LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A photo of a teenager walking in west Louisville caught a lot of attention on social media.

If you look closely, he's not holding a phone. He's holding a book.

Thaddeus Mason reading a book in West Louisville

A Louisville man took a photograph of Thaddeus Mason walking and reading a book in West Louisville.

A Louisville man snapped the photo on his way home from work near 39th Street. He was impressed by what he saw: a boy reading a book while walking down the street. The post has since gone viral.

"I like reading Manga mystery," Thaddeus Mason, a Louisville native and Jefferson County Public Schools student, said. "I came here to the library and then somebody told me I was on Facebook reading a book."

The picture of the 13-year-old went viral on Facebook.

"I did not know who took the picture of me. I was walking down the street ... I was just walking down the street reading a book," Mason said.

At first, people jumped to conclusions when they saw him in an orange outfit. But the caption said: "You definitely don't see this everyday. A very rare sighting of a youngin' just walking and reading a book."

Right now, he's in the middle of reading a Manga chapter.

"I love the animation of how they look, the way they talk," Mason said. "I can imagine the book, that I am the main character."

One day later, his picture had more than 782 comments and more than 4,000 interactions.

So many families were impressed with the 8th grader, they complimented him in the comments and surprised him with gift cards to different nearby restaurants.

"I wanna say thank you to everybody. Also, for their comments, thank you, because you've given me more courage to do better stuff in life," Mason said.

Mason smiled telling WDRB he's an aspiring engineer.

"I want to be a technology engineer, because actually I just love technology. I just love how it works," Mason said.

Until then, he plans on continuing his adventures to and from the Shawnee Public Library.

"You can accomplish your dreams," Mason said. "One way or another, you'll do something to get you to where you want to be."

Mason thinks his second grade teacher, Mrs. Pearson, taught him how to read. He hopes his reading skills earn him a scholarship to college one day.

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