Last Monday evening, and then again on Saturday afternoon, I got to meet readers at in-person events.
If you are tired of bad news, I have some good news for you:
The kids who came through the signing line were kind and thoughtful and made very good eye contact. Each face I saw cheered me up.
It also cheered me to meet so many families that are reading books out loud together—and so many teachers who are reading aloud to their students.
On Monday evening, a boy handed me a battered copy of The Tale of Despereaux to sign.
“Can you put both our names in it?” he said. He pointed at the boy beside him. “That’s my brother.”
“You bet,” I said.
“It’s really my book,” said the older boy. “But I’ve read it lots of times on my own and now I’m going to read it to him.”
“What’s it about?” said the younger brother.
“Light,” said the older brother.
Yep.
Light.
And that is what it is like meeting all of you readers.
It is light in the darkness.

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