I’ll share this right away: The Shape of Thunder is a book about a very tough topic: the aftermath of a school shooting and how those closest to it deal with it. Jasmine Warga makes this topic bearable for a young audience through several brilliant technique, and here’s the first: She sets the story a little… Read more »
Jasmine Warga
Favorite Reads of 2020—Part 1
I read many incredible middle grade books in 2020. Here’s my list of my very favorites from the first half of of last year. While I liked nearly everything I read, these rose to the top as stories I enjoyed tremendously, thought about long after, and could see many young readers picking up and having… Read more »
Happy birthday, Mom! I wish she were still here so that I could call her and hear her lovely voice. I always rang her on her birthday, and we chatted about whatever was going on. Usually, she`d tell me a story about what her dogs were up to (she had two Rhodesian Ridgebacks who were great companions), something fun that had happened at work (she made so many friends, so the story might have been about one of them), and a thank-you for the flowers I`d sent.
Just sharing that memory and this, a picture of her that I have on my desk. She`s at Bug Point Light in South Portland, Maine, and it`s a freezing day with the wind whipping off the water, but she`s beaming because she`s with her family, including her son-in-law, whom she adored.
I miss you, Mom, but thank you for being such a warm presence in my life. I will always remember that feeling.
#Birthdays #ParentalLoss
Eight years ago today, I lost a person very important to my life, one of my best friends ever: my mom. Here`s one of my favorite pictures of her on Mount Desert Island, a place she loved. Mom was a huge support and advocate for me as I grew up on that island, and always believed in me. When I was an adult, though, we had a new and very special relationship. She`d come to visit me and we`d go on adventures, exploring the area where I lived. She had a job, but she`d leave early on Friday and spend the whole weekend with me, returning home late Sunday. Those times, just Mom and me, were so incredibly special. We joked, talked, sat in companionable silence, and just felt each other`s company. My mom loved to learn and adored history, nature, plants, and animals, and more. I miss her so much. The grief of loss softens, but it never goes away.
#ParentalLoss #Love