You've just got to find something you enjoy reading, that's one of the main things
- Jack Jorgensen
Wanting to own a book you've already read shows it meant something to you.
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Back in year 6, West Albury's Jack Jorgensen saw The Book Thief at the cinema and accepted when a tutor offered to loan him the book.
"I read it and I liked it so much that I got my own copy," Jack, now 17, said.
Written by Australian author Markus Zusak, The Book Thief is a coming of age story set in Nazi Germany.
Narrated by Death, the main character Liesel learns to read and discovers the power of writing and sharing the written word amid the horrors of war.
"It had a unique perspective on that time," Jack said.
"That's a very deep, dark time in our history.
"A girl who's somewhere new where she's never been before, been adopted by a family that isn't her normal family, her brother's death, meeting new people, learning to get food, fear and that barrier.
"I imagine what it would be like in that sort of time era."
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A year 12 student at Albury High School, Jack takes a while to read books because of dyslexia, which was diagnosed in year 7.
"I've had a lot of help," he said. "Sometimes I forget to read small details, I skip over things.
"It's difficult but you get used to it after a while."
Movies have continued to be a reading prompt, with Jack often seeing a good trailer and deciding to read the book first.
"Even if the book and the movie are different, it just gives that uniqueness in each," he said.
Other times he might read a back cover synopsis and choose to try the whole book.
"I don't find that I do much online reading, I just prefer a book," he said.
"It's probably easier than downloading a copy that might cost money - (books) cost money but it's good because you can keep them, technology dies eventually."
Jack has been an Albury youth councillor for two years and is also part of the Retro youth committee.
"I get to meet new and interesting people from different schools that I don't usually see," he said.
"They're great programs that anyone can take part in and it's just a fun time for everyone."
These committees involve a lot of event planning, a field Jack wants to work in after school, with Relay For Life fundraising proving particularly satisfying.
"It is a topic close to home, with my grandma going through breast cancer and luckily beating it," he said.
"It's just that kind of event that I love and I've done it ever since she's been diagnosed."
Although not a huge reader with regards to volume of books, Jack appears to have the right approach.
"You've just got to find something you enjoy reading, that's one of the main things," he said.
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