Urgency

Words remain the great urgency.
Or story, in whatever manner that it's told.

(there is a feather in his hat)

Today I am grateful for many things.
I am, for one thing, grateful for Lilian Natel. Grateful that this writer and blogger and mother and wife is finally beginning to feel better after a much-too long illness, and that she found time, in the midst of everything, to read and think out loud about Nothing but Ghosts.

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A Starred Review for Nothing but Ghosts

The boy leaned forward to prepare himself for the quick dash across the plaza. Leaned forward, spread his wings. He was surprised by his own speed. He laughed. He never thought he'd get so far.

Yesterday I was in my post-vacation panic—piled high with work, looking ahead with consternation—when an e-mail slipped in from Ruta Rimas, my new editor at HarperTeen. There had been a starred review of Nothing but Ghosts from the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, she wrote, an especially beautiful one. She wanted to share it with me.

I leaned forward. I was surprised. I never thought ....

From the review:

... Kephart employs this basic framework to spin a story of human connection and human loss, of looking forward and remaining frozen in time, as flashbacks to Katie's mother's life and last days interleave with Katie's unearthing of secrets about Miss Martine's past. The style is elegantly polished yet tender, with the book deftly illuminating complicated emotions and relationships in quick flashes of interaction; Katie's budding romance with her co-worker, Danny, her friendship with the soignee librarian who aids her research, and her father's growing comradeship with the needy preschooler across the street all evolve quietly yet affectingly...

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