there is power. there are people.

I walked the famous streets of Washington, DC, yesterday in a melancholy mood. Those beautiful buildings. That Anselm Kiefer in the lobby of the National Gallery. That Sally Mann, so young, on the walls. That chocolate growing on the trees at the Botanical Gardens. That First Ladies' garden. Those reflecting pools.

So much stands on the verge right now. So much at risk. Nothing to be taken for granted. Who do we trust and what do we trust them with?

There is power. There are people. Every single soul I met yesterday was a good people. The security guard at the National Gallery who loved my RBG canvas bag (a tote created to celebrate the launch of Debbie Levy's I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark. I'll tell her, I said.). The lady at the gift shop who helped direct me toward the right door, outside of which I would hail a cab. The cab driver himself, who helped me with his heavy door and promised me, as the afternoon traffic swelled, that we would eventually get there. Emi, who greeted me at Politics and Prose, Debbie who hugged me when she arrived, her family and friends, who made me feel as if I were one among them. The guy at the Metro station who helped me get a Metro card when my debit card wouldn't work. The woman beside me on the subway train who explained the one tracking delays in the underground tunnel as we sat there, going nowhere. You'll make your Amtrak train, she said. And she was right.

Every single person I met was kind, easily so.

Couldn't we all be kind, easily so?

And trustworthy?

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Dr. Radway, Will Nash, and the Parrott Library Honor Award

We are reviewed, in this life, by professional critics, by the Amazon anonymous, by the Goodreads communities, by the whispers we'll never hear, by the book clubs that decide yes or no, by the bloggers, by our friends.

Now and again, we hear from younger readers.

This morning I heard from Will Nash, a student in the St. Albans Lower School of Washington, DC., who had some glorious things to say about Dr. Radway, which was one of three books given the 2014 Parrott Library Honor Award (the other two being The Kill Order and Wonder).

I was finishing work on the Florence novel when the news of this generous honor came in. I was, in fact, fixing some of the book's many details. And so you will appreciate how much I loved Will's immaculate review, especially these words:

If you enjoy envisioning scenes in your head, it is a great book because Beth Kephart loves to go crazy with details.

I hereby declare, for now and forever, that I will always go crazy with details—and think of Will Nash when I do.

For more on Dr. Radway—and much more from Will—please click on this link. Thank you, St Albans Lower School, for choosing to read a book about my own city, Philadelphia.

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