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Even before he could read, Aaron Kamins was fascinated with books. Kamins was 21 when he died of cancer less than two years ago and his mother is keeping his memory alive at Whetstone Elementary School by helping spread his love of reading.

Susan Kamins, a kindergarten teacher at the Gaithersburg school, collected more than 600 books and distributed two to every student March 4 in honor of what would have been her son's 23rd birthday.

"I wanted to do something to commemorate him and he always loved books and reading," said Kamins, of Germantown. "... A lot of kids don't have access to their own books and I figured this would be a good thing to do to honor his memory."

Kamins, with the help of staff at Whetstone, visited each classroom with carts full of everything from picture books to chapter books, each with a plaque inside the front cover that said "Donated by Aaron's Book Buddies." She began organizing the book drive in December and collected about 200 books each from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, the high school her son attended, and the Scholastic children's publishing company. Books were also donated by nursery schools and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, where Kamins' daughter, Shira Yuter, is a Spanish teacher. Books that are too advanced for elementary readers will be donated to the libraries at Montgomery Village Middle School and Watkins Mill High School.

"It's the best dream come true because now I have my own Nancy Drew book that I can read whenever I want," Jeeva Thaivalappil, 10, of Montgomery Village said after carefully choosing her books.

Paola Flores, 6, of Montgomery Village said she was excited to read her books because "I like to imagine," she said. "You can do anything."

When Aaron was 8 months old, he would keep himself preoccupied on long car trips by looking at his favorite picture books, his mother said. Later he became a voracious reader and particularly enjoyed science fiction and fantasy.

Aaron, a tech-savvy student who liked to build computers, withdrew from high school in his senior year and later earned his General Equivalency Diploma without studying for the test. He was taking classes at Montgomery College and had just gotten a job at a financial securities firm when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer most commonly found in children and young adults ages 10-30, in February 2008. He died 10 months later at age 21 after the cancer spread to his lungs.

"He was very easy-going and very bright, very curious about everything," said Susan Kamins, who also has a grown son, Joel, in Florida. "... He always had a book in his hand and even toward the end he still loved to read."