People sometimes ask why a 12-year-old would start a reading initiative. The short answer: because nobody else was going to do it for the kids I was thinking about.
It started with a question
I was at school and a friend told me he hated reading. Not “I don’t like that book” — he meant all books. That hit me hard. I love reading so much it’s basically my superpower, and here was somebody right next to me who’d given up on it.
So I asked him: “What’s the last book you actually liked?” He thought about it for a really long time. He couldn’t name one.
That’s when I realised something
It’s not that he hated reading. He’d just never been given a book that felt like his. Every kid deserves at least one book that feels like it was written for them. That’s where Roar for Reading came from.
What Roar for Reading actually does
- Monthly reading challenges like “10 Books in 30 Days” — fun ones, not boring school ones.
- Printable trackers so kids can see their progress and feel proud.
- Book recommendations for ages 7–12 across every kind of story.
- Tips for parents and teachers who want to help but don’t know where to start.
- The Reading Ambassador Certificate kids can earn and download.
The Malawi project
The other thing I’m doing is bigger. I’m collecting books to send to children in Malawi, where so many kids have never held a real book. If a story changed me — and it did — then every kid on the planet deserves the same shot. Every child deserves a story.
How you can help
The simplest thing? Read one book this month and tell another kid about it. That’s it. That’s the whole movement: kids passing stories to kids.
Books help your mind grow stronger than any screen ever could. Join the Roar →
