar to somebody in my family that I’m really close to, so… And there was another book I read last year called Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse. It was about the journey of a young man as he finds his spiritual beliefs — what he wants to believe in. I probably wouldn’t have picked it up if I just saw it, but somebody asked me to read it. I’m a spiritual person — I go to church and everything — and it made me open my eyes to other kinds of beliefs. It’s about Buddhism and stuff like that, stuff I’d never learned about and was never interested in learning about.”

Do you read any magazines or newspapers?

“No.”

Do you talk to your friends about reading?

“Yes. We recommend books to each other that we think the other person would like.”

Name: Jessica Sanders | Age: 16 | Occupation: Student | Neighborhood: College Area | Where interviewed: SDSU campus

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Raging Cider & Mead celebrates nine years

Company wants to bring America back to its apple-tree roots
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader