Yesterday  morning, I got an email from my friend Cheryl, who lives up the road from us. Her granddaughter Iris is visiting, and they had had a conversation about my YA fantasy novel Maya and the Book of Everything. Cheryl had gotten Iris the book for Christmas, and Iris really enjoyed the novel.  Cheryl wondered if she and Iris could come for a visit.

Yes, yes, and yes! As it turned out, Sam—Iris’s dad and Cheryl’s son—came, too, and what a delightful time Clif and I had talking with the three of them, book lovers all. We chatted a bit about Maya and the Book of Everything. Cheryl wondered where my ideas came from. I couldn’t give her much help on that one. Somehow, the ideas just come.  Iris hoped that Andy and Maya would eventually wind up together. (I gave her the answer, but you, dear readers, will have to wait and read Library Lost to discover  Andy’s and Maya’s fate.) Sam wondered how long it took me to write the book. My answer: About a year, but there was a lot of editing and tinkering with the story after that.

Then the conversation turned to other books.  Iris told me what she was reading, and as I knew I wouldn’t remember—oh, the aging memory!—I jotted them down. When I’m through with the current batch I’ve borrowed from the library, I’ll request Iris’s recommendations through interlibrary loan. The list includes the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan and the Pendragon series by D.J. MacHale.

When asked what I was reading, I replied, “The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.” This slice-of-life novel centers on a young girl—the Calpurnia of the title—who lives in Texas in the late 1800s. She’s a budding naturalist at a time when young women aren’t supposed to be interested in such things. But Calpurnia has an ally in her grandfather, an amateur naturalist who teaches her how to look, draw, record, measure, and do research. Calpurnia is a spunky, satisfying heroine, but the pace of the novel is deliberate, and I was wondering how young readers would like it.

Today, I found out. It seems that Iris has also read Calpurnia Tate. She liked it very much, and this caused me to have an epiphany, of sorts. That is, young people who love books are patient readers, and it’s a mistake to think they need an explosion a minute to keep them interested.  It’s not that plot and narrative flow aren’t important, but well-developed characters are what keep young people interested in a story. If a novel’s pace is leisurely, then that’s perfectly fine as long as the characters are interesting.

So, all in all a terrific day. Tea with a wonderful, bright family and insight into the patience young people bring to reading books.

You might even call it a finest kind of day.

On Tuesday, the fabulous Susan Poulin came to the Charles M. Bailey Public Library to read from her newest book, The Sweet Life: Ida LeClair’s Guide to Love & Marriage. Full disclosure: Susan and I are friends. We’ve known each other for many years, and as Susan mentioned to Shane, the adult services librarian, the first time we met, it was as though we had each found a sister.

“Kindred spirits,” I added.

Nevertheless, even if we weren’t friends and kindred spirits, I would still be a true-blue fan of hers. Susan is an incredibly gifted story teller, humorist, and performer.  In fact, one of the best I’ve ever seen.

The warm and wise Ida LeClair, from the fictional Maine town of Mahoosuc Mills, is Susan Poulin’s alter ego. Ida “came” to Susan twenty years ago as a character who lived with her husband Charlie  and their dog Scamp in a double-wide mobile home.  But if grim images of poverty and degradation come to your mind, wipe them away. Immediately. Ida and Charlie, married right out of high school, still love each other very much. The double wide is neat and tidy, and Ida’s joie de vivre thrums through every story and performance. (This is Susan’s second book, and she has done several one-woman shows that feature Ida.)

In addition, Ida has good friends and is rooted in her community. While she and Charlie might not be wealthy, they are rich in all the things that really matter.

To get a sense of Ida’s voice, here’s an excerpt from Chapter One, page one of The Sweet Life: “I’m…a certified Maine Life Guide…The way I see it, life guiding is…like a gentle nudge in the right direction. Someone to lend a hand when you need a little help getting out of the pucker brush and back onto the trail.”

Ida, in her inimitable way, goes on to explain, “[I] f you…are ready to get up off your duff and do what needs to be done to make it happen, welcome aboard.”

Welcome aboard, indeed! As Susan noted at Bailey Library, The Sweet Life is about sharing the good life with your partner, your friends, your family. It’s also about coping with the loss of a spouse. Each chapter deals, humorously but wisely, with various aspects of relationships, and my favorite chapter title is “There is no ‘I’ in Team, but Maybe There Should Be.”

As Susan read various sections of the book, she made us laugh, and, yes, she even made us a little tearful.  She ended with a scene of  Ida and Charlie spending time at camp with best friends. “We eat breakfast on the screened-in porch, overlooking the lake, all of us talking and laughing. Charlie smiles and squeezes my hand, looking so relaxed. And I think, at this moment, at this place here on Moose Megantic Lake, regardless of what we have been through, everything is wonderful in our world.”

What a way to end.

Tomorrow, my daughter Dee will coming from New York to spend a week with us. Is there any better time to visit Maine than August? Some would say September or October, but nothing can beat August for time spent on the patio, where we can drink wine, eat grilled food, listen to the crickets, and watch the birds. Dee looks forward to this, and when she came in July for the Maine International Film Festival, she was sorry that she didn’t get any patio time.

Dee’s visit will be filled with all sorts of simple but fun activities—an appetizer night at a friend’s house; a pizza and movie night here; plays at the Theater at Monmouth, just down the road from us; a couple of movies at the cinema; and most likely a trip to an art museum or two. It will be a lovely interlude from our usual routine. No matter how satisfying a life might be, it is always good to take a break from time to time.

Readers will be happy to know that last night I made my decision about which book to read. The choice was between Barkskins by Annie Proulx and White Trash by Nancy Isenberg. (For more of a description of these two books, see yesterday’s post. ) Jason, from the blog Garden in a City, suggested I go with Barkskins, and I independently came to the same conclusion. I read some of Barkskins last night, and at 12:45 a.m., I reluctantly put the book down so that I could turn off my reading light and go to sleep. Now comes the challenge of finishing the book before it is due in two weeks. At 736 pages, Barkskins certainly qualifies as a tome, but I do feel I am up to the challenge.

I’m not sure how much I’ll be blogging next week. I might post a picture or two, but I expect I won’t be writing much.

I hope all of you have a wonderful week.