Skip to main content

Whistling in the Dark

Must they all go at once?

First Lloyd Alexander and now Madeleine L'Engle. Don't they know I can only take so many childhood heroes departing at a time? I came across A Wrinkle in Time shortly after reading the Chronicles of Prydain and I still remember how smooth the pages were. And how much I dug Meg. She was my age. She was smart and awkward, angry and strong. And she never gave up. She held on to her family and those who became family like Calvin and Dr. Colubra. And when I read Mrs. Whatsit's line, "By the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract," I just couldn't put it down. I had no idea what a tesseract was or why the sound of it sent a chill down my spine. I didn't care. I just had to keep reading. I read my way through A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet and then I read all the Austin family books. The Young Unicorns is still one of my very favorites, chilling and beautiful as so many of hers are. Like Lloyd Alexander's books, I can honestly say I read everything she wrote. As far as the books of my life go, hers are right at the top of the list. Reading them has always been my way of whistling in the dark.

Comments

  1. Dear Angieville:

    The illustration on the cover flap is exquisite.
    later...
    Julian
    www.ijulian.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is, isn't it? I think it's the best of the many covers it's had.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

You Might Also Like

On Angie, the Relative Scarcity Thereof

I've been a bit scarce round these parts of late and I feel badly about it. But there is a good reason and I've been waiting until today to share it with you. Just so I could include one rather pertinent detail. It's a boy! Fortunately I'm at the point where I'm starting to feel better, so things should soon start resembling business as usual around here. I, for one, am relieved.

Forever Blog Tour + Giveaway!

I'm awfully excited to be a part of this unique blog tour in celebration of the release of Forever by the insanely talented Maggie Stiefvater .  Scholastic recently launched an online community called  This Is Teen  to connect readers with their favorite YA authors and books. Visit their page on   Facebook   for all the latest news on   Maggie Stiefvater   and   Forever .  Each stop on the tour is hosting a particular character from the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, and I have the good luck to be the stop for Sam--my favorite emo-wolfboy!  Sam is so very endearing, in a decidedly non-angsty or overt way. His breathtaking blend of maturity and vulnerability tugs at my heartstrings and the strength of his relationship with Grace is unswerving.  He is warm and thoughtful and artistic, and I liked him right from the start of the series . Because I can't resist, here are two of my favorite Sam quotes, the first from Grace's point of view in  Shiver and the second from Sam&

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

I know this is an almost unpardonably early review. But honestly, I waited on it as long as I possibly could before the effort of holding it in caused me some sort of bodily harm. I've been anxiously looking forward to For Darkness Shows the Stars  for going on two years now, and the day an ARC showed up on my doorstep was just a very good day indeed . When a book you've been dying to read finally falls into your lap, do you ever just hold onto it and savor the possibilities? I do. I did with this one for a little while. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I just tear into it immediately. But sometimes I don't. Because sometimes dreaming about it while you're actually holding it in your hands is special, too. So I savored and I dreamt and I started reading and . . . I was gone. My first reaction to finishing it was a sense of complete satisfaction mingled with sadness that it was over. My second was thinking that I cannot wait to see  For Darkness Shows the Stars  work