When I was a child, I was introverted, tending to read and play video games considerably more than I would go outside or play sports. Following that, I was an outcast to my male classmates who would only play basketball or koosh or when not playing sports trying to prove whose dad was better. I couldn't relate, so I stayed away from that sort of thing, and since I was a boy, I couldn't hang out with the girls because I would be mocked or teased. So I mostly didn't talk to anyone. I only stood by myself feeling embarrassingly alone. 
 Books took me away from all that; I didn't have to think about my unhappy life, but instead explore the lives of others. Thinking back how I first found The Golden Compass, I was lucky in a way. Our school had a book fair, and the lover of books as I was, I usually bought 3 or 4 with money my parents would give me. I found the Golden Compass on the shelves like any other book. It looked promising, but I had no idea how much I would love it and how it would become one of my all time favorite books. To say this book is amazing or my favorite doesn't give it justice. This book saved me. I didn't feel alone or ostracized while reading it. I wasn't afraid of how people might hurt me. When I read the part "Bernie was a kindly, solitary man, one of those rare people whose daemon was the same sex as himself," I felt an overwhelming sense of connection, how one can be so outwardly different, but have it still be okay. 
 The Subtle Knife didn't have the same affect on me as The Golden Compass, maybe because I didn't read that one until later when I was in high school, and at that point in my life I didn't rely on fantasy escapes as much. The Amber Spyglass had a greater effect, but I think it might only be because of the addition of Balthamos and Baruch, two angels who loved each other with every part of their being. I was still struggling with being gay at that point of my life, so reading about the love of two "male" angels comforted me, that a love said by so many to be wrong might be OK in another world. 
 I strongly recommend these books. They saved me. And if any of you have introverted children who have a love for fantasy also, please do them a favor and bestow upon them this collection. They might get out of it as much as I did, maybe even more.