Camijo Powell doesn't fit most stereotypes of a bookworm. In fact, the Lehi Elementary student looks just about like any other active second-grader.
But the shy 7-year-old has managed to accomplish something in one summer that her classmates might not ever manage in a lifetime: She read more than 400 books.And while those books might not be such ponderous tomes as Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" or Ernest Hemingway's wordier texts, the fact that Camijo (pronounced Cammy-JOE) has read as many as 14 books in one 24-hour span is a feat that makes your head spin.
Camijo took up the challenge at the end of first-grade in May. Her teacher, Glynnis Devey, asked her first-graders what they were doing during the summer and urged them to challenge themselves.
Anna Barnes, Camijo's grandmother, told the girl that an increased dedication to reading might help her with her studies and give her a head start on her classmates. Of course, Barnes' incentive of paying her granddaughter a nickel for every book she read might have helped as well.
Barnes pointed out that the 400-book total includes only those that Camijo read from start to finish. In fact, she may have read more than 500 books during the three-month period.
"We marked the books that she read with red tape on the outside," Barnes said. "But when she was by herself, who knows how many books she actually read?"
Among Camijo's favorite books are those by Dr. Seuss, and after viewing the made-for-TV movie "Sarah, Plain and Tall," she decided to read the book that inspired the movie as well.
An accomplishment perhaps even greater than her profuse reading is her proficiency in signing. Camijo's mother, Camile Powell, who is divorced, was living with her grandparents. At one point, Powell was forced to leave Camijo with the couple, both of whom are deaf, and during that four-year period Camijo picked up on the soundless communication form.
Don't let her bookish habits give you the impression that Camijo is a social outcast, though - she's very popular with other students, according to both Powell and Barnes.
For a while, Barnes would actually shoo Camijo outside to play rather than let her read. However, she's finally found a perfect mix between her intellectual and physical pursuits.
"Sometimes I read and sometimes I play with my Barbies," Camijo said. "Sometimes I play outside or with my Barbies after I read."