SAN ANTONIO \u2013 The idea started out as a simple blog. Twin sisters, who loved to read, began writing book reviews.<\/p>\n
The idea then grew to a city-wide initiative, and now, the San Antonio teenagers are representing literacy on a national level from a big Hollywood name. <\/p>\n
For 17-year-olds Neerja and Nidhi Bathla, reading has been a constant since for as long as they can remember. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur parents are immigrants, and they believe heavily in the importance and value of education,\u201d Neerja Bathla said. \u201cSo, we pretty much spent all our free time for the first five years of our life in Barnes and Nobles.\u201d <\/p>\n
In spring 2020, while in middle school, the COVID-19 pandemic put the world on lockdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we were bored, we were going to start a book blog,\u201d Neerja Bathla said. \u201cSo, we wrote reviews of books we\u2019d read, and then we recommended them to other kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
They began seeing the pull technology had on their friends. <\/p>\n
\u201cSocial media was starting to affect the self-esteem of the girls around us. And these girls were reading less, and they were on technology more,\u201d Neerja Bathla said. \u201cNot that things like beauty and trends are bad things, but they take away that importance and also that self-confidence that we get from being able to read and gaining knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2024, their Girls for Books<\/a> blog won the state civics competition, which funneled grant money their way.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we used that grant to launch our website,\u201d Nidhi Bathla said. <\/p>\n Their official nonprofit adopted an ambassador program. The nonprofit now has between 20-25 ambassadors across the country. <\/p>\n \u201cA girl applies and they can either write book reviews or they can start a book club in their own school,\u201d Neerja Bathla said. \u201cWe got \u2018PVSA certified.\u2019 So, the Presidential Volunteer Service Award (PVSA), which is the highest award for teens to get from the U.S. government for volunteering. So, they are able to get volunteer hours.\u201d <\/p>\n It\u2019s also r\u00e9sum\u00e9 material for these girls. <\/p>\n \u201cNow they get to become a published author!\u201d Nidhi Bathla said. <\/p>\n The City of San Antonio took notice and included the girls on the mayor\u2019s fitness council, which helped secure more grants for their nonprofit. <\/p>\n With some of that money, the twins just launched their new Educator Book Kit program for teachers at low-income schools. <\/p>\n \u201cWe basically build a kit with merch and reading guides, and then we also send books to an educator who wants to start a book club with students at their school but doesn\u2019t have the financial resources,\u201d the girls said. <\/p>\n The girls are asking any educators who would like to be sent a book club starter kit to reach out to them on their website.<\/a><\/p>\n The teens are also available to give talks at schools about reading and literacy.<\/p>\n