Patty Lee Gauch, recent reads

Wow. I just read that Patty Lee Gauch will leave Philomel in September. It's the end of an era. What an amazing editor she has been. I feel so blessed to have spent the time with her I have and happy for all the authors who have worked with her. She is a blessing to the field of children's literature. Children all over the world have been touched by her work. The news clip mentioned that she would do more speaking (which she's so great at) and writing (yay!). So while she'll be missed in the editing world, I will expect great things from her in other venues.

I've read two very interesting books in the past week. They're both very well-written and hard to put down. Both had endearing protagonists and fascinating stories. However, both contained painful truths that were sometimes hard to read. So while I often say, you MUST read this or that book, I won't say that here. Although both books are excellent and must-reads, they're not exactly light beach reads. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND by Allegra Goodman is an incredible middle grade science fiction set in the future after a great flood that rids the earth of its continents leaving only islands. It's 1984 meets The Giver--fascinating but disturbing all the same. SARAH'S KEY by Tatiana de Rosnay is a touching and deeply disturbing perspective of Jewish persecution in France. I offer my deep congratulations to Ms. de Rosnay and Ms. Goodman for these great contributions. They blew me out of the water with these books.

I've been editing my own novel, and one of the final, climactic scenes is very emotional to edit. It's nothing compared to the climactic scenes in the books mentioned above, but it still gets me all shaky when I write it. I can only IMAGINE what these authors went through with those books. Major kudos to them.

Well, I need to get moving on some other things this morning, but I wanted to throw a few new books out there for those of you who have been asking and anyone else who needs a book to stir her soul. Have a great day, and swim near a lifeguard.