That Book You Can't Put Down

At church today five people gave me positive feedback on "Aunt Sadie's Angel" - five. Now that might not seem like a big deal to you; but trust me when I tell you it is a huge deal. Five unsolicited nods in a single day, from a single place is huge.

The first bit of feedback came during an exchange with a sister in the ladies' room before service who said, "I'm reading it now. So far it's really good." Then after service two of our deacons sought me out to tell me that they finished and really enjoyed it. One said"You are very talented. Do you have a sequel in mind? Because now that ..." And a third made a point of telling me that his wife is really enjoying it.

Needless to say, I am extremely excited about all of their feedback as well as the initial feedback I got from those who purchased and read it right away, my first responders. I really appreciate them having taken the time to sow into me by sharing their enthusiasm for my work. But by far the most exciting feedback came from a sister who told me that her granddaughter is reading the book. She gave it to her granddaughter as a Christmas gift, but she (the granddaughter) was not immediately interested. In fact she only started to read it because of her grandmother's prodding. But man, once she got started ...

Long story short - the granddaughter got in trouble twice (that's two times) for sneaking to read during school. Of course her parents and grandparents are none too thrilled about that but boy I certainly am! That's the kind of thing every children's author wants to hear. It was such a wonderful thing for the grandmother to share, just made my day.

I'm a librarian so I know that there's lots of quality children's literature out there: really well written with well-developed story lines. And I am admittedly a novice at this with a lot to learn, but I wanted children of faith to have an alternative to all of the dark and dystopian literature that is so readily available to them. And I wanted children (and parents) of color to have an alternative to the demonizing imagery of brown and black children held by the world. In stalk contrast “Aunt Sadie’s Angel” angelicizes (yeah I made up a word - artistic license) children of color and it reflects the light and hope that faith brings to bear upon our lives and the lives of our children. As you can imagine I am elated to know of a child who cannot put it down; and I will be just as elated to hear that you or a child in your life cannot put it down. Please read it and share it with the children in your life.

Do you remember any of the books of your childhood which you simply could not put down? We all had a book or two or three like that when we were in middle school. Mine were "A Teacup Full of Roses" "Twin Spell" and "Sorry Wrong Number". What were yours?