Speaking Of The Horn Book

I have more to say about the September/October issue.

Nancy Werlin had an interesting article on What makes a good thriller? called Working with Fear. In it she shares a "thriller writer's secret." She says,

"Fear has ruled me since I can remember. Not because my childhood was extraordinarily traumatic. I think it is simply my temperament. I remember distinctly, for example, being ten years old and looking at illustrations of North America during the Ice Age. I plotted how my family would escape to Florida if the ice suddenly returned. I imagined us taking the last airplane out, fighting our way past other frantic refugees."

Yes! Yes! I know what she means! Except, of course, I've done that as an adult. And not regarding the Ice Age. More with just a generic failure of civilization.

Nancy Werlin's book The Rules of Survival (reviewed in this issue of The Horn Book) is a finalist for this year's National Book Award.

In an article called One Week in August in this same issue, Susan Cooper finally explains for me what the heck Children's Literature New England is. Bless her.