by Sahar Chmais
“Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid,” written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt.
This quote comes from Veronica Lopez’s favorite book, “Fish in a Tree”. And much like this quote, dyslexia has not stopped the 15-year-old from being an author and philanthropist; on the contrary, it propelled her early career and longtime love for books.
Veronica found a connection with “Fish in a Tree’s” main character because this is the first time someone has expressed what it truly feels like to be dyslexic.
“In the book, when she tries to read, words are floating off the page,” Veronica said, describing the feeling. “It’s like reading a foreign language. When I try to read some things look opposite of what they are. When I am trying to spell I get b and d mixed up. My mind comprehends it but others see it differently. And when you’re trying to read, everything distracts you, it’s hard to concentrate.”
But Veronica did not want to give up on reading. Over the summertime, Veronica felt her reading skills would decline because she was not reading the way she would in school. So she joined a group, Reading Heroes, in her summer camp. Through that group, Veronica made many connections and became a philanthropist.
In order to help other kids with a similar struggle, Veronica came up with an idea for a book box when her Girl Scout troop asked for members to create a self-sustaining project. The box is placed at Barton Middle School and kids can pick up books in the box and take their time reading the books.
Veronica came up with this idea because she saw two needs. The first was that some kids need longer than two weeks to finish a book due to some reading disabilities, but libraries have a two-week lending policy before renewing in-person. The second issue facing some kids was access to the library; either it is too far from their home or they cannot go to the library whenever they want.
While Veronica built the book box with the help of her father and her sister’s boyfriend, the books came from another source. Laura Younts, a Reading Heroes sponsor at Barton Middle School, helped Veronica make her idea a reality. There are plenty of books to give out, but the box also accepts donated books.
The book box is just one of the ways Veronica is trying to give back to the kids who struggle with reading. She has become a volunteer at Reading Heroes where she mentors younger kids.
“From experience, it’s hard to overcome dyslexia,” Veronica said. “It takes a lot of effort. So seeing all the kids I can help inspires me to keep going and motivates me to see these kids keep pushing. One little girl (eight years old), said she thinks I am the best mentor. We read together and she has a connection to me. It’s really great to see these things and that I’ve had an impact on one kid, if not many others.”
Veronica is trying to reach a larger niche audience now so she can continue helping more kids. She wrote a book for young kids, kindergarten through second grade, who have trouble reading. The book is about a cat trying to get to the moon and is written in English and Spanish, for kids who are learning English as a second language.
Younts said she will help Veronica by publishing it online. There is an audio version to help kids keep up with the words as well.
Veronica and her mom, Cindy Gray, hope they can get the book published. The goal does not end there; Veronica wants to make it into a series, with the second book showing the cat’s experience on the moon and the third book about how the cat gets back home.
