Young book addicts

I'm finally catching up on my professional reading, after weeks and even months of being so busy that I could only watch helplessly as the stack of School Library Journals, Booklists, PWs, and Horn Books teetered ever higher.

I read the March/April and May/June Horn Books practically back to back. Huge kudos to the Horn Book editors and contributors! Every single dang article in both issues was delightful, thought-provoking, and absolutely a joy to read.

Unfortunately, one of my favorite articles isn't available from the website, so get yourself a hard copy of the May/June issue and read Megan Lambert's "The Boy Ramona" on page 118. It's about her son Rory, now 13 years old, who has always been an intense reader, reading for solace and escape but also to discover new ways to be in the world and new ideas to explore. Lambert writes,

"I think he gets this strength, in part, because of that rich inner world of reading and rereading that's he's built for himself and that is populated by similarly quirky, bright, and sensitive kids... And whether he grows up to be a philosopher, a writer, a Shinto priest, an editor, or an English professor like me, I know he will always be a reader."

I've got a couple of those kids, too! Here's the 15-year-old...